Redfin Realtors (Arlington Heights, La Grange, Arlington: real estate, broker, houses)

[Camicaner]

Hello - I recently became aware of the existence of Redfin.com realtors and the different way they operate than realtors with traditional businesses. We will be entering the housing market soon and wondering if anyone has experience working with a Redfin realtor? Anyone closed with one? We will be looking North/ NW of the city - it looks like there's roughly one realtor per community.

[chet everett]

There is NO difference in "how they operate". Illinois licenses all real estate agent / brokers the same. If some will "rebate" part of their commission to you that can leave more money in your pocket but in my expericne the relative volume that some agents that operate on a "rebate model" means they may not be as responsive / helpful as agent that takes on fewer clients...

[tyd450]

I just recently used Redfin to purchase a home in La Grange and a close friend of mine also used Redfin for a home in Arlington Heights. I cannot recommend them enough and their response time was almost instant at any time of day.

My agent did a wonderful job negotiating for me and I will be receiving close to a $2500 rebate check a few days after closing. What a redfin agent won't do is actively find homes for you or drive you around to see places. I am the kind of person who really likes to research things myself anyway, and their software is so advanced and easy to use that it really doesn't even matter. You set all of your parameters for a property search and you can receive instant email updates whenever there is a change in the MLS system. It seems like most traditional agents these days just forward you an email with these listings anyway, not exactly "value added" in my opinion and I decided that this was worth me saving a couple grand.

Also, they work in "teams" where only a few of the agents are full "deal writing" agents and the others are associate agents who can schedule all of the tours and get you into the homes you want to see. I toured probably 20-30 homes and I only had to use an associate agent twice.

I can honestly see why traditional agents are so quick to bash them because these guys don't work on commission and are pretty flexible and totally "no pressure" to deal with. They are paid on salary and receive extra compensation purely based on good reviews from clients.

If you are someone who has absolutely no idea which community you are interested in or needs to have your hand held from start to finish then I probably wouldn't recommend Redfin and I would go the traditional agent route. However, you can still use the redfin software for free (you just have to sign up and create an account) and you can even tour some houses using redfin with absolutely no commitment... until you are ready to make an offer then they have you sign an agreement.

[Camicaner]

Thank you all for your honest, helpful answers. It's been awhile since we have looked for a home, it's a different real estate world out there now.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by tyd450

I just recently used Redfin to purchase a home in La Grange and a close friend of mine also used Redfin for a home in Arlington Heights. I cannot recommend them enough and their response time was almost instant at any time of day.

My agent did a wonderful job negotiating for me and I will be receiving close to a $2500 rebate check a few days after closing. What a redfin agent won't do is actively find homes for you or drive you around to see places. I am the kind of person who really likes to research things myself anyway, and their software is so advanced and easy to use that it really doesn't even matter. You set all of your parameters for a property search and you can receive instant email updates whenever there is a change in the MLS system. It seems like most traditional agents these days just forward you an email with these listings anyway, not exactly "value added" in my opinion and I decided that this was worth me saving a couple grand.

Also, they work in "teams" where only a few of the agents are full "deal writing" agents and the others are associate agents who can schedule all of the tours and get you into the homes you want to see. I toured probably 20-30 homes and I only had to use an associate agent twice.

I can honestly see why traditional agents are so quick to bash them because these guys don't work on commission and are pretty flexible and totally "no pressure" to deal with. They are paid on salary and receive extra compensation purely based on good reviews from clients.

If you are someone who has absolutely no idea which community you are interested in or needs to have your hand held from start to finish then I probably wouldn't recommend Redfin and I would go the traditional agent route. However, you can still use the redfin software for free (you just have to sign up and create an account) and you can even tour some houses using redfin with absolutely no commitment... until you are ready to make an offer then they have you sign an agreement.

Redfin real agents make 2/3 of their income off commissions. 1/3 from salary.

So obviously they are only 2/3 dishonest after the buck...

[tyd450]

I would hope they wouldn't just blatantly lie on their website but I guess crazier things have happened?

What If You Could Reinvent Real Estate? | Redfin

Regardless I had a great experience and I got a great house at a well negotiated price....and a couple grand back in a refund that I wouldn't have normally received.

[Runuova]

My associate Redfin realtor has been great! The bank wanted 89k and we are getting it for 85k with them paying 4% closing cost, and addressing all of my home inspectors findings.

[BriteSpot]

I currently use Redfin's site & app & find them to be helpful.
My broker is not a Redfin but she's pretty awesome.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by tyd450

.... I toured probably 20-30 homes and I only had to use an associate agent twice.

....

Could you clarify this statement please? How did you tour 20-30 homes if you only had to use the associate agent twice?

[tyd450]

Originally Posted by BigV

Could you clarify this statement please? How did you tour 20-30 homes if you only had to use the associate agent twice?

So they have "deal writing agents" and "associate agents". They work in teams which allows them to cover more ground and cut costs. Associate agents can only schedule home tours and take you through the tours and things like that. They can't make offers, negotiate, etc. I only had to use one of them instead of my normal agent twice. Every other time I had my agent Dave (a deal writing agent).

It is a bit confusing at first but if you look on redfin's website you will see like 2 or 3 agents in each territory. These are all deal writing agents who you will get to choose from. If you don't hit it off with them you can switch to another at any time.