Tony Hawk says traditional real estate agents will go “extinct”

Home Bay turned to a Southern California legend and some provocative language to advertise its flat-fee brokerage model.

The San Francisco-based company, which looks to streamline the listing and selling process through its online platform, hired skateboarder Tony Hawk to pitch its service, according to Inman.

The new ad features Hawk and Mike McGill, another influential skater, at the latter’s new home discussing how McGill was able to score such a nice house. McGill replies that Home Bay saved him commission fees, which allowed him to buy a bigger house with a backyard pool to skate.

“Traditional real estate agents are going to extinct when they hear about Home Bay,” Hawk says, after McGill shows his the brokerage’s app.

Later in the ad, McGill says he felt sorry for his real estate agent, so hired him to clean the pool ad hold a Home Bay sign for Hawk to skate on, which Hawk promptly takes advantage of.

Home Bay charges sellers a fee between $2,000 to $7,500. Sellers can set up a photo session, inspections and review offers on the platform, while buyers can set up viewings and make offers.

Home Bay CEO Ken Potashner said the brokerage plans to be operating in 20 new states by the end of 2019. Home Bay is currently operating in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Texas and Colorado.

Potashner isn’t the first with ambitions to change the resi game and it’s not the only brokerage currently offering flat fees. In Miami, Home61 is charging a flat $6,100 fee to seller for all transactions, regardless of sales price.

Home Bay announced a $13.5 million round of fundraising earlier this month. Potashner told Inman the company will put some of that towards marketing efforts. [Inman] – Dennis Lynch