Detroit startup introduces voice-command technology that translates spoken requests into completed transactions.
Real estate agents spend significant time in vehicles, traveling between property showings, client meetings, and closings. A Michigan-based technology platform just made that drive time productive.
Realay launched a mobile app in late 2025 with voice AI capabilities powered by OpenAI integration, allowing agents to submit referrals, update transaction status, and coordinate contractor services entirely through voice commands. The technology translates spoken requests into platform actions without requiring agents to type addresses, client details, or transaction notes.
“The voice command is super easy for any agent to use,” said John LeRoy, Realay’s founder. “An agent can from anywhere speak their request into their phone with the Realay app, and that request turns into an action. There’s no more trying to type. There’s no more misspelling things.”
Beyond Transcription to Action
The distinction between Realay’s voice technology and typical transcription services lies in the automation layer. Speaking an address into a phone that converts it to text represents one capability. Speaking “send this client to an agent in Miami” and having the platform identify available network agents, verify their capacity, and complete the referral handoff represents something different entirely.
“It’s one thing to have words to transcription, but going from words to transcription to actual actions, there’s nothing like this in the market at all,” LeRoy noted during a recent product demonstration.
George Zeid, Realay’s technical architect, built the voice integration to address a practical reality: real estate agents work primarily from their vehicles, not from desks. The interface needed to function while agents were between appointments, potentially in parking lots or briefly stopped between showings.
“What is specific about the users of the app is that most of the time they’re not behind their desk,” Zeid explained. “They’re outside showing houses. We’re trying to make it as easy as possible to use the app and benefit from all the features.”
The Contractor Expansion
The platform expanded beyond agent-to-agent referrals into contractor network management with the mobile app launch. Agents can now use voice commands to refer clients to painters, locksmiths, roofers, and other service providers organized within their brokerage’s network.
The workflow operates identically to agent referrals. An agent sitting with a client who needs a painter simply opens the app and says, “Send Steve, my painter.” The contractor receives a text notification with the client’s contact information and project details. The broker maintains visibility into all contractor referrals through the dashboard.
“Every real estate transaction involves contractor services at some point,” LeRoy said. “We’re streamlining those connections and helping agents provide even more value to their clients while creating new revenue opportunities for brokerages.”
Contractors join the platform through broker invitations and pay subscription fees for access to referral opportunities. Brokers receive a portion of these subscription fees, creating passive income streams that don’t require additional work beyond the initial network setup.
The Technical Challenge
Building voice functionality that works reliably across different accents, speech patterns, and noisy environments required more development time than Realay initially projected. The team spent additional weeks refining the OpenAI integration to ensure consistent performance before submitting the app to Apple and Google for approval.
“For whatever reason, the voice AI commands took more of a challenge than expected, but it’s now done and working,” LeRoy said. The app launched on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store in late 2025 after passing platform review requirements.
The technology handles multiple command types: sending new referrals, updating transaction status, adding notes visible to originating agents, and referring contractor services. Each command type requires different data inputs and triggers different automated workflows within the platform.
Market Positioning
The mobile app addresses a gap between traditional software-as-a-service platforms requiring desktop access and fully automated systems lacking human oversight. Agents can now update referral status while walking through properties with clients, send contractor referrals during pre-listing consultations, and check transaction progress between appointments.
The platform continues operating on a pay-at-closing model with no upfront fees or monthly subscriptions. Realay takes 5% of the referral commission while originating agents receive their standard 25% referral fee, eliminating financial risk for brokers testing the system.
Independent brokers historically operated at a disadvantage compared to national franchises with dedicated relocation departments. The mobile app combined with voice AI functionality provides boutique operations with capabilities previously available only through franchise systems, without the franchise fees that can range from 6-8% of gross commission income.
The Three-Year Vision
LeRoy projects that within three years, using the Realay mobile app for all referrals will become industry standard practice. The prediction rests on the simplicity thesis: that agents will adopt tools requiring minimal effort and producing immediate results.
“People’s muscle memory will be using Realay’s mobile app,” LeRoy said. “The voice command is so easy and so responsive. People like simplicity. Realay is simple to use.”
Whether voice AI becomes the primary interface for referral management remains uncertain. But the technology exists, it functions, and it’s available now for brokers willing to test it. The question is whether the industry will embrace voice commands faster than it adopted previous technology shifts.
The Realay mobile app is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Brokers and agents can register at Realay.com to join the platform’s network across all 50 states, plus Canada and Mexico.
About Realay
Realay is a SaaS platform that enables real estate agents and brokers to seamlessly send and receive referrals across the United States. Founded in 2023 and based in Michigan, Realay provides independent brokers with referral network capabilities traditionally available only through national franchise systems, with no monthly fees or subscriptions. The platform launched its voice AI-powered mobile app in late 2025. For more information, visit realay.com.