Property Bounty / Guide
← HomeReal estate, in reverse.
On MLS, sellers list and buyers chase. On Property Bounty, buyers post what they want with a committed cash reward — and a network of local Bounty Hunters surfaces matching properties, on-market and off.
Property Bounty inverts a structural assumption baked into real estate for fifty years: that the seller acts first. On MLS, a homeowner decides to sell, hires an agent, signs papers, and goes public — only then does a buyer get to look. By the time a property is searchable, every other buyer in the city is looking at it too, and the bidding moves accordingly.
The problem is that most properties don't reach that moment, and many never do. The duplex two streets over with the deferred maintenance and the absent owner. The bungalow where the family is quietly deciding to downsize. The corner lot that's been an assembly opportunity for years and no agent has thought to call. None of it shows up in a search.
So instead of asking what's for sale, Property Bounty asks who is looking for this property, and what will they pay to find it? Buyers commit a reward in advance. Locals who already see those streets every day — not licensed agents — do the surfacing. Most of this guide explains how the mechanics enforce that flip.
The short version.
A buyer describes the property they want and commits a cash reward in CAD. At checkout they pay only the platform fee — the reward itself stays on their card and is not pre-held by Property Bounty.
A Bounty Hunter — a verified local with no real-estate license required — spots a match in their neighbourhood and submits it. If the buyer accepts and the deal closes, the hunter receives 100% of the posted reward.
Property Bounty verifies both sides, routes submissions, and runs payouts through Stripe Connect on closing. We are a marketplace processor, not a custodian; rewards move on Stripe rails, never onto a platform balance.
MLS shows what's listed. Bounties surface what isn't.
MLS is a listings database. It assumes the seller has already decided to sell, gone through an agent, and gone public. That works for the roughly half of inventory that wants to be a listing — but it's useless for the half that doesn't.
Off-market inventory doesn't sit in a database. It sits behind a kitchen table, in a hallway conversation, in a "for sale by owner" sign that went up Tuesday and will come down Friday.
That gap is what every serious investor in this country spends real money trying to close. Driving for dollars. Skip-tracing absentee owners. Door-knocking neighbourhoods. Cold-calling. Property Bounty is the same job, structured: instead of one investor running their own outreach, a public reward is posted and a distributed network of locals goes looking. The cost is fixed and the work doesn't happen unless it produces.
Five steps from posted to paid.
Every bounty follows the same five-step path. The whole point of the platform is enforcing this sequence end-to-end so the incentive is legible at every stage — especially the two that involve money leaving the buyer's account.
A buyer posts a bounty.
They describe the property — neighbourhood, type, size, ceiling price, condition, any criteria that matter — and set a reward in CAD. Most bounties run $5,000–$15,000; the buyer chooses what the find is worth to them.
They fund the platform fee, not the reward.
At checkout the buyer pays a 10% platform fee plus a 3.5% Stripe processing pass-through, and saves a card on file. The reward itself is not pre-held. The bounty goes live and becomes searchable to hunters across Canada.
Bounty Hunters submit matches.
Hunters review the criteria and submit properties they believe match — with photos, address, asking price, and a way to contact the owner or listing. Every submission must affirm it meets every criterion. Submissions stay open until the bounty matches or expires.
The buyer accepts a match.
They review every submission and pick the strongest. On acceptance, the reward charges to the saved card off-session, and all other submissions auto-reject. The hunter is notified and can begin coordinating the deal.
The reward transfers on closing.
When the deal closes, the buyer confirms in-platform and the reward transfers to the hunter via Stripe Connect. If the buyer doesn't confirm within seven days, the system auto-confirms. If the deal falls through, the bounty can roll back to open.
How a bounty stacks up.
Property Bounty doesn't replace any single thing. It sits next to MLS, buyer's agents, and informal bird-dogging — each does part of what the others can't.
Pull instead of push.
MLS shows what sellers have already chosen to list. A bounty surfaces what isn't listed yet — off-market homes, pre-MLS, FSBO, distressed, family-transition properties. You're not competing with every other buyer running the same filter.
Fixed-price, no retainer, no exclusivity.
A buyer's agent works on commission — typically 2–2.5% of the purchase price — paid whether or not they actually find what you wanted. A bounty is a fixed reward you set, charged only when you accept a match. No retainer. No listing-side conflict.
