In a housing market where every dollar feels spoken for, some San Diegans are quietly letting algorithms do part of the heavy lifting. After touring roughly 25 homes, buyer Brian O'Toole used an AI-assisted brokerage to land a Carlsbad house listed at about $2.4 million and walked away from closing with around $45,000 more in his pocket than he would have under a traditional commission setup. That kind of math is pushing more buyers and sellers across San Diego County to test out tech-assisted, flat-fee brokerages as they look for any way to trim the cost of buying or selling a home.
Local Buyer Saves $45,000 With AI-Assisted Brokerage
According to NBC 7 San Diego, O'Toole was matched with a human agent through TurboHome and leaned on AI tools to evaluate neighborhood sales and inspection reports. On the other side of the table, the seller paid a flat fee instead of a standard commission, which left roughly $45,000 on the table for O'Toole compared with a traditional arrangement. TurboHome bills itself as an AI-powered brokerage that combines licensed local agents with automated valuation and disclosure tools to speed up research and lower fees. The pitch is a more self-directed search experience, backed by a human who steps in for negotiations and closing.
Local Agents Weigh In
"For my business, AI just makes everything a little bit easier, everything a little bit faster and everything checked," said Rob Brown, a broker of 26 years, in an interview with NBC 7 San Diego. Brown said he expects room for both tech-heavy and traditional models, but he warned that agents who refuse to use AI tools could find themselves at a big disadvantage as the software improves. For clients who want a guide at every step, he said, conventional agents still fit the bill. For price-conscious, hands-on buyers, AI brokerages can look like a fair trade, even if it means doing more of the legwork themselves.
Startups And Scale
The San Diego shift is part of a broader experiment in how much of real estate can be automated. TurboHome, which launched in late 2024, has been active in the Bay Area and other markets and reports that it has closed dozens of transactions while rebating sizable sums to buyers and sellers, according to a profile in The San Francisco Standard. The company also announced an expansion into Texas last year in a press release that laid out its low-fee, tech-first model, GlobeNewswire reported. That kind of rapid rollout helps explain why local agents are experimenting with these tools and watching the model closely.
What This Means For Buyers And Sellers
Part of TurboHome's draw is straightforward arithmetic. Traditional buyer and seller commissions can add up to thousands of dollars, and sellers are typically the ones who cover both agents' fees at closing. Realtor.com notes that sellers usually pay commissions that are split between the listing agent and the buyer's agent, and that recent industry changes, including those following the 2024 National Association of Realtors settlement, have shifted how those commissions are negotiated. Even so, national data show that buyer-agent compensation has held up in many markets after the settlement, a sign of how firmly those commission structures are embedded, according to Redfin.
Is It Right For You?
For shoppers who are cost-conscious, comfortable with technology and willing to handle tours, paperwork and some negotiation online, the trade-offs can pencil out. In its own materials, TurboHome highlights AI valuation reports, automated disclosure analysis and access to a licensed agent when needed, and founders and users quoted in local coverage say the model tends to appeal to younger, DIY-minded buyers. As TurboHome and similar firms grow, traditional brokerages that adopt comparable tools could end up resetting expectations around what level of service comes with what price.
For now, the San Diego lesson is pretty simple: some buyers are using AI as one more lever to bring down transaction costs, and local brokers are paying attention. The next test will be whether more firms jump on the tech, or whether the savings some buyers are pocketing widen the gap between price and service in the months ahead.
