Canada’s real estate market has clung to the same flawed model for decades, but I didn’t realize how broken it was until I experienced it myself. In 2021, I bought my first home–a three-bedroom townhouse in Oakville, Ontario. A year later, I sold it to move closer to work in Toronto. For most, buying or selling a home is the largest transaction of their lives. For me, it was also the most frustrating. 

When I bought my home for $900,000, my realtor seemed more focused on closing quickly and securing a higher price than on my best interests. When I eventually sold it, the realtor put even less effort into the process. My realtor was overseas so I had to handle many tasks myself, like coordinating with the photographer and stager. In both cases, I was stunned by the commissions costs–selling my home for $1.2 million meant paying $60,000 in commissions to the agents. As an immigrant from Sri Lanka who worked hard to save, watching so much money disappear to two realtors who barely lifted a finger was infuriating.

Soon after the sale, I vented anonymously in a Canadian personal finance group on Reddit. I stressed this wasn’t about any one realtor but about an industry that no longer makes sense. Commissions are tied to home prices, so realtors earn more when buyers pay more–creating a conflict of interest with clients who want to spend less. Since realtors only get paid if clients buy, they’re incentivized to push for a fast purchase. The model serves the system–not the buyer or seller. 

To my surprise, my post went viral–racking up hundreds of thousands of views and numerous comments from others who shared my frustrations. That’s when I realized this wasn’t just my problem. In 2022, spurred by the overwhelming response, I partnered with a friend to co-found Zown, pronounced like “zone”, to build a superior one-stop alternative to traditional brokerages in Ontario.

I’ve always wanted to use technology to improve people’s lives–a mindset I developed during my PhD in nanotechnology at the University of Waterloo. On weekends, I’d spend three hours on public transit to visit family in Markham, Ontario–a trip that took less than half that time by car. So in 2019, I co-founded HiRide, a carpooling app that matched students by both destination and shared interests, turning rides into social connections. That experience taught me how to attract customers, build solutions to inefficiencies, and grow ideas creatively on a lean budget—skills I later brought to Zown. 

Our first challenge was building a customer base. Initially focused only on home sellers, my co-founder and I started promoting the platform in real estate Reddit groups. We charged a flat fee of $5,000, which is now $8,000, to list on MLS and offered AI-powered tools for valuation, renovation estimates, and photo enhancements showing what homes could look like post-renovation. It was transparent, predictable, and cheaper than the commissions I once paid. Within months, the website was getting hundreds of thousands of visits, but we were closing only about 10 deals per month. Some sellers were hesitant, warned by traditional realtors that they might get less for their home by using what they called an unproven platform.

We knew we could build trust over time, but to increase our platform’s appeal, we chose to also cater to homebuyers—specifically by addressing the biggest hurdle for first-time buyers: upfront costs. With that approach, sellers weren’t just relying on the open market–they could instantly connect with serious buyers already on Zown. For buyers, the process starts on our website, where they enter their income and savings into a form, and our AI-driven tools calculate not just what they can afford but also how much we’ll contribute to their purchase–the most disruptive part of our model. Instead of waiting until the sale closes, we advance buyers 1.5 per cent of the purchase price, compared to the typical 2.5 per cent buyer’s agent commission paid afterwards. On a $1 million home, that’s $15,000 buyers can use upfront for their down payment, helping them get into a home faster without draining their savings.

The real barrier to homeownership is saving for the downpayment. In Toronto, renters pay an average of $2,600 a month, leaving them just $1,000 to save each month. By advancing 1.5 per cent upfront, our model helps buyers purchase a $1 million home up to 15 months earlier. The model is financially sustainable for us too because we only cover two thirds of the advance, with the remaining third funded by referral fees from our mortgage broker partners.

Another key difference is that Zown’s realtors are salaried, not commission-based. They earn a base salary with bonuses tied to customer reviews so their only incentive is delivering an outstanding experience. Each client works with two agents: a dedicated main realtor who manages the search, negotiation and paperwork, and a local showing agent for in-person viewings. This structure combines local expertise with quicker service. 

On paper, Zown’s advantages over the traditional model were clear: a streamlined, digital-first approach covering everything from mortgage approval to legal documents. With lower overhead than conventional competitors, we can charge less. But breaking into an industry resistant to change wasn’t easy. Real estate remains driven by word-of-mouth and personal referrals, and dominated by big, entrenched brokerages.

We also faced direct resistance from traditional brokerages. Months after launching in our office in Markham, a major competitor in the building complained to the landlord and threatened to leave unless we were forced out. Since we were on a month-to-month lease, we weren’t invited to renew. It was petty–but it clearly showed how threatened the old guard felt by our model.

Despite those setbacks, we pushed ahead by securing a new office in North York and made a breakthrough when realtors began buying in. While we expected pushback, many realtors welcomed the stability Zown offered. The traditional model is flawed for them too: client conversion rates hover at one to three per cent, meaning most realtors spend months working with clients who never close. They bleed money on ads and wait up to 10 months from first contact to first paycheque. At Zown, we handle the marketing, so realtors don’t pay for ads and receive regular paycheques, freeing them to focus on what they do best: finding and negotiating the right homes. That’s how we’ve attracted top talent, with 20 full-time realtors across Canada and counting.

The results speak for themselves. We expect nearly $14 million in revenue by the end of 2025, following 900 per cent year-over-year growth. Each month, we average 50-plus homes bought and sold through Zown. Since launch, we’ve helped nearly 500 people buy homes. Zown also recently expanded into California with two realtors, targeting a market facing similar affordability challenges and many potential first-time buyers. Next, we’re planning expansions into Alberta, British Columbia, and Texas.

This work feels especially important during North America’s affordability crisis. Historically, real estate has been key to building wealth. By their 40s or 50s, homeowners’ net worth is 40 times that of renters. Helping buyers move into homes sooner doesn’t just improve their finances–it transforms their lives. 

Related: “In the End it Worked”: Anshul Ruparell Has a Better Way to Sell Real Estate

One of my fondest memories in leading Zown is of a Filipino couple–both nurses at the Toronto General Hospital–who had given up on homeownership and struggled to find a rental for their family of six. When they finally bought a home through Zown, they came to our office in tears of gratitude. Moments like that remind me why I do this.

I started Zown fuelled by frustration after encountering a broken system. Today, with millions in revenue and hundreds of families moving into new homes they once thought unreachable, I know that frustration was worth it.

– As told to Ali Amad