A Boulder, Colorado, homeowner’s viral social media campaign that challenged local commission standards has inspired the launch of a new consumer-facing software application, according to a July 15 press release.
Ridley — live now in the Centennial State — is intended to leverage artificial intelligence, process automation and local MLS data to empower sellers to handle most of the sales process on their own. Surprising to some is that the software company’s founder and CEO, Mike Chambers, is not cutting agents out of the deal, despite what your Instagram algorithm might suggest.
While consumers can, on their own, complete listing information forms, receive market valuations, schedule and approve showings, and list their home on Zillow and their local MLS, they also have access to local experts and legal advisory services as needed.
Additionally, an artificial intelligence component is ever-present throughout the user experience, able to extract offer terms, dissect transactions into milestone stages with individual task lists, and find and hire local vendors, such as photographers, stagers and inspectors.
Chambers’ mission, now both personal and business-minded, is closely tied to the primary argument the industry publicly made against the ever-growing barrage of consumer-driven commission lawsuits: that listing commissions have always been negotiable.
In the press statement, Chambers said he was just trying to sell his home at a commission many local agents were not comfortable accepting, and faced ridicule for it. He couldn’t find a listing agent to take it for less than five percent.
“I didn’t set out to start a real estate company. What I discovered was an industry systematically designed to protect itself at the expense of consumers,” Chambers said. “I faced suppression from agents, censorship from platforms like Zillow, and even harassment from industry insiders. Ridley is my response — a platform built to challenge the status quo and empower everyday people to take back control of the home-selling process, saving billions in unnecessary commissions.”
Ridley’s website displays a number of product screenshots that display commission savings in a “Listing Snapshot” that includes a valuation range, timeline and the AI conversation module.
Chambers demonstrated the product to Inman in a live demonstration on July 14. A review will publish in the coming weeks.
“There’s a worthy mission here,” Chambers told Inman in the demo. “We’re seeing really promising traction, and we’re still early, but this is influencing peoples’ lives.”
Chambers has a background in technology and marketing. Asked if the social campaign was merely clever pre-rollout marketing, he admitted to knowing “how to build large organic followings,” but that Ridley is an organic byproduct of the reaction to his #realtorshateme campaign that earned him national media coverage, including in The New York Times.
“I understand why you have to ask me that, but if I had this product in mind when the The Daily, The New York Times’ podcast dropped, we’d have $4 million in revenue in the business, based on the sign-ups we had.” Chambers said he has 6,000 homeowners on a waitlist. The product is expected to become available in more states throughout 2025 and beyond.
When it comes to truly disrupting how homes are bought and sold, Chambers doesn’t believe technology is the problem.
“It’s consumer trust,” he said. “The timing is good. Look, everyone has access to the same underlying models and tools, I think the winner in this space will be really good at storytelling and building brands.”
When it comes to going head-to-head with a lobbying power with the pull and bulk of the National Association of Realtors, Chambers said he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s lot easier to be the underdog,” he said.
