Trying to sell your home, keep it neat and tidy for showings, and panicking about money while shopping for a new home that satisfies all your needs and fits your budget can be enough to want to make you just stay put.

For homeowners, buyers, and sellers, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. The traditional real estate model has been around a long time, but there are more modern solutions that make the process of buying and selling a lot easier.

We took a look at Orchard, a new player in the game, and compared it with the traditional process of using a realtor to buy and sell the property.

Here’s how they compared

Key Similarities

• Both charge the same traditional 6% fee and are upfront about costs
• Both will assign you a dedicated professional that will be with you every step of the way
• Both have real-time access to all of the listings in your area

Key Differences

• Orchard gives you a cash offer to unlock the equity in your home, so you can buy and move into a new home while their team cleans, lists, and sells your old home.
• Orchard’s site has a robust technology that allows you to input everything that’s important to you (max. commute length, number of bathrooms, fireplace, pool, recently-done roof, etc) that will rank available homes based on your priorities.
• Orchard takes care of cleaning or photos that need to be taken
• With traditional real estate, you may end up paying two mortgages if you find your dream home before your old one sells

Orchard Overview

Orchard is a new company that has reinvented the outdated real estate model. They extend the small window of real estate opportunity by allowing you to sell your house from the comfort of your new one. They give you a cash offer to unlock the equity in your home, so you can buy and move into a new home while Orchard cleans, lists, and sells your old home. You get to settle into your new place, while you sell your old home.

Orchard’s website simplifies the house-hunting process by allowing you to see everything that’s important to you – fireplace, pool, number of bedrooms, etc, so you can get exactly what you’re looking for and don’t have to waste your time viewing houses that won’t meet your needs.

You also won’t have to deal with outdated and inaccurate listings since theirs are updated every hour.

In terms of fees, Orchard charges the same traditional 6% that realtors do. However, with Orchard, you do get to save on double mortgages, storage costs, professional photography, and cleaning fees as well as other hidden costs, but some traditional real estate places offer these things at no cost, too.

Orchard’s process helps you unlock the equity of your home, so you become the most valuable player in the buying market. By becoming a non-contingent buyer, you’re the ideal buyer for any home, and 90% of Orchard’s homes sell for above that guaranteed minimum. Include are professional photos of your home, the guaranteed equity of your home, monthly cleanings of your old home, showings where you don’t need to be present, a weekly report on interest in your home and neighborhood market data, and 24/7 contact with your very own agent or advisor.

Traditional Real Estate Overview

With traditional real estate, you try to buy a new home and sell yours at the same time, hoping for the perfect window where you can move right into your new place right after your old one sells. The process is pretty generic- you hire a realtor who will take care of the paperwork, negotiations, listing your house, and finding you your dream home.

The main difference between Orchard and traditional real estate is that you have to sell your home first before you can access the funds to purchase your next. This can be a dicey and long process. Orchard allows you to become a cash buyer, which is way more attractive to those looking to sell their homes. Also, with traditional real estate, you have to deal with people continuously coming to view your home, which can be exhausting.

Final Notes

The real estate game is a tough one, but it’s also very exciting to be moving on to the next stage in your life. Traditional real estate has been around forever, but Orchard offers all of the same features, with so many other added benefits. Orchard takes the stress out of home buying and selling and can save you time, money, and, most importantly, peace of mind as you shop for your next home.

UPDATE: Save time and money when you sell and buy with Orchard. Follow this link to get one step closer to your dream home!