In a real estate industry that’s notorious for being stuck in its ways, a new Toronto-based proptech company is serving up a fresh way to spark the agent-seller relationship — and ushering in just the right amount of innovation in the process.
Launched today (and already long buzzed about), Hyyve is a platform that invites homeowners to seek bids from real estate agents — whose IDs, regulatory compliance, and accreditations have been screened for legitimacy by Hyyve — to ultimately win the role of selling their home. With careful curation and vetting running behind the scenes, the platform provides choice, data, control, and intentionality from every angle.
It all starts with the listing; the piece of the home-selling puzzle that "drives everything," according to Hyyve Co-Founder and President Kirstin Thomas, who launched the company alongside Co-Founder and CEO Patrick Armstrong.
The seller's onboarding process is pretty straightforward. It involves crafting that to-be listing, including the property specs and selling points (think: a notable bedroom count or a recently replaced roof). From there, agents that have been (rigorously) vetted by Hyyve can bid on the right to represent the homeowner.
And here’s the kicker: sellers get to keep the winning bid — an upfront payment, no less, which Thomas points out can be used to offset the land transfer tax or insurance or legal fees, or even put towards a home improvement, like the design of a nursery.
“This process is akin to selecting three quotes from trades to carry out a home reno,” she says. “You make your selection based on who is best suited to complete the project — not solely on price or an agent referral someone used ages ago. Referred agents often don’t bring their A-game, since they treat it as found business. But when agents compete, as they do in Hyyve’s model, it drives stronger performance and better overall value for sellers."
Thomas adds that sellers can view information on agents’ accreditations, expertise, sales plan, and commission structure, all to ensure they’re making the most informed decision possible.
Patrick Armstrong, Co-Founder and CEO; Kirstin Thomas, Co-Founder and President, Hyyve
From the agent’s perspective, Hyyve offers a smarter alternative to traditional advertising — which often delivers cold, recycled leads with low ROI and poor conversion rates. Instead, Hyyve gives agents direct access to real, ready-to-list sellers. Agents only pay when they win the listing, ensuring 100% conversion on spend. There’s no cost to register or view opportunities, making it a performance-based model where agents invest in actual business — not empty impressions.
“Agents can play with their commissions, enter into a Buyers Representative Agreement as part of the bid, add in commissions on chattels, or the like,” Thomas explains. “Agents pay to advertise on park benches, and they pay with their time — by cold calling, for example. These methods do not convert the way actual listings do with Hyyve. Homeowners registered through Hyyve are motivated to sell their home, and the listing is a true business l that translates to a sale.”
And it’s not just sellers who are getting empowered by Hyyve’s model. The platform is also expanding to support residential buyers, adding a brand-new dimension to its offering.
Through a partnership with Frank Mortgage, buyers who get pre-qualified can post their ideal property criteria — whether they’re seeking a condo downtown or a detached home in the suburbs. From there, vetted agents bid for the opportunity to represent them, offering upfront cash or perks to win the business. The buyer selects the winning agent and signs a standardized Buyer Representation Agreement; the bid is then held in trust until either a purchase is made or the agreement expires.
This approach brings transparency, incentives, and agency to what’s traditionally been an opaque process. It not only empowers sellers through agent competition, but also benefits agents by connecting them with qualified buyers — where mortgage pre-approvals must align with the cost of the neighbourhoods they’re targeting. That means agents aren’t chasing cold leads, but engaging with serious, financially vetted clients.
Even more, agents who may not have capacity or coverage to support a buyer lead can use Hyyve’s referral network to connect that client with another agent — and lock in a formalized, trackable referral agreement up front. For agents, this means guaranteed referral income on buyers they otherwise may not have been able to support, with all closing details transparently managed through the platform and Hyyve’s legal partner, Ownright.
