Would you like an Echo with that house? Amazon.com Inc. is inserting itself into the homebuying experience with a new partnership with Realogy Holdings Corp., one of largest full-service residential real estate services companies.
The duo on Tuesday announced TurnKey, a program they assure will make the homebuying experience more convenient for consumers. The joint effort by Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Realogy (NYSE: RLGY) is rolling out in 15 cities, including D.C.
TurnKey matches potential buyers with Realogy agents in an attempt to meet their every need. Amazon's products comes after the purchase. Realogy pays for the homebuyer to get a slew of goods and services from Amazon.
This is all meant to make the moving experience simpler, said Pat Bigatel, director of Amazon Home Services, in a statement. "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," Bigatel said.
For Amazon, it's a strategic move in the battle for smart home supremacy. If Amazon can get thousands of dollars worth of its products placed in a home at the start, the company is betting the new resident will be less likely to switch over to a competitor like Google or Samsung.
In this program, a buyer who closes on a home costing $700,000 or more will get a $5,000 package from Amazon paid for by Realogy, which includes $1,500 in handyman credits, one Ring Doorbell pro — a product from the smart-buzzer company Amazon bought last year — a dozen Kasa lightbulbs and a deadbolt that works with Alexa, two Fire TV Cubes and six Echos, just to name a few items.
Since the first Echo, Amazon has sold more than 100 million Alexa enabled devices, said Dave Limp, senior vice president of devices and services at Amazon, earlier this year. There are more than 20,000 products that can be controlled by the virtual assistant from about 3,500 brands, according to the companies third quarter report from last year.
Offers for homes below that price get slightly less generous packages. Buyers who spend fewer than $700,000 will get either $2,500 or $1,000 worth of Amazon goods and services.
But if you are interested in purchasing a home near Amazon's second headquarters in Arlington, don't worry. The prices for real estate in the 22202 ZIP code will easily keep you at the top package level.
Realogy, based in New Jersey, is the parent company of several real estate franchises. Three of their companies, Century 21, Coldwell Banker and Sotheby's International Realty, had a sales volume of more than $8 billion in the D.C. metro area and were among the top ten largest in Greater Washington.
By Jonathan Capriel – Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal
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