A marketplace, not a handshake.
Informal sourcing depends on personal networks and trust. Property Bounty structures it: ID-verified hunters, business-verified buyers, an audit trail on every introduction, a no-circumvention clause, and Stripe Connect payouts. Less handshake risk on both sides.
What you pay, and when.
Property Bounty is a marketplace processor, not a custodian. The reward never sits on a platform balance — money moves on Stripe rails, in two discrete moments. The mechanic is unusual enough that it's worth walking through with actual numbers.
The reward stays on the buyer's card until they accept a match. Property Bounty never holds the funds in between.
At checkout — fees only.
The buyer pays a 10% platform fee plus a 3.5% Stripe processing pass-through, and saves a card on file. On an $8,000 CAD bounty: $800 platform + $280 processing = $1,080 charged today. The $8,000 reward is not charged yet.
On match — reward charged.
When the buyer accepts a submission, the reward is charged off-session to the saved card. On closing, those funds transfer to the hunter via Stripe Connect. The hunter receives 100% of the posted reward — fees are paid by the buyer, not deducted from the bounty.
If nothing matches — refund.
On expiry or pre-match cancellation, the 10% platform fee is refunded. The 3.5% processing fee is non-refundable (it covers Stripe's pass-through). The reward was never charged, so there is nothing to release.
Who's on each side.
Buyers and Bounty Hunters do almost nothing in common. They use different parts of the platform, hear about it through different channels, and treat the marketplace as a different kind of tool. The only thing they share is the bounty itself, which is the contract between them.
Buyers
Mostly real-estate investors: BRRRR operators hunting distressed inventory, buy-and-hold investors chasing a specific cap rate in a specific corridor, developers looking for assemblies and sites that will never list. Buyers complete business verification before posting their first bounty. More for investors →
Bounty Hunters
Locals who already see their neighbourhood every day: drivers, neighbours, stay-at-home parents, long-time residents, property managers. The value is local knowledge, not real-estate credentials — the empty house on the corner, the family quietly preparing to move, the FSBO sign that just went up. More for Bounty Hunters →
The basics, answered.
What is Property Bounty?
A Canadian demand-led real estate marketplace. Buyers describe the property they want and commit a cash reward in CAD. A network of Bounty Hunters — everyday locals, not licensed agents — submits matching properties. The buyer accepts the best match; the reward transfers to the hunter when the deal closes.
How is a real estate bounty different from a buyer's agent?
A buyer's agent works on commission — typically 2–2.5% of the purchase price — paid whether or not they find what you actually wanted. A bounty is fixed-price. You set the reward, you only pay if someone finds a match you accept, and the reward only charges when you accept. No retainer, no exclusivity, no listing-side dependence.
Do I need a real estate license to be a Bounty Hunter?
No license is required to sign up and submit bounties. Most Bounty Hunters are everyday locals — drivers, neighbours, stay-at-home parents, long-time residents — who know their area. Some provinces regulate trading in real estate for compensation, so hunters are responsible for complying with their jurisdiction's rules.
When is the reward actually charged?
Only when the buyer accepts a matching submission. At checkout the buyer pays the 10% platform fee plus a 3.5% Stripe processing pass-through and saves a card on file. The reward stays on the card until match, then transfers to the hunter via Stripe Connect on closing.
What happens if no Bounty Hunter finds a match?
The reward was never charged. On expiry or cancellation the 10% platform fee is refunded; the 3.5% processing fee is non-refundable. On a $10,000 CAD bounty, the buyer would get the $1,000 platform fee back; the $350 processing fee is retained.
Where does Property Bounty operate?
Across Canada, with the most activity in the Greater Toronto Area, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, and Ottawa. All bounties and rewards are denominated in CAD.
Is Property Bounty a real estate brokerage?
No. Property Bounty is a marketplace and payment platform. Bounty Hunters are not licensed agents and do not represent buyers in transactions, negotiate on their behalf, or hold trust funds. The platform's role is to verify both sides, route submissions, and process the reward on closing.
Ready to start
Post a bounty, or hunt one.
Both sides start free. Bounties go live the same day; verified hunters can browse open bounties immediately after sign-up.