Right Home, based in Glendale, Calif., allows consumers to choose the level of service and commission structure to list their homes for sale. The company's agents receive a salary plus bonuses, and they specialize in representing either buyers or sellers.

Paul Yalnezian, 51, the founder and president of Right Home, said the business model of Right Home eliminates "double-ending" in real estate transactions – the practice of collecting a double commission when the company's agents represent both buyer and seller in the same transaction.

Many real estate companies charge a commission ranging from about 5 percent to 7 percent of the total sale price of the home to list that home for sale, splitting that commission with an agent that represents the buyer in the transaction. But when agents from the same company represent both buyer and seller in a transaction, Yalnezian said he believes it is a conflict of interest for those agents to share in the full commission.

The company's business model rewards its own agents for closing deals and for high marks in customer satisfaction surveys, but the company does not increase its commission rate charged to sellers when the buyer is brought to the table by a Right Home agent. "In effect, sellers are getting buyer representation by buyer's agents for free," he said.

"We want to make sure we don't have conflicts of interest," he said. Because buyer's agents receive bonuses when they bring a buyer into a transaction that closes, there is incentive for them to work hard to find buyers for Right Home-listed properties, Yalnezian said. "If the buyer is not represented by (a company agent), then the company doesn't have to give a bonus to the Right Home agent," he added.

"We make sure there are checks and balances. The company's self interests never conflict with those of the clients."

The company's agents handle both sides of the transaction about 75 percent of the time, Yalnezian said.

When the buyer for a Right Home-listed property is represented by an outside agent, the company charges sellers an additional commission rate – typically 2 percent to 2.5 percent, Yalnezian said, which means that sellers would pay a 3.5 percent to 4 percent commission in those circumstances.

Right Home also takes a one-stop-shopping approach to real estate, and offers in-house mortgage and escrow services but does not mandate that its real estate clients sign up for these services. Yalnezian said the company does attempt to pre-qualify all of its real estate customers for a loan, even if those consumers choose to secure a loan elsewhere.

Yalnezian got his start in the real estate business as a mortgage broker before entering the real estate brokerage business. He said he has been refining the new business model since 1998, though it wasn't formally launched until this year. The company has 20 employees in all of its various divisions, and all of them work under the same roof. The company completes about 10 real estate transactions per month, on average, Yalnezian said.

Other companies have launched similar discount business models in which agents are employees. Foxtons, for example, is an East Coast discounter that employs its agents and offers a total commission as low as 3 percent to sellers.

Some consumers may be wary of entering into a transaction in which one company's agents represent both the buyer and seller in the same transaction. Yalnezian said that because Right Home calls attention to potential conflicts of interest in the real estate industry, the company must also redouble its efforts to make sure its own agents do not engage in these conflicts. "We have to be very careful to make sure you don't have in-house violations," he said.

In an announcement Wednesday, the company listed some examples of conflict of interest that consumers may encounter within the real estate industry, among them: an agent recommends other service providers and receives a kickback referral fee without disclosing the relationship to the consumer; listing agents state that they have several offers on a property when in fact there are no offers; and agents recommend that buyers offer above the asking price, even if comparable sales data suggests a lower property value.

Anet Pelehberg, who worked with Right Home to sell her former home and is now working with the company to locate a new home, said she had a good experience with the company. Pelehberg said her mother saw the company's advertising and told her about it, and she was interested in saving money in the home-sale transaction. "Saving money was a big factor for me," she said, adding that she appreciated the various real estate-related services that the company offers.

"It worked great for me – somebody who doesn't have a lot of time," Pelehberg said. She is working with the company's mortgage division to find a loan for her new home.

When her agent isn't available, other agents in the office assist her, she said. The company allows customers to choose a primary agent to work with, Yalnezian said, but also makes other agents available when the primary agents cannot be reached.

Right Home offers access to Multiple Listing Service property listings online, and lists for-sale properties as well as properties in escrow and recently sold properties in the Glendale, Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley; Burbank and San Fernando Valley; and Los Angeles and Westside areas of Southern California.

"There's no pressure," Pelehberg said. "I search for properties. If something interests me (I say), 'This is something I want to see.'"

Lisa Naila, another Right Home customer, said she has worked with them on several real estate transactions, including several mortgage transactions. "I know they work well," she said.