This first-person essay is drawn from a series of in-depth conversations with Vicki Lynn, a 67-year-old licensed physical therapist assistant who made a significant life transition by moving from California to Florida. During that process, she took an unconventional step in purchasing her new home: instead of relying on a traditional real estate agent, she used the AI-driven platform Homa to independently generate and manage the documentation for her home purchase. Homa, which operates on a fixed-rate pricing model, charges a straightforward, flat fee of $1,995 for each transaction that would typically involve a selling agent. As with many narrative accounts, the following conversation has been condensed and refined for both clarity and length, while preserving the speaker’s original intent and tone.
Vicki describes herself as someone naturally drawn to innovation, experimentation, and forward-thinking approaches. She thrives on exploring emerging ideas and challenging conventional methods, consistently asking herself how processes can be refined or reinvented. This curiosity and problem-solving mindset extend beyond her professional life into her personal decisions. When it came time to purchase her new home—a major milestone that took place in November—she found herself applying this same philosophy. Rather than feeling intimidated by the integration of artificial intelligence into a traditionally human-centered process, she saw it as an opportunity to exercise control and autonomy. Since so much of modern life is already conducted through digital platforms, she reasoned, there was no compelling reason to resist technology when making one of life’s most important financial decisions.
Vicki’s prior experiences with a buyer’s agent left her unsatisfied. She had entered this arrangement hoping for an efficient and transparent process, but instead found herself frustrated by delays, limited flexibility, and an overall lack of alignment with her priorities. These inefficiencies led her to conclude that handling the purchase herself—if possible—might better serve her interests. By assuming more direct control, she could respond more swiftly to opportunities in a competitive housing market and avoid the extra costs attached to agent commissions.
Her choice was further motivated by a financial consideration. She knew that in the majority of real estate transactions, sellers typically bear the cost of the buyer’s agent commission. This understanding prompted her to consider that foregoing an agent could allow her to negotiate more favorable terms, including credits applied toward closing costs. The prospect of saving thousands of dollars while maintaining decision-making authority represented a powerful incentive.
In the months leading up to her final purchase, Vicki engaged with several agents and even signed three separate contracts within a six-month period—starting in June 2025, when she first traveled to Florida from California for an initial round of home viewings. Each agreement contained stipulations that made her increasingly uneasy. One contract stated explicitly that she would be responsible for a three-percent commission on the property’s purchase price, even though such fees are usually covered by the seller. Additional administrative and paperwork charges ranging between three and four hundred dollars each inflated the total cost by nearly eight hundred dollars, fees she perceived as arbitrary and unjustified.
The sequence of contracts only deepened her dissatisfaction. Initially, she agreed to a limited arrangement allowing the agent to show her two properties. Later, after relocating to Florida, she was asked to sign another version of the same document. Just before she was scheduled to tour several more homes, the agent disclosed a company-wide policy change requiring clients to commit to coverage across the entire state of Florida—not merely the specific counties in which they were house hunting. Vicki objected to this new stipulation, requesting instead a more localized contract, but was told that refusal would forfeit her ability to view the scheduled homes. Pressed for time and anxious to secure a property, she reluctantly signed the paperwork but resolved that if she did not find a home by December, she would allow the contract to expire and proceed independently.
When she eventually discovered Homa, she had already identified the property she wished to buy. Having done extensive research into the local market, neighborhood dynamics, and price ranges, she was well-positioned to move forward decisively. Homa’s AI capabilities proved instrumental at this stage: within the digital interface, she could easily generate a formal offer, define a closing date, and manage all corresponding details swiftly and efficiently—all without the need for an agent’s mediation.
The home she desired was listed at $316,000, and the local market was highly competitive. Because she had conducted her own due diligence, she recognized that the asking price was fair and strategically chose not to underbid, understanding that too low an offer could jeopardize her chances. Instead, she submitted a full-price offer and simultaneously requested that the sellers credit her with the 2.5 percent—equal to approximately $7,900—that would have otherwise been allocated to a buyer’s agent commission. This maneuver provided both a financial advantage and further validation of her decision to bypass the traditional agent route entirely.
Reflecting on the process, Vicki notes that working through Homa enabled her to act at a pace conventional real estate channels often cannot match. When working with an agent previously, a week could pass between identifying properties and being able to view them, a delay that frequently cost her competitive opportunities. With Homa’s AI assistance, she was able to make offers almost immediately, and in doing so, she believes she may have avoided losing the property to another buyer.
Although initially skeptical about entrusting a legal document to an automated system, her concerns gradually subsided as she examined the contract. She carefully reviewed the document and its optional addendums, finding them comprehensive, clearly articulated, and professionally structured. The level of detail reassured her that the AI-generated materials were credible and grounded in sound legal research. Once satisfied, she proceeded confidently, concluding that the process felt not only secure but empowering.
Vicki emphasizes that for individuals comfortable navigating digital environments—something that applies to the majority of modern consumers—this method of buying real estate is perfectly accessible. For her, the ability to operate autonomously, to analyze listings, and to submit offers directly represented liberation from the slow-moving and often costly traditional model. By cutting out intermediaries, she simplified communication, accelerated decision-making, and ultimately achieved a smoother, more efficient path to homeownership.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/homebuyer-used-ai-tool-to-buy-home-2025-11
