Compare Enkasa Homes and Unlocked Real Estate

Enkasa brokerage revenue comes from Buyer Agent Commissions (BAC) amounts offered by the sellers' agents. Enkasa’s Contractor Consultation costs between $299 and $1,299. For comparison, a Buyer Agent Commission (BAC) offered at 3% for a $4 million home (not uncommon in California) is about $120,000 without a negotiated buyer rebate. Enkasa rebates consultation service fees to any client who uses Enkasa to represent them as their agent in purchasing a home.

Enkasa is a California brokerage that operates under a DRE license #02155340. Enkasa claims that: "Buyers don’t pay Enkasa anything. We charge sellers industry-standard brokerage commissions." First of all, buyer agents never work for free. Second of all, there are no industry-standard brokerage commissions in real estate. All commissions are eventually paid by the buyer when s/he writes a check (or takes out the new mortgage) on a newly-purchased property. Sellers lose equity due to costs of listing commissions, but buyers pay all closing costs including the costs of buy-side commissions built into the final accepted offer on a home.

Buyers in reality pay for Enkasa’s services through a Buyer Agent Commission (BAC) concession, typically offered by the seller’s agent to the buyer’s agent when a property is advertised on the MLS. In California, where Enkasa is licensed, a buyer can negotiate a rebate from this "blanket" BAC amount to reduce the cost of commissions financially. This rebate is a tax-free, fully negotiable amount is that converts an "industry-standard" BAC commission into a competitive rate.

Enkasa further claims that "because we help you buy sooner, we’re more efficient than other brokers, so we don’t charge you any extra fees for helping you plan your home improvements." Sooner than what? This is an empty statement with an unfounded claim that choosing Enkasa somehow will allow a buyer to purchase a home faster. The costs associated with "helping buyers plan for home improvements" are simply bundled by Enkasa into the Buyer Agent Commission revenue it will receive at the closing.

In the real world, the home buyer can openly negotiate tens of thousands in tax-free rebates with highly competitive agents and often use that money to not just "help plan home improvements," but to renovate a home.

According to their website, Enkasa’s Contractor Consultation costs between $299 and $1,299. For comparison, a Buyer Agent Commission (BAC) offered at 3% for a $4 million home (not uncommon in California) is about $120,000. If a buyer is able to negotiate a buyer refund at 50% of BAC from a competitive and a highly-qualified agent, that refund amount adds up to $60,000 in tax-free cash due to the buyer from their agent after the closing of the transaction.

The United States Department of Justice has made it clear in the 2020 settlement agreement with the NAR that buyer agents do not work for free and to advertise services as such is a deceptive practice. Provided that Enkasa’s services can be unbundled, the best way I can describe the financial incentive offered by Enkasa is a credit of $1,299 for the "consultation service fee waived for any client who uses Enkasa to represent them as their agent in purchasing a home." In another word, if you are a home buyer looking for a $4 home in California with Enkasa as your buyer agent, their brokerage may receive about $120,000 in Buyer Agent Commission as a fee before they credit you $1,299 as a cash incentive, an equivalent of a 1% cash rebate where the 99% of the BAC is kept by the brokerage.

Consumers should further carefully read Enkasa Terms of Service, where, for example:

…You will only be permitted to pursue claims and seek relief against Enkasa on an individual basis, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative action or proceeding; and …

…You are waiving your right to pursue disputes or claims and seek relief in a court of law and to have a jury trial on your claims…

… Enkasa provides services, including the transaction assistance, on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Enkasa does not provide any express or implied warranties, conditions, or representations regarding the services, including transaction assistance, or any information provided in connection with the services and Enkasa, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, employees, contractors, agents, partners, suppliers, and licensors (collectively, the "Enkasa parties") disclaim any and all warranties, representations, and conditions of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including all warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, quiet enjoyment, accuracy, or non-infringement. Enkasa makes no guarantee that the services will function without interruption or errors…

…You acknowledge and agree that the Enkasa parties are not liable, and you will not seek to hold the Enkasa parties liable, for the conduct of third parties, including operators of external sites, and that the risk of injury from such third parties rests entirely with you. Enkasa makes no warranty that the goods or services provided by third parties will meet your requirements or be available on an uninterrupted, secure, or error-free basis. Enkasa makes no warranty regarding the quality of any such goods or services, or the accuracy, timeliness, truthfulness, completeness or reliability thereof…

In conclusion, the advertised premise where "Enkasa charges industry-standard agent commissions, so buyers and sellers don’t pay anything more than they would with other agents" is plain false. There are highly competitive agents who will compete for buyers’ with buyer agents rebates; there are no industry-standard agent commissions in California. In some states, such as Oregon, buyers cannot receive rebates due to anticompetitive state-specific rebate bans, but Enkasa is not a licensed broker in any of these ten states.

Because of such blatantly false advertising methods for services offered by Enkasa brokerage, this editor cannot possibly recommend them to any home buyer. The truth has a habit of revealing itself, and the deceptive advertising notions employed by Enkasa, as described in this review, should be enough to raise a common sense alarm for a savvy consumer.

The real estate industry likes to operate on false notions that "buyer agents work for free" and that "commissions are standard" because real estate brokers do not like to compete with each other on pricing. Yet the commission buyer rebate is the single largest line item for savings when buying a home. When shopping for a buyer agent, or a contractor, there are no gimmicks and there are no substitutes for open negotiations and multiple bids with clearly defined pricing schedules. There are no standard rates in the housing industry: everything is negotiable.

As always, we encourage consumers to post unbiased feedback about this business with any sentiment. If hiring this brokerage worked for you, or if it didn’t, other California consumers need to know.