You own the listing. You engage the help.
Within the Alliance network, property owners list and control their own properties, pay no levy to the platform for the listing itself, and engage professionals directly at flat fees for the services they select.
How the network regards property.
A property is the owner's. The listing of that property is the owner's. The decision to list, the price at which to list, the professionals to engage, the services to commission, and the moment to withdraw — all are the owner's. The Alliance's architecture is constructed to keep these decisions where they belong and to record them accurately, rather than to mediate them for a fee.
A property owner joining the Alliance network is verified under the same procedures that apply to participating professionals. Identity is confirmed; ownership of the property at issue is confirmed; the owner's authority to list is established. Thereafter, the owner's listing is the owner's to administer, on terms the owner sets.
The listing itself incurs no charge from the Alliance or from the operating node. Listing, modifying, renewing, and withdrawing a property are free to the owner. What the owner pays for is the professional services they elect to engage: an agent's representation at a flat fee, an attorney's contract at a disclosed base fee, an inspector's report at the inspector's rate, and so on. Each service is priced separately, billed separately, and paid separately.
Verification, and why.
Before an owner may list a property or a consumer may transact within the network, the Alliance conducts know-your-customer verification. This consists of confirmation of identity, confirmation of authority to act with respect to the property (in the case of an owner), and the standard diligence an institution conducts to ensure that its participants are who they represent themselves to be.
Verification is a one-time administrative process. Once complete, it carries across the network — an owner need not re-verify when moving to a second transaction, a buyer need not re-verify when making a second offer. The verification is held securely by the Alliance and is not sold, shared, or repurposed beyond the governance functions that justify its collection.
The purpose of verification is to render the network's guarantees meaningful. A platform that permits anonymous listing and anonymous transaction can make no assurance about the provenance of either. A verified network can. The Alliance has chosen the latter, and verification is the practical consequence of that choice.
Engaging professionals.
Once an owner has listed a property, the network's roster of verified professionals is available to assist. Agents, brokers, attorneys, inspectors, appraisers, title officers, mortgage professionals, stagers, photographers, and the many other practitioners whose work touches a real estate transaction are present in the Alliance roster — each verified, each displaying a standing in the Reputation Ledger contributed by those they have previously served, and each competing for the owner's engagement on price, reputation, and fit.
The owner selects. The Alliance does not recommend. The Alliance does not steer. The Alliance does not accept referral fees, and takes no share of the fee the owner pays to the selected professional. Its interest is solely in maintaining the accuracy of the roster and the integrity of the ledger by which the roster is evaluated.
Professionals engaged within the Alliance network are paid directly by the owner, at the fee disclosed in advance — flat, hourly, or daily as the profession warrants. No percentage of the sale price is due to any Alliance professional for transactional services. This is not a preferred arrangement; it is the first founding principle of the Alliance and is not subject to alteration.
The transaction, and the contract that governs it.
When an owner proceeds toward transaction — accepts an offer, moves to escrow, approaches close — the Alliance's smart contract system produces the instrument under which the transaction will be conducted. The contract is not a machine-generated form. It is a base contract authored and adopted by a licensed attorney in the jurisdiction of the property, who bears professional responsibility for its terms.
The owner selects from among the attorneys whose base contracts serve the jurisdiction. Selection is informed by the attorney's reputation, stated base fee, and the provenance of the contract under consideration. Customizations beyond the base contract are arranged with the selected attorney separately, on terms the owner accepts.
The contract's terms — the earnest money treatment, the contingency framework, the timeline of performance, the allocation of costs — are the attorney's responsibility. Questions about those terms are directed to the attorney of record. The Alliance holds the contract infrastructure; the attorney holds the professional duty.
A voluntary contribution, upon completion.
At the close of a transaction, the parties completing it are offered an opportunity to make a voluntary contribution to the network that served them. This mechanism is known as the Close Share. Its present terms are as follows:
- The contribution is voluntary. A party may decline, and the transaction completes unaffected. No present charge is levied by the Alliance against the transaction.
- A suggested amount is presented. The Close Share system suggests a contribution proportionate to the transaction; the party may accept, adjust, or decline. The suggestion is a figure, not a demand.
- The contribution is divided in thirds. Where a contribution is made, it is divided in equal parts among the operating node, the Alliance itself, and the network infrastructure — the three parties whose coordinated work made the transaction possible.
- The Alliance reserves the right to adjust the mechanism. The charter permits the Alliance, in the future, to convert the Close Share from a voluntary contribution to a defined transaction fee should the network's operational requirements warrant it. Any such change would be disclosed in advance and would remain subject to the founding principles — including the prohibition on percentage-based compensation for professional services, which is a separate matter from transaction-processing contributions.
The design of the Close Share reflects the Alliance's preference for voluntary contribution over compulsory extraction, and its recognition that the sustainability of the network requires some contribution from the transactions it processes. The balance between these two concerns is presently struck by a suggestion that may be accepted or declined.
What the Alliance costs a property owner.
- Listing
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Free
There is no charge to list a property within the Alliance network. Listing, modifying, renewing, and withdrawing are all without fee from the Alliance.
- Verification
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Free
Know-your-customer verification is conducted without charge as part of initial registration. It is a one-time process.
- Professionals engaged
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As agreed, directly with the professional
Flat, hourly, or daily fees as the profession warrants and the owner accepts. Paid directly to the professional. The Alliance does not take a share.
- Contract of record
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Attorney's base fee
Disclosed in advance by the selected attorney. Customizations beyond the base contract are billed by the attorney separately, at terms the owner accepts.
- Close Share
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Voluntary at close
A suggested contribution at transaction completion, divisible in thirds among the node, the Alliance, and the network. The owner may accept, adjust, or decline.
The network is presently in formation.
The Alliance and its node operators are establishing operations across jurisdictions. Property owners interested in the Alliance framework are invited to await the opening of node services in their state, or to address the Office of the Chairman with inquiries.
info@aorep.org