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Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

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Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#131

Post by IshKebab »

aetherson wrote: post #96
existencebox wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me offer a different viewpoint. Redfin absolutely serves a purpose, but in some markets, notably for my case very hot markets, it's a significant impediment. I really wanted redfin to work, shopping in seattle 2 years ago. I tried for almost a year, but they would consistently be not as contactable or prompt as we wanted, and gave us very erroneous advice when it came to crafting offers on some houses we wanted.…

I bought a house in SF three years ago through Redfin. The realtor that Redfin gave us was prompt, aggressive, and thorough in the bidding/closing process. What he didn't do is drive us around to open houses or suggest places to us. Which we didn't want anyway. I suspect that the individual realtor you get through Redfin has a big impact on your experience with the site. It sounds like you got a bad one and were unha…

This is really confusing. I just bought a house in the UK, and the process is as follows:

1. Look for house on Rightmove or Zoopla. 2. Call the estate agent or private seller to arrange a viewing. 3. Show up at the appropriate time. Look at house. 4. Make an offer. Offer gets accepted/rejected/they want more. Repeat until you get it or get outbid or give up. 5. Offer agreed (hopefully). Now do all the actual buying through mortgage brokers and solicitors.

The estate agents charge the sellers a percentage, which is cheeky because they do almost nothing - the only reason you should ever use one is if you are incapable of taking photos or really can't spare a few evenings to show people around the house.

But nobody ever drives you to see houses or finds them for you. How does it work in America?

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#132

Post by PenguinCoder »

paulddraper wrote: post #124
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 recently bought from someone selling through Homie. https://www.homie.com About $1000. Initial couple hundred to take pictures, put up a nice sign, and list your house. The balance is paid when you close. Scheduling viewings and offer submission is done through their site. They also offer legal advice. The only really nice feature they lack is HelloSign/similar integration for the paperwork.

I was looking for a company like this to sell my house, instead of through traditional realtor. I see their about page says "On average, we save Utahns over $8,000 per transaction." Is the service only available in Utah?

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#133

Post by opo »

runako wrote: post #114
opo wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You don't need a realtor, fyi, just a good real estate lawyer, Lawyer prices will obviously be different in different parts of the country, (so maybe a lot cheaper where you are) but I knew someone who arranged a transaction without a realtor and paid a lawyer a lot more than $1,000 to put together all the necessary documents. One thousand seems like a good deal. >...which you generally need anyway when buying/selli…

Just to keep pricing in context, the media home value in the US is right around $200k. So the transfer cost ends up being ~$12k. If the RE attorneys (on each side) each spent a full day @ $200/hour on the closing, you're looking at $3,200. That creates an extra $9k to split between the parties. And there's no way a closing takes a full day for an attorney (and most will be less than $200/hr). The best part is that th…

>... That creates an extra $9k to split between the parties. And there's no way a closing takes a full day for an attorney (and most will be less than $200/hr).

Yes, most brokers use standard forms, there isn't much actual expense there for them - which is a good thing because a real estate attorney I know bills at more than $400 per hour.

A good realtor does a LOT more than just fill out the contracts for you to sign. The realtor will spend lots of time scheduling inspections, helping find contractors, being at the property to watch contractors, scheduling the photographer, putting the ad on MLS, running open houses, answering questions from buyers, negotiating with buyers, working with the title company, arranging to hand the keys off to the buyer, etc, etc. You are paying for their experience to know what needs to be done and for the time it takes to do all those tasks that I mentioned (and others). The standard commission costs are high, but there are brokers like Redfin who are less expensive.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#134

Post by branchless »

IshKebab wrote: post #131
aetherson wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a house in SF three years ago through Redfin. The realtor that Redfin gave us was prompt, aggressive, and thorough in the bidding/closing process. What he didn't do is drive us around to open houses or suggest places to us. Which we didn't want anyway. I suspect that the individual realtor you get through Redfin has a big impact on your experience with the site. It sounds like you got a bad one and were unha…

This is really confusing. I just bought a house in the UK, and the process is as follows: 1. Look for house on Rightmove or Zoopla. 2. Call the estate agent or private seller to arrange a viewing. 3. Show up at the appropriate time. Look at house. 4. Make an offer. Offer gets accepted/rejected/they want more. Repeat until you get it or get outbid or give up. 5. Offer agreed (hopefully). Now do all the actual buying t…

In Canada realtors actually do something, they look for houses for you after you tell them what you want, they attend the viewing with you, get feedback, understand what you are after.

