For Consumers
1. What is HomeKey?
HomeKey is an online community that helps Torontonians find, rate and review real estate professionals in their area. These professionals include real estate agents & brokers, mortgage brokers, appraisers, and home inspectors. We plan on expanding to other cities in North America in the near future.
2. What can I use HomeKey for?
HomeKey is a great one-stop resource for finding real estate service providers. You can:
- Get bids from Realtors® to find the best Realtors® with the lowest commission and highest cash rebates.
- Browse profiles of real estate professionals in your area
- Read ratings and reviews shared by others like you
- Submit reviews of service providers to share your experience with others using HomeKey
3. I am looking for real estate services, why should I use HomeKey?
HomeKey lets you get bids from Realtors® to find the best professionals with the lowest commission rates (or highest cash rebates). To find out more, see how this works.
In addition, HomeKey provides reviews of real estate professionals, so it's easy for you to be informed before hiring. Learn from the experience of others before deciding who to hire to avoid costly mistakes.
4. Is HomeKey free?
HomeKey is absolutely free for home buyers and sellers.
5. How do I get my $25 free gas card?
Getting your $25 free gas card is easy. You simply need to do the following:
- Use HomeKey to get bids from Realtors®
- When you receive the top bids from HomeKey, hire one of the professionals by meeting with him or her in person and signing either a Buyer Representation Agreement or a Listing Agreement.
- Email us a copy of your agreement as proof that you have hired one of the Realtors® found from HomeKey. You can simply take photos of the agreement and send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it along with your full name, mailing address and phone number.
- You will receive your free gas card in the mail in approximately 3-4 weeks.
6. I referred a friend to use HomeKey to find their agent. How do I get my $10 free gas card?
To qualify, you must have used HomeKey hire a Realtor® through the the Get Bids process. Simply have your friend click through the link that's presented to you after you submit your request for bids from Realtors®. You can refer as many friends as you like, and you will get a free $10 gas card every time one of your friends hire through HomeKey. Your free gas card will automatically be sent to you by mail.
7. I want to write a review so HomeKey can donate to Raising the Roof and help homeless Canadians. How do I know if my review is counted?
This summer, HomeKey is partnering with Raising the Roof to help eliminate homelessness in Canada. You simply need to write and submit a review on HomeKey between June 21 and September 23, and Like us on our Facebook page to make your review count.
For Professionals
1. What is HomeKey?
HomeKey is an online guide that helps Canadians find the best real estate professionals in their area. These professionals include real estate agents & brokers, mortgage brokers, appraisers, and home inspectors. We may expand to more related professons in the future.
2. I am a real estate professional, why should I use HomeKey?
If you are a Realtor®, HomeKey offers a special opportunity for you to receive service requests from potential clients directly into your inbox. To learn more, see how it works for Realtors®.
Last year, a whopping 94% of real estate transactions in GTA started with some form of online interaction. Thousands of real estate professionals are being found online, but how will you stand out?
HomeKey provides a great way for Toronto real estate professionals to build an online reputation. In a recent study, over 84% of consumers indicated that online reviews influence their purchasing decision (source: Opinion Research Corp.) Any real estate professional should maximize their online exposure and building a great online reputation so they can attract more clients. HomeKey provides you with a free listing so your potential clients can find you and learn about your services.
When you have done a good job with a client, make sure you point them to your HomeKey listing so they can write a great review for you. Overtime, you will have a great set of reviews which will act as strong testimonials for your services.
3. Is HomeKey free for professionals?
As a real estate professional, you can create a free profile for yourself on HomeKey and have as many of your clients write reviews for you as you want absolutely free. If you are a Realtor®, you can bid for potential clients that we send you, and we only charge you a fee if you win the client and sign an agreement with them. To learn more, see how it works for Realtors®.
If you are interested in advertising on HomeKey, you can contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
4. How does HomeKey make money?
HomeKey allows Realtors® to get client leads delivered to their inboxes. We only charge a fee when you bid on one of these leads and get hired. We do not charge a fee if you do not end up getting hired.
The basic profile for real estate professionals is also free. We offer paid advertising services, to selected professionals. If you are interested to learn more, you can contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
5. What if I get a bad review?
Some professionals worry about having bad reviews on HomeKey and that may negatively impact your business. There is no way to pay for a bad review to be removed, because in order to be valuable, HomeKey must remain open and neutral.
The best way to prevent a bad review is to avoid it in a first place. We encourage you to directly address the issue with your clients before the write a review for you on HomeKey. It would be a good practice to ask them for feedback at appropriate times so you are clear on what their opinions are. If their feedback is positively, you can ask them to kindly write a review for you on HomeKey. If the feedback is not so positive, find out how you can do better next time and see how you can make things up to them.
If a bad review has appeared on your listing, you can publicly respond to the review to defend yourself. If the review is from a unregistered user, contact us and we will determine whether it's spam on a case by case basis. If the review is from a registered user and you recognize them as one of your previous clients, you may want to contact them to learn more why they were unhappy with you.
Finally, the ratings are weighted by how recent they are, which means even if you have an unhappy customer from time to time, the more recent reviews carry more weight and your ratings will eventually go back up.
6. How do I get a Featured badge on my listing?
The Featured badge is a paid advertising service. Having your listing featured increases the chances of consumers viewing your listing and ultimately contacting you.
If you are interested in advertising on HomeKey, you can contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
