Study Shows Sawbuck Buyers Get 0.49% Lower Mortgage Rate

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Online real estate broker Sawbuck Realty (www.sawbuck.com) today launched its real estate e-commerce service in San Diego. Homebuyers now can use Sawbuck to search for homes for sale and recent sales throughout Southern California - all the way from Lancaster down to Chula Vista.

Sawbuck simplifies the home buying and selling process, without asking customers to compromise on either service or cost. Consumers start their home search on Sawbuck.com, where they can search by property type, neighborhood or address to find homes for sale, local market stats and recently sold properties. A Sawbuck advisor then connects buyers with experienced, vetted, local real estate agents, and streamlines their transactions.

Sawbuck.com is unique, with features you won't find anywhere else:

• My Ratings: don't waste time looking at the same or undesirable properties again. Once rated, searches easily can filter out low-rated homes to view only top picks or unrated homes.
• News Feed: live market activity within search results - new listings, price changes, contracts and sales - much like Facebook's status updates.
• Market Health Score: Sawbuck's unique score combines metrics for inventory, change in median sales price, "pull-through" (percentage of contracts that close) and "equilibrium" (the balance between new listings, price reductions, contracts and sales); compare the market health of any city, zip code or neighborhood in Sawbuck's coverage areas.
  

"Prices in San Diego may have taken a hit in the past two years, but large segments of the market are now heating up. It's never been more important to have market data at your fingertips, or an experienced agent at your side," said Guy Wolcott, Sawbuck CEO. "Sawbuck offers buyers and sellers the real-time information they crave, combined with access to some of the area's best agents, and the lowest mortgage costs."

Sawbuck Savings -- Guaranteed

Buyers working with Sawbuck receive unbeatable savings and service on their mortgage from Bank of America. Sawbuck is the first real estate broker to establish a mortgage alliance not to profit, but to save buyers money. The company subsidizes every buyer's mortgage, driving down the interest rate and closing costs. It's all backed by the Sawbuck Savings Guarantee, which promises $1,000 if a customer finds a better mortgage and closing cost deal.

Throughout September 2009, Sawbuck compared the 30-year fixed mortgage rate available to its customers with the national average rate as reported in Bankrate.com's weekly survey of lenders, a reliable indicator of mortgage rates for the last 20 years. The average Sawbuck rate was 0.49 percent better. On a $400,000 mortgage, that's a savings of $121 per month, or $43,500 over the life of the loan.

Sawbuck sellers take advantage of Sawbuck's partner agent network by paying reduced commissions while a top listing agent markets their property locally and Sawbuck guarantees best practices in vital online marketing. Sellers receive a 20 percent refund of the listing commission at closing; for a $500,000 house that would normally pay a seller's agent commission of three percent, the savings would be $3,000.

Since launching in January 2008, Sawbuck has completed more than $35 million in real estate transactions in the Dallas, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. areas. In 2008, Sawbuck was named "Most Innovative Brokerage" by Inman News for its compelling technology and unique business model.

About Sawbuck

Sawbuck Realty (www.sawbuck.com) is an online real estate broker that combines an industry-leading website with an award-winning, consumer-friendly business model. The company connects buyers and sellers with top local real estate agents, streamlines their transactions and saves them money at every turn. Buyers who work with Sawbuck's agent partners get a below-market mortgage with the lowest closing costs and settlement fees, saving thousands up front and hundreds every year. Sellers receive a 20 percent refund of the listing commission at closing; saving $3,000 on a $500,000 sale, with a typical seller's agent commission of three percent. Sawbuck's site, service and model provide radical transparency and consumer value that is unique in the world of real estate. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Sawbuck's network of real estate agent partners currently serve the Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Southern California and Dallas-Fort Worth markets. The company will expand into Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and further into California this year.

SOURCE Sawbuck Realty