Does RESPA apply to home services?
No, but it does apply to transaction services (e.g., brokerage, mortgage, title & escrow, etc).
How many service providers should we recommend to homeowners?
In general, 2-3 or more per category is a good idea.
Are we liable if a service provider does a bad job at a home?
No, and we’ve added clear language to the pages and terms of use accordingly. If you receive negative feedback from clients, you may want to remove them from your recommended list.
If a service provider is missing, how do we add them?
In the service providers section, you can recommend an existing provider or request to have a new one added. Requests typically take 3-5 business days to complete.
If we add a service provider to the marketplace, can people see them outside of our hubs?
Yes, but they will not display as “recommended.”
Can I show only my recommended home service providers?
Currently, homeowners may view all pros and your recommendations are displayed at the top of the list and are clearly labelled. This was done intentionally to provide more emphasis on the recommendations and establish trust with the homeowner.
In the future, we may create additional filters and settings to hide non-recommended service providers.
Are referrals tracked?
Yes. When homeowners make contact, send a message, or request service, the referral is tracked and is visible in the Referrals section.
Can companies and sales associates both recommend service providers?
Yes, both can be featured within the Home Services Marketplace and designated accordingly.
Are there ratings and reviews for service providers?
These features are currently unavailable, but are on the roadmap for future addition.
Can we add service providers outside of the categories that exist today?
From plumbers to painters, there are currently over 90 categories of home services providers. Not included today are dentists, babysitters, schools, and other non-household related services. We may add more by request in the future, but currently, creating new categories is not available. We manually verify each company, which is a considerable effort.
How can homeowners tell if service providers are licensed?
We provide links to state agency websites to check licenses, hiring best practices, and project guides with cost estimates.
Does revenue share exist between individual sales associates and home services pros?
Currently, no. The complexities introduced by potential conflicts of interest, disclosures, and accounting make this challenging for us to execute at this time. With that said, “offline” arrangements between referral partners are certainly not uncommon.
What's different about the home pros marketplace inside of hubs?
- Providing a directory of home services providers is not unique – that’s been done by Angi, Porch, Thumbtack, and others
- Curation of the marketplace by the homeowner’s agent, lender, and other advisors and referrals to trusted pros is what’s most valuable
- Within homeowners hubs, recommendations move to the top of the list and are labeled accordingly; and referrals to the pro are sent on behalf of the recommender
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