Why I'm Building Homeparlay
The cost of selling has climbed, consumers are already using AI for major decisions, and Ontario homeowners are ready for more choice.
I'm a licensed realtor in Ontario. I love this work because a home sale is never just a transaction. It can close a thirty-year chapter, finance a retirement, or give a family room to grow.
But the longer I worked in real estate, the more I kept returning to one question: Does every seller need to hand over a percentage of their home's value to get a fair deal?
For many Ontario transactions, total listing and co-operating brokerage commissions are commonly discussed in a range of roughly 3.5% to 5%, plus HST. On a home selling between $800,000 and $1.1 million, that can mean approximately $30,000 to $55,000 before legal and moving costs. The exact amount varies, but the fee rises automatically with the sale price even when the work does not rise at the same rate.
That money comes out of the seller's equity at closing. After decades of mortgage payments, it is not an abstract percentage. It is money for retirement, education, or the next home.
That is the first reason I think the market is ready for something different: the economics have changed faster than the transaction model.
The real gap is not information. It is structure.
Homeowners have more information than ever. They can compare listings and neighbourhoods, estimate mortgage payments, research market conditions, and learn the stages of a transaction. Ontario law also formally recognizes the self-represented party.
Yet information alone does not create confidence. The difficult part begins when another human being enters the process with different priorities, different emotions, and a different idea of what a fair deal looks like.
I kept meeting capable homeowners who were willing to do more themselves but did not want to feel abandoned. They wanted a clear process to manage interest, arrange showings, receive offers, understand counteroffers, keep the conversation constructive, and reach a lawyer with an organized deal.
The market has traditionally treated this as a binary choice. Hire full-service representation, or do everything alone. I do not think those should be the only two options.
Consumers are already using AI for decisions that matter
The second reason the timing feels right is behavioural. People are not waiting for artificial intelligence to become part of everyday decision-making. They are already using it.
A June 2026 Léger and National Bank study reported that 41% of Ontarians had used generative AI to help with a purchasing decision, compared with 39% nationally. That does not mean people want a machine to decide for them. It means much of the market is comfortable using technology to organize information and prepare better questions.
Housing behaviour is moving in the same direction. A spring 2026 Rentals.ca renter survey reported that roughly 34% of Toronto renters had used tools such as ChatGPT or Gemini during a housing search, compared with about 29% nationally. Among those users, 73% said the tools were helpful.
The shift is especially visible among younger adults. A 2026 REMIC and Abacus Data survey found that 26% of Canadians aged 18 to 29 had used an AI chatbot for financial or mortgage advice, while 17% had consulted a licensed mortgage broker. This is not an argument for replacing regulated professionals. It shows people want to arrive at professional conversations better prepared.
That distinction matters. Technology is most useful when it helps a person understand a decision and move through a process without pretending to become the licensed expert responsible for the final legal work.
AI alone is not the product
It would be easy to describe HomeParlay as an AI real estate product. That description is incomplete.
A generic chatbot can explain an irrevocable date. It cannot create a trustworthy transaction. A home sale also needs identity, a shared record, deadlines, privacy, clear offer terms, condition tracking, showing coordination, and a path to a lawyer-handled close.
That is why we built HomeParlay as a transaction and communication platform with AI inside it, not as a chatbot with a real estate label.
Parlay, our negotiation guide, helps each party think through tone, trade-offs, and next steps. It can explain what is on the table and help someone prepare a response. But it does not sign documents, submit offers, waive conditions, or make decisions for the user. Those actions require explicit controls, and the people involved remain responsible for their choices.
Most importantly, HomeParlay is not designed to become a replacement agent. It is designed to be neutral infrastructure for people who have chosen to represent themselves.
Negotiation is where confidence often disappears
Listing a home is visible work. Negotiating it is emotional work.
A seller may believe an offer is too low. A buyer may believe it reflects necessary repairs. One side may read a short message as disrespectful. A counteroffer may change several terms at once. Even when both parties want the transaction to succeed, the conversation can make them feel like opponents.
Traditional representation solves much of that problem by putting professionals between the parties. A private sale often removes that communication layer without replacing it. The result can be awkward back-and-forth, missed context, and unnecessary walkaways.