Thomas shares that they are currently seeing some 20 to 30 agent registrations per day (and counting), and that Hyyve has been “well received” by the Toronto market so far. This sentiment is echoed by Right at Home Realty Co-founder Howard Drukarsh, who joined Hyyve’s Advisory Board earlier this year.
Drukarsh sits on the board alongside other real estate leaders, including Christopher Alexander (Former President of RE/MAX Canada), Matthew Campoli (Agent at The Agency and host of Priced To Sell podcast), Daniel Foch (Chief Real Estate Officer at Valery.ca and co-host of The Canadian Real Estate Investor podcast), Brooke Hicks (Broker at Royal LePage and co-host of The Canadian Homefront podcast), Adam Price (Former Director of Realtor Technology at Peerage Realty Partners), Dorian Rodrigues (Partner at PSR Brokerage and Founder of The Rodrigues Group), and Peter Torkan (Founder of The Agency Toronto and star of Luxe Listings Toronto).
Howard Drukarsh, Co-Founder, Right at Home Realty
Drukarsh says the response to Hyyve within his (expansive) agent network has been “totally positive.” As for what speaks to him about the platform, and what prompted him to join the Advisory Board, he points to the way the platform puts control in the hands of the sellers — and opens up the network of agents available to them.
“Traditional listing presentations are in-person and limited to a few agents that the seller knows, or knows of, in their neighbourhood. Now, the choice is expanded,” Drukarsh explains. “And the business model — offering agents a way to secure the listing by paying the seller upfront for the right to market the property — assures the seller that the agent is committed to success.”
Meanwhile, he says, “agents get a source of serious sellers, which is the ultimate goal for an agent.”
Alexander, who joined the Board in March, shares he's encountered some scepticism to Hyyve in his network, something he chalks up to the premise being unfamiliar. He credits Hyyve for being the first seller-focused lead platform that “has some legs” in his 15 years in the industry.
“Some agents have expressed concern that it’s simply a commission-based ‘race to the bottom.’ Plainly put, it’s not,” says Alexander. “The platform gives agents a chance to demonstrate their value. It's been proven over and over again that sellers aren't just interested in the cheapest deal, they want to work with an agent that's credible, trustworthy, experienced, and can get the job done, and you don't accomplish that just by cutting your commission.”
Christopher Alexander, Former President, RE/MAX Canada and Active Consultant, RE/MAX Europe
One of the reasons Alexander's on board with Hyyve is because he sees it giving agents a more direct return on investment than traditional marketing avenues would. “With Hyyve, you can place a bid on a listing, and if you win the listing, that's a direct ROI. And if you don't win the listing, you get your money back,” he adds. “So I see that it has a potential to be a much more efficient form of advertising spent.”
As innovative as Hyyve might be, the platform is not meant to replace the traditional real estate model — in fact, Hyyve is hands-off once the agent-seller relationship has been established. The listing agreement is signed through the platform, and Hyyve steps back, holding any upfront funds in trust. This ensures all parties remain focused on selling the home. Hyyve is designed to enhance what has long been the status quo in real estate — where sellers typically rely on referrals, which aren’t always a recipe for success. By introducing transparency, competition, and accountability into the selection process, the platform elevates the traditional model without disrupting it.
“I think the average consumer who has bought and sold real estate doesn’t really understand how much work goes into getting a home sold in a slower, uncertain marketplace like we're in today,” says Alexander. “And when you have a platform that allows you to showcase all of what you do to get homes sold — like showcasing your average days on market if it’s better than the average, your average list-to-sale ratio if it's better than the average, your unique marketing plans that get homes sold faster than the average — it has the potential to be a much more efficient way to win business.”
It’s a better way to go about the first step ahead of the traditional home sales process, giving homeowners and homebuyers more control, and giving agents exposure to listings they may not have otherwise been privy to, says Thomas. “It makes for a more rewarding, informed, measured, and transparent experience.”
To learn more, visit hyyve.ca.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This article was produced in partnership with STOREYS Custom Studio.