Is that worth 5% - no. Could they be removed by tech: probably. But they are far better than the low-life estate agents in the UK who are I think the least trusted profession, perhaps now undercut by bankers.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#135

Post by gpawl »

berberous wrote: post #13
ssewell wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't the main value of a realtor the ability to provide access to the home for sale, monitor the visitor, and provide insight in regards to the construction & quality of the home? I don't think most people expect the realtor to recommend random homes based on the buyers preferences, as most people use services, such as RedFin, to narrow down the homes that match their best fit.

And that's worth 3%? The issue with realtors is the exorbitant fees they still charge.

It's only exorbitant since the price of housing has skyrocketed in the past 20 years

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#136

Post by ericb »

opo wrote: post #126
ericb wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A house sale is really a large contract agreement with a number of finer points. The legal fees were maybe $750 - 1200 but memory is sketchy on that. There are filings necessary with the state and other items that make it legal, and at least in Massachusetts USA, it is a lot different than say selling a mountain bike. Banks need certain info for loans, there's the deed, etc, inspections, etc. When you are signing you…

I agree it would be a bit risky to buy/sell real estate without any outside help. My point was just that if you are already using a realtor, it shouldn't generally be necessary to also hire a lawyer.

The realtor and bank rely on the lawyer for your transaction and documentation.

When I say "you need a lawyer anyway", even if you used a realtor, a lawyer drew up the docs for closing, and you hired the lawyer who put together the closing docs, although you may not realize it. You are paying the lawyer directly as a line item in your closing costs, so they are technically "your lawyer." Most people think the realtor had something net-positive to do with the magic house-transfering documents, but, not really.

This may vary by state/locale.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#137

Post by [deleted] »

bkjelden wrote: post #12

I hope this company sees nothing but success. I bought my house through Redfin last year, and not only did I save ~$5k in commissions compared to a conventional realtor, I also felt the process was much smoother and more pleasant than other times I've interacted with a conventional realtor. It's simply absurd that in an era where any buyer can view photos of a house for sale online real estate agents still expect to…

[deleted]

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#138

Post by gpawl »

_m8fo wrote: post #108

I'm very interested in why many people believe a realtor should receive a percentage of the home's sale price as compensation but not the: - inspector (arguably a good one is more useful than realtor by pointing out foundation problems and other issues that can cost 10s of thousands) - attorney (again, arguably more useful. they can point out clauses and things like flood zone, unpermitted work, liens on the property…

Same reason that app stores charge a 30% commission instead of a flat fee. Prices are what the market will bear and prices are controlled by a cartel that runs the marketplace (the MLS members)

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#139

Post by just4themoney »

bkjelden wrote: post #12

I hope this company sees nothing but success. I bought my house through Redfin last year, and not only did I save ~$5k in commissions compared to a conventional realtor, I also felt the process was much smoother and more pleasant than other times I've interacted with a conventional realtor. It's simply absurd that in an era where any buyer can view photos of a house for sale online real estate agents still expect to…

If you really want to get your blood boiling about buyer's agents, watch this - https://youtu.be/jxcCJxN8aJE

Red Fin doesn't operate in my area but if it did I'd be all over it in a heartbeat when I bought my house.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#140

Post by strongai »

rgbrgb wrote: post #59
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?

With Open Listings we started flat fee on the buy side but had a couple problems. First, it was very hard to communicate the value prop to customers. We went to market with something like "we refund the buyer's commission minus our flat fee". This brought up all kinds of questions and often buyers thought we were more expensive than realtors. Saying that we're 50% the price of a traditional realtor ended up being a m…

Thank you. A very illuminating description of how things work.
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