HomeParlay creates a structured place for that conversation. The goal is not to pressure anyone toward a deal. It is to help each person understand the current position, communicate clearly, and choose what comes next. Sometimes the answer is an agreement. Sometimes it is a respectful no.
Sell your own home. Never alone.
That phrase is the clearest expression of what we are building.
A HomeParlay seller can publish a listing, manage interest, coordinate showings, respond to offers, work through conditions, and move an accepted deal toward closing. Buyers get a clear place to communicate as well. Both sides see the same mutual terms, while private coaching stays private.
When the deal reaches the legal stage, a real Ontario real estate lawyer handles the closing. HomeParlay does not hold the deposit, provide legal advice, or replace the lawyer. The seller's lawyer receives the deposit in trust and manages the legal transfer in the same professional framework used in other Ontario transactions.
This is not about removing every professional from the process. It is about using the right professional at the right moment, while giving capable people better tools for the work they can reasonably do themselves.
A fee that does not rise with the value of your home
HomeParlay charges a flat $5,000 fee, paid only at closing and disbursed through the seller's lawyer. It is not a percentage commission. There is no retainer simply to start, and HomeParlay never takes custody of the seller's proceeds or the buyer's deposit.
I prefer that model because the price is visible from the beginning and does not automatically increase when the home is worth more. A seller can compare the fee with the commission terms available to them and decide which level of service fits their needs.
Not every seller will save the same amount, and not every seller should choose the same model. The traditional route may include services, expertise, and hands-on work that a particular homeowner values. The point is not to declare one universal winner. The point is to make the alternatives real enough that the seller has an informed choice.
Why the market is ready now
Homeowners are more informed. The cost of selling has become harder to ignore. Ontario law recognizes self-represented parties. Consumers are already using AI to prepare for major purchases, housing searches, and financial conversations. The missing piece is a system that turns all of that information and willingness into a safer, more organized process.
That is the opportunity I see for HomeParlay.
We are not betting that agents disappear. They will not, and many consumers will continue to choose them. We are betting that the market can support more than one credible way to sell a home—and that self-representation should not have to mean isolation.
Why I'm writing this publicly
I want to build HomeParlay in public because this idea should be tested in public. Sellers should know exactly what the platform does and does not do. Buyers should understand what it means to negotiate with a HomeParlay seller. Lawyers, agents, regulators, and consumers should be able to question our assumptions and hold us to the standard we set.
This journal is where I will share that work: the product decisions, the evidence that changes our minds, the things we get wrong, and the moments that tell us the model is helping.
If you are an Ontario homeowner considering how to sell, I would genuinely like to hear what feels difficult, unclear, or unnecessarily expensive. We are still early. The best version of HomeParlay will be shaped by the people who need a different option—not by pretending we already have every answer.
— Lewis Miller, CEO and co-founder, HomeParlay
What do homeowners ask about HomeParlay?
Can I legally sell my own home in Ontario?
Yes. Ontario homeowners can choose to sell without hiring a real estate agent. HomeParlay gives self-represented sellers and buyers a structured place to communicate and move through the transaction, while leaving legal work and legal advice to an Ontario real estate lawyer.
How much does HomeParlay cost?
HomeParlay charges the seller a flat $5,000 fee, paid only when the sale closes. The fee is disbursed through the seller's lawyer and does not increase when the value of the home increases.
Does HomeParlay replace a realtor or a lawyer?
No. HomeParlay is a communication and transaction platform for people who have chosen to represent themselves; it is not a replacement agent and does not provide legal advice. A real Ontario real estate lawyer still handles the legal closing, and homeowners remain free to hire professional representation if that is the right choice for them.
Who handles the deposit and legal closing?
The seller's lawyer receives the buyer's deposit in trust and handles the legal transfer of the property. HomeParlay never takes custody of the deposit or the seller's sale proceeds.
Sources
Léger and National Bank of Canada, generative AI and purchasing decisions survey, June 2026. Figures as reported in the HomeParlay media briefing.
Rentals.ca, Canadian renter survey, spring 2026. Figures as reported in the HomeParlay media briefing.
REMIC and Abacus Data, Canadians aged 18 to 29 and the use of AI for financial or mortgage advice, 2026. Figures as reported in the HomeParlay media briefing.