Online real estate broker Redfin Corporation today released the results of its latest customer satisfaction survey. Redfin also launched a first-of-its-kind 100% satisfaction guarantee for real estate consumers.

The survey was for customers of Redfin Direct, an online home-buying program in which customers tour homes for sale on their own and draft an offer online, with local Redfin agents handling offer advice, negotiations and closing.

Each month, Redfin distributes an online satisfaction survey to everyone who signs a Direct offer, regardless of whether the offer wins. Other industry surveys only include customers who were successful in buying a home, skewing the result.

The latest survey found that 96% of Redfin offer-makers would recommend Redfin to a friend. Since Redfin began surveying its customers in April, 97% would recommend Redfin to a friend. Other findings:

• 69% found our service to be "much better" or "better" than that of a traditional agent. The rest said the service was "the same" or "not as good;" no one said it was "much worse."
• 70% had already recommended Redfin's service to more than three people.
• 63% had been solicited by the listing agent to represent both parties.
• 22% of Redfin customers said that being able to control the home-buying process without sales pressure was the most important factor in choosing Redfin; 24% said "sticking it to the man" was the most important factor in their choice. The most popular reason for choosing Redfin was still saving money.

Survey results are used to determine bonus amounts for Redfin agents, whose compensation is tied to customer satisfaction, not the home price. As part of its commitment to openness in the real estate industry, Redfin publishes its customer satisfaction ratings each quarter, regardless of the result.

"Our goal is 100% satisfaction," said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. "This is a goal we hold ourselves accountable for in how we pay our agents, how we share information with the public and how we charge our customers. We are proud of our efforts to serve customers, but we will continue to challenge ourselves to reach 100% satisfaction."

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the real estate industry's first online brokerage, combining a customer-focused team of real estate agents with online tools for making the process of buying or selling a home easy. Redfin is the only major search site to feature listings direct from broker databases as well as for-sale-by-owner and foreclosure properties from across the Internet. The company pays its agents customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions, and surveys every client, publishing each survey as well as details on the agent's negotiating performance and deal history. Redfin's service is available in the metropolitan areas of Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Washington DC, Baltimore, New York's Long Island and Westchester County as well as most of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California and Sacramento. To keep track of our daring exploits, subscribe to blog.redfin.com or our Twitter feed @redfin.