Press
Press Coverage Highlights
Online Start-up Redfin Saves Home Buyers Money
Linda Flynn is among a growing number of home buyers who swear by Redfin, an online start-up in Seattle that has rocked the real estate market ... Redfin's easy-to-use website provides consumers market data on home-sales histories, school districts and other information. Then Redfin brokers and agents take home buyers on house tours and negotiate and close deals.
The Science of Real Estate
TODAY's Meredith Vieira talks to Glenn Kelman, president of Redfin, an online brokerage, about the science behind what makes a house sell, when to sell it, and what you can get for it.
As Housing Market Cools, Far Fewer Become Agents
Some who want to stay in the business are taking a second look at working for commissions. "People who used to turn up their nose at working for us are now drilling holes to get into the building," said Mr. Kelman of Redfin, which pays a salary and a bonus based on customer satisfaction.
Hi-Tech Real Estate Moves In
Realtors' sacrosanct commission rates of 6 percent may be in danger due to emerging online competition from Internet real estate sellers and buyers. Lesley Stahl reports. video, full text
Redfin, an Online Brokerage, is Challenging the Status Quo - and Upsetting an Industry
"[Redfin's] Web site lists everything from the number of days a house has been on the market to historical sales data. The service is designed to appeal to Internet-savvy buyers who conduct home searches online, visit open houses on their own and don't need -- or necessarily want -- the help of a real estate agent until they're ready to make an offer."
Redfin Revolution: In Competitive Real-Estate Industry, Redfin Model is Working
'I'm used to doing all my own research already,' reasoned [Scott] Davis, a 38-year-old Microsoft marketing manager. 'If I'm going on holiday, I search the Internet for airfare, for the cheapest hotel rooms. So when searching for a house we were OK doing that, and Redfin made it easy.' Their Redfin agent helped them shave $12,000 off a Woodinville home's $440,000 asking price. The agent even negotiated the home's couch into the deal. The final flourish was receiving Redfin's $9,000 rebate.
Recent Press Releases
Redfin Launches Online Real Estate Service in Chicago
Online real estate broker Redfin Corporation today launched its real estate e-commerce service for the Chicago area, its eighth market overall and first new market in 2008. Redfin's brokerage, headquartered in Schaumburg, Ill., now serves Cook and Lake counties, but users can search for listings throughout greater Chicago. The company also expanded its real estate search to reach most of California, Illinois, Maryland, northern Virginia, Massachusetts and western Washington, increasing the number of listings and sale records on its site by more than four million, or almost 40 percent, to a total of 16 million homes.
Redfin Completes Three Multimillion Dollar Transactions in April
Online real estate broker Redfin Corporation today reported an increase in high-end homebuyers using Redfin, completing for the first time in its history three transactions in one month worth more than $2 million each, including one transaction that was worth more than $7 million.
Redfin Adds Foreclosure and For-Sale-By-Owner Inventory, Deepens MLS Integration
Redfin today launched a new version of Redfin.com that combines bank-owned foreclosure and for-sale-by-owner listings with broker-listed properties from local Multiple Listing Services (MLS). In the markets that Redfin serves, Redfin.com now displays more homes for sale and more information about those homes than any other website.
Redfin Releases Market Data Showing Its Home Buyers Fare Better in Negotiations
A Redfin analysis of the last 12 months' public real estate records in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area that shows its buyers and their Redfin agents negotiated a better price than buyers who used other brokerages. Redfin's average negotiating advantage was $3,594. The company also reported a 95 percent customer satisfaction rate for users of its home-buying service, and an average commission refund of $10,520.
Redfin Releases Dashboard for Listing Customers to Monitor Neighborhood Pricing and Traffic Trends
Redfin today released Redfin Listing Metrics, a dashboard for Redfin's listing customers to analyze neighborhood inventory trends and recent sales, and to compare their listing's online traffic to that of other listings in the neighborhood. With this release, Redfin is also displaying open house information in its map-driven search experience, offering consumers new ways to subscribe to listings, and incorporating a third home-valuation estimate, from Cyberhomes.
