What You Need To Know About TurnKey, Amazon's Real Estate Partnership With Realogy

Real estate services company Realogy Holdings Corp RLGY announced Tuesday a new collaboration with Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN to simplify the process of finding and moving into a new home.

What Happened

Realogy and Amazon's new partnership is called TurnKey and is already available in 15 U.S. cities. The new business combines Realogy's real estate expertise across its trusted brands with the "ease and convenience" of Amazon's Home Services and smart home products.

TurnKey will connect homebuyers with real estate agents based on the homebuyer's profile, the companies said. The agents on the platform are selected based on a proven customer service track record and market expertise.

Each completed transaction will see homebuyers receive $1,000 to $5,000 in complementary products and Amazon Home Services courtesy of Realogy. As such, TurnKey is labeled as a "beginning-to-end homebuying program that seeks to raise consumers' expectations of what it means to buy a house and make it a home."

Shares of Realogy were higher by nearly 25% Tuesday morning. Rival real estate platforms Zillow Group Inc ZG was lower by nearly 5%, while Redfin's RDFN stock was lower by more than 5%.

Why It's Important

Realogy's core mission is to facilitate "one of the most important moments" in a person's life and a partnership with Amazon is expected to " transform that moment to make it rewarding in a way no one ever has before," Realogy CEO and President Ryan Schneider said in the press release.

"Customers can be overwhelmed when moving, and we're excited to be working with Realogy to offer homebuyers a simplified way to settle into a new home," said Pat Bigatel, Director Amazon Home Services. "The Amazon Move-In Benefit will enable homebuyers to adapt the offering to their needs - from help assembling furniture, to assisting with smart home device set up, to a deep clean, and more."

The TurnKey program is immediately available in major cities including Los Angeles, Dallas/Forth Worth, among others. There is no mention if the program will be expanded over time to additional cities.

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