What is Rocket Homes?

Rocket Homes Real Estate is a sister company of Rocket Mortgage, an online mortgage lender. Through its website and app, Rocket Homes helps buyers shop for and purchase homes, and it assists homeowners with listing and selling their properties. The company matches buyers and sellers with local, vetted agents from a variety of brokerages. It also offers tools for homeowners who want to sell without an agent and avoid paying a listing agent's commission.

The company wants to be a one-stop shop for the homebuying journey. Buyers can also get a mortgage through sister company Rocket Mortgage.

Here's a breakdown of services.

For home buyers

Home buyers can use the website or app to:

• Search for home listings.

• Request a connection with a real estate buyer's agent vetted by Rocket Homes.

• Get local housing market reports, where available.

• Apply for a mortgage with Rocket Mortgage, although buyers may use Rocket Homes without financing through Rocket Mortgage.

For home sellers

Homeowners can choose from a variety of options to sell their properties.

• Work with a local listing agent vetted by Rocket Homes. The agent will help price and prepare the home for sale, arrange for professional photos, list the home, review offers from buyers and guide the process to closing. You'll pay a standard real estate agent commission, which is typically 5% to 6% of the home's sale price.

• Work with an in-house Rocket Homes agent and pay a lower commission fee.

• Sell the home for cash. Rocket Homes will coordinate a cash offer in as little as 24 hours. You can skip listing the home.

• Do it yourself. You list your home on ForSaleByOwner.com, which provides tools to help price, market, show and sell the home. Closing assistance is available through Rocket Homes and is free for a limited period, as of this writing. ForSaleByOwner.com lets you list the home for free and has links to purchase the required real estate forms in your state. You don't have to pay a listing agent's commission, but you may need to pay a commission for the buyer's agent, which would typically be half of the standard commission of 5% to 6%. Like Rocket Homes, ForSaleByOwner.com is a subsidiary of Rocket Companies.

Home sellers can also access free property reports through Rocket Homes about local housing market conditions, including information about the number of homes for sale, asking prices, similar homes recently sold and average time on market.

Is Rocket Homes the same as Rocket Mortgage?

The companies are not the same, but they are related. Rocket Homes is a sister company of Rocket Mortgage. Both are subsidiaries of Rocket Companies, which also includes Amrock — a national provider of title insurance, property valuations and settlement services — as well as Rocket Auto and Rocket Loans.

» MORE: NerdWallet's picks of best mortgage lenders

Working with a Rocket Homes partner agent

Rocket Homes "Verified Partner Agents" are real estate agents who have joined the company's network to get matched with buyers and sellers. To be part of the network, agents must have:

• At least 24 months of experience working as a full-time agent.

• Closed at least eight real estate transactions in the last 12 months.

• An average client satisfaction rating of at least 4.5 out of 5 stars.

To get matched with an agent, you fill out a short online form or call the company. Rocket Homes will ask for basic information and then pick an agent who matches your needs. The company says an agent will contact you within 24 hours. If you're not satisfied with your agent, Rocket Homes says it will correct the situation or connect you with another agent.

Agents who get matched pay a referral fee to Rocket Homes after the transaction closes.

Rocket Homes pros and cons

Here are the pros and cons of using Rocket Homes compared to other agent-matching services.

Pros:

• Has an extensive network of partner agents in more than 3,000 counties across the country.

• Requires partner agents to maintain a strong customer satisfaction rating.

• Provides online tools to search home listings and get local housing market information.

• Offers a variety of options for sellers, including a cash offer program for those who want to skip listing their homes.

• Partner agents will be familiar with working alongside Rocket Mortgage, which may help the purchase process go smoothly if you use both companies.

Cons:

• There is no closing cost discount for buyers who use both Rocket Homes and Rocket Mortgage.

Rocket Homes has a stake in you using its sister company for financing. Although you can use Rocket Homes without getting a mortgage through Rocket Mortgage, partner agents are required to "protect the relationship between the client and their chosen lender, Rocket Mortgage. … Purposefully steering a client from Rocket Mortgage to another mortgage lender is prohibited," according to the network's terms and conditions.