AI homebuying platform Homa has expanded into Texas, bringing its buyer-rebate model into one of the country’s largest housing markets. The company launched in Florida in May 2025 and expects its first Texas deal, a $324,000 Austin home, to produce a full 2% rebate for the buyer.
Homa says buyers in Florida and Texas can receive up to 2% back at closing through a process that combines AI tools, licensed experts, local showing support, and closing coordination. For agents, the expansion gives buyers a timely comparison point for full-service representation and cash-back models.
Why rebate models are gaining traction post-settlement
Buyer-agent compensation is more visible than it was before the 2024 NAR settlement. Since Aug. 17, 2024, MLS participants working with buyers have needed a written buyer agreement before a home tour, including live virtual showings.
Those agreements must explain services and compensation before touring begins. Compensation also has to be specific and negotiable.
The settlement removed offers of buyer-broker compensation from MLSs. It did not ban seller-paid buyer compensation, buyer-agent commissions, or negotiated fee structures, but it moved more of the fee discussion into the buyer consultation.
That shift has created room for lower-fee, flat-fee, and rebate-based models. A Business Insider overview highlighted startups including Homa, TurboHome, Beycome, and Listwise.
What buyers may ask agents about rebates
Homa’s pitch may resonate with buyers who feel they are doing much of the search process themselves. It may also appeal to buyers stretched by mortgage rates, insurance costs, taxes, and closing expenses.
Buyers may be comparing three options: negotiating the agent’s fee before signing a representation agreement, asking the seller to cover some or all of that fee, or working with a brokerage that offers an agent-funded rebate. Each option affects the transaction differently. A lower fee changes the buyer agreement. A seller concession changes the offer negotiation. A rebate changes the closing-credit and lender-review conversation.
The compliance risks behind buyer rebates
Commission rebates are legal in many states when properly structured and disclosed. A typical buyer rebate returns part of the buyer broker’s compensation to the buyer, often as a closing credit rather than a price reduction.
The legal risk comes from undisclosed payments, referral-fee arrangements, or vague side deals. CFPB Regulation X bars kickbacks and unearned fee splits tied to settlement-service referrals, so agents should avoid payment arrangements that are not reviewed by the lender and closing parties.
Rebate rules are state-specific. Agents should not tell buyers rebates are always available or assume a competing platform’s advertised rebate will work the same way in every state, loan file, or transaction.
Why buyers may not get the full rebate
A rebate advertised as “up to 2%” may not translate into unrestricted cash. Lenders typically need to review credits that affect the settlement statement, closing costs, or loan structure before closing.
Under Fannie Mae rules, real estate agents and brokers are interested parties, and their contributions may count toward interested-party contribution limits when used for borrower closing costs, prepaid expenses, or certain HOA assessments. For a principal residence or second home, those limits are 3% above 90% loan-to-value, 6% at 75.01% to 90%, and 9% at 75% or lower. Investment properties are capped at 2%.
Fannie Mae also says financing concessions cannot exceed the borrower’s closing costs; any excess is treated as a sales concession. Undisclosed contributions outside closing can make a mortgage ineligible for sale to Fannie Mae.
How agents can answer rebate questions
Homa’s Texas expansion gives agents a current example of how buyer expectations are changing. Buyers may ask why one model offers cash back while another charges a traditional fee.
Agents can point to specific work: pricing strategy, contingencies, repair negotiations, appraisal issues, financing coordination, contract deadlines, and closing risk. They should also explain that a rebate is not guaranteed cash; it depends on state law, brokerage policy, lender review, and the buyer’s final closing costs.