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Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

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Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#281

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

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…

I'm not sure I follow what's happening here.

Doesn't the person selling the house pay the real estate agent? Why would someone sell their house for ~$5k less?

This reads a lot like buying a vacuum cleaner at 10% off sale and thinking you saved 10%.

Redfin helped sell the house at the price the market would bear.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#282

Post by cowsandmilk »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #281
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…

I'm not sure I follow what's happening here. Doesn't the person selling the house pay the real estate agent? Why would someone sell their house for ~$5k less? This reads a lot like buying a vacuum cleaner at 10% off sale and thinking you saved 10%. Redfin helped sell the house at the price the market would bear.

When you buy through redfin, they pay you part of the commission they receive.

For instance, in my neighborhood, there is a house listed for $294,000. Redfin states you would receive a refund of $904 if you bought the property through them. It doesn't scale linearly, so a $395,000 house has a $1,785 refund, nearly twice as much. It also differs by market. These are in Boston and thus are probably lower than other markets because here it is a 2.5+2.5 split rather than the 3+3 in most markets.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#283

Post by chewyland »

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…

The real estate business, especially in Canada is essentially the mafia.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#284

Post by boulos »

rgbrgb wrote: post #212
boulos wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aha! I knew I wasn't crazy... I had told multiple people that Open Listings was the true incarnation of "this should be a fixed fee, not percent of transaction" only to be proven wrong by your current pricing page. Maybe like Vanguard you could do a sliding scale as the home price goes up? That is, instead of doing 50% off at all points (and I know you're focused on CA, but bear with me) you could increase the discou…

That's a cool idea. Our long term vision is definitely to get transaction costs approaching 0 so that home ownership becomes more accessible. > Did different portions of California respond differently to your pricing? As a young startup the sample size was pretty small, but I didn't see a regional difference. I'd say the mentality split was more experienced vs first time homebuyers. Experienced deal seekers understoo…

Thanks again for the informative reply. I agree on the "feels better helping families" angle. I think of high-end items as helping to subsidize the expected value (so drawing more high end homes means more absolute marketing / advertising dollars, allowing you to be even more competitive at the lower end). NVIDIA's Quadros and Teslas effectively pay for the GeForce price point, and both are required to be successful (GeForce drives volume, otherwise Quadro/Tesla would have to be ridiculously expensive).

I realize now that my assumption is likely wrong: selling lots of expensive homes at a lower commission doesn't generate nearly enough additional revenue. That is, there are only X000 units per year that trade hands at that price point, so unless you get a drastic change in behavior that doesn't move the needle. Interesting challenge!

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#285

Post by pweissbrod »

just4themoney wrote: post #139
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.

First two minutes of that video states the issue is limited to the case where the agent represents both the buying and selling parties which is only legal in canada.

I'm not canadian. I dont know how commonplace this is. But as an american it sounds pretty foolish of someone to accept a deal on your next mortgage with someone who openly controls both parties.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#286

Post by ryuker16 »

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…

Older people are hesitant because traditionally before the internet, for sale by owner homes had a bad reputation(iffy homes sold by cheap asses with hidden issues) and the real estate agent was the best choice for most.

I was helping my parents sell they're home and get rid of those con-artist real estate agent....they acted as though I suggested crazy talk for months on end to do for sale by owner.

Lastly some seller agents will refuse to visit or show for sale by owner as a professional courtesy issue(protectionism).

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#287

Post by ryuker16 »

scottLobster wrote: post #159
fizixer wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me guess, that ~$5k is less than 1% of what you would pay in total. No offense (and sorry for being off-topic) but I never get how people obsess over the under 1 or 2% cost savings while completely ignoring the overvalued principal. Two other examples, - People go over to buy a $50-$70k car and later boast how "they made" the salesman give them a $500 or $1k discount. (well what about a fully-functioning $20k car…

Just speaking for myself, 5k is a lot of money. So is 1k, so is $500. I can do a lot with that money. Percentages are arbitrary. I agree however that people buying luxury items and then boasting is kinda dumb. If you're willing pay premiums for luxuries, getting a slight discount on said premiums is hardly a victory. It's like people who buy stuff they don't need and won't use because it's "on sale" and then brag abo…

Ideally the real estate agent does help you get max value for your home.

So you make more even with commission. For bad sales people, impatient, or delusional folks, etc . A commission bad real estate agent is a great idea.

However bad real estate agents like house dumpers are satan's spawn.

They work the seller instead of the buyer.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#288

Post by ryuker16 »

vostok wrote: post #186
hijinks wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wanted redfin to work when we solf our house in the SF Bay area a few months ago. Redfin's issue is the selling agent was located 45 minutes away and just ran random comps and said our house was 120k lower then market. She said it would never sell for what I thought it was worth. So we ended up going with a local agent who put it on market for more then we thought and it sold for 1% over asking.

This happens with full price agents too. In my experience, their "expertise" is really just confidence and bluster. Commissions are high not because real estate salespeople are good, but because they are inefficient and because they operate under a de facto cartel.

It depends on the agent.

Some are pretty good at getting you more. The opposite is a house dumper or bad one(the house dumper is pro, excellent for buying).

I've sold in other industries before....good ones are worth every penny and know how to twist arms.

Granted it is a cartel that hopefully Zillow will destroy. I suspect the agent will still be around for the lazy, elderly, or those who can't sell well.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#289

Post by ryuker16 »

jjppott wrote: post #147
toomuchtodo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I'm still waiting for someone to completely eliminate the need for a software engineer and charge a reasonable flat fee to bolt together some libraries and handle all the related details. Why do we even need software engineers at this point? Everyone can find the libraries and open source tools they need online nowadays. Why does anyone need to pay a whopper paycheck to some middle-man?" You're paying for someone's…

I generally have a different opinion. I am somewhat in the industry (construction side) and I feel that generally most realtors dont really have much knowledge of what they are selling. Furthermore, it is relatively easy to get a real estate license (at least where I live) and the handful of acquaintances that have gotten their license really dont know more than the average person. I actually find the lack of knowled…

I assume most folks hire an inspector or appraiser before signing the final line?

I agree real estate agents are way too trusted. The good ones are great but any moron or scumbag can get a license.

Re: Real estate site Redfin files for IPO

#290

Post by ryuker16 »

duderific wrote: post #242
ovulator wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who bought my first house without a realtor involved at all. I don't know what value they could have added. Thanks to Zillow, Redfin and the like it was a piece of cake to locate a house. I found one that was for sale by owner that I liked, we negotiated on a price and came to an agreement. There was a lot of paperwork, but I'm literate and can read. Most of the complex stuff was with the loan and the titl…

> I found one that was for sale by owner that I liked, we negotiated on a price and came to an agreement. Sounds like you don't live in a very competitive market. Here in the Bay Area, you don't even talk to the owner of the house, as they will have a seller's agent. Generally if a house is desirable, there will be anywhere from 5 to 20 offers on a house. The only way to get your foot in the door is to have your buye…

Actually some would prefer no agent buyers due to contract arrangement.

For example, the buyer and seller will split commission but in some cases one side can collect all of it.

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