Like most people, our first home buying experience started with excitement and ended with frustration. We found an agent who seemed professional enough, but quickly realized he was little more than a paperwork processor. No market insights, no guidance on neighborhoods or strategy. He just submitted whatever offer we came up with.
So we did what any motivated buyer would do: we took matters into our own hands. We researched neighborhoods ourselves, evaluated school districts, attended open houses on weekends, and spent hours on Zillow understanding market trends. We were essentially being our own agents.
Yet when it came time to close, we were still paying a full 3% buyer commissionfor work we largely did ourselves. It felt wrong, but we didn't know there was another way.
"It felt like getting restaurant takeout and tipping the waiter to just give you the food at the counter"
A few years later, we relocated to Seattle and faced the home buying process again. This time, we thought we were smarter. We chose an agent with a large social media following and interesting Youtube videos. Surely all that content meant she was an expert, right?
Wrong. After just one weekend of viewings, it became clear her online presence was all for show. Worse yet, we sensed a troubling conflict of interest. She seemed more focused on encouraging us to move forward on every home we saw. It felt like a quick transaction to earn her commission than helping us find the right home.
It was here that we then found a discount agent that gave us a large rebate. At least now the expectation of us doing all the work was clear and we weren't paying for it.
The frustrations above are what motivated us to build Perch. Here's what we learned when we started to make Perch a reality:
When moving to Seattle, the agent who sold our previous home had incredible market knowledge. She knew exactly how many buyers were submitting offers on similar properties and what competing bids looked like. Even though we used a discount agent in Seattle, he still had great negotiation strategies and clearly explained how we should structure our offer. After speaking with over 100 real estate agents while building Perch, it was clear to us if you look hard enough, you can find great agents. You just have to look really really hard.
The problem isn't a lack of talent, it's finding it. Great agents are lost amongst the noise of branding, social media posts, and flashy marketing. The current system makes it nearly impossible to find them efficiently. You stumble upon one at an open house, get a random referral, or roll the dice with a Zillow/Redfin request. Even then, it takes time and possibly setbacks to find the right match.
From talking with over 50 buyers, we realized the landscape has fundamentally changed.Technology has enabled buyers to do most of the work themselves. Modern homebuyers research neighborhoods, browse listings online, attend open houses, and make their own decisions about what they want. And it makes sense, this is going to be one of the biggest purchases of your life, you want to make sure it's the right one.
Yet buyers are still paying 1980s-era commission rates for what's often no longer 1980s era service. Many agents provide little more than paperwork processing, yet charge full commissions designed for comprehensive, hands-on guidance that buyers no longer need.
The fundamental economic model is broken. We needed to create a system that matched how people actually buy homes today — paying for the level of professional service you actually receive.
That's when everything clicked. The problem wasn't just finding good agents,it was that the entire economic model was broken.
Modern homebuyers are already doing most of the work themselves. We research neighborhoods, browse listings online, attend open houses, and make our own decisions. Yet we're still paying 1980s-era commission rates when we may not need 1980s era service.
We realized we needed to create a system that matched how people actually buy homes today.
We built Perch around a simple principle: pay for the level of service you need.
If you've already found your dream home and done your research, we'll connect you with excellent agents who understand exactly what work you need them to do: professional offer submission and expert negotiation. When agents know the clear scope and can eliminate uncertainty from their pricing, they compete on efficiency and expertise.
But if you need a full-service agent to guide you through neighborhoods, showings, and strategy, we'll help you cut through the noise of branding and social media to find agents with real expertise and proven track records. No more rolling the dice with random referrals or Zillow requests.
Everyone wins. Self-sufficient buyers get cash back for the work they do themselves. Full-service buyers get matched with truly qualified agents instead of getting lost in the shuffle. And great agents, whether they specialize in efficient transactions or comprehensive service, get connected with the right clients who value what they offer.
Only pay for professional services you actually receive
Competition drives better service and lower prices
Receive cash back for the work you do yourself