Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

Post by goshx » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:34 PM UTC

rhodysurf wrote: post #7

notadoc wrote: post #3

I'm still waiting for someone to completely eliminate the realtor and charge a reasonable flat fee ($1000?) to buy/sell a house and handle all the related details. Why do we need realtors at this point? Everyone finds houses themselves online nowadays. Why does anyone need to pay a whopper commission to some middle-man?

I used to think the same way, but then I bought my first house and my realtor was insanely helpful. The entire process is filled with random quagmires that I would have never known how to manage otherwise. Someone with more experience may be more able to go it alone obviously, but my realtor was invaluable.

Post by hkmurakami » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:36 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #32

ferentchak wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see some of the expertise coming into play on the selling side. Can you give me a few examples of what kinds of value one gets while buying? From what I can tell the main service that my realtor offered when I buying my place was access to the MLS. We found the houses we wanted to look at and he gave us access. Dollars per hour he was doing very well working with me, although I might be an exception.

In my most recent homebuying experience, my realtor was able to point out several facts about the house based on the surrounding market that saved me about $40k. It also helps that I don't pay for the realtor on the buy side. What's your argument against a good realtor who saves you any amount when it's coming out of the seller's fee? Edit: By the time you've come to visit a home you're buying, the seller has already…

Post by vadym909 » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:37 PM UTC

saimiam wrote: post #26

ransom1538 wrote: post #5

Redfin with its smaller cut of RE transactions on the seller side combined with the ability to circumvent MLS with it's own listing system could be the begining of the end for agents.

While I don't disagree with you, Redfin has been in business since 2004. 13 years is a long time to take to kill off realtors. I'm in the process of selling my place and I'm using a realtor (who nearly matched Redfin's seller commission rate). The Redfin agent I first spoke to proposed a generic, templatized method to sell my property - list on N realtor sites, email my contacts, take nice pics - while the realtor I…

Post by hkmurakami » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:37 PM UTC

fraserharris wrote: post #42

bdamm wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having gone through four home-buying episodes, where my wife (an ex-realtor) spent massive amounts of time trolling Trulia, RedFin, calling police departments, gathering reports from the local City Hall, I can tell you there is still a service to be provided by agents. And anyone who has bought a house knows that the collection of contracts that represents "buying a house" is not a small collection, and errors can be…

What is the purpose of calling police departments?

Post by notadoc » Fri, Jul 07, 2017, 5:39 PM UTC

rhodysurf wrote: post #7

notadoc wrote: post #3

I'm still waiting for someone to completely eliminate the realtor and charge a reasonable flat fee ($1000?) to buy/sell a house and handle all the related details. Why do we need realtors at this point? Everyone finds houses themselves online nowadays. Why does anyone need to pay a whopper commission to some middle-man?

I used to think the same way, but then I bought my first house and my realtor was insanely helpful. The entire process is filled with random quagmires that I would have never known how to manage otherwise. Someone with more experience may be more able to go it alone obviously, but my realtor was invaluable.