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No. But Redfin.com has the best real estate site on the web. Realtor.com better duplicate it or acquire it if they ever want anyone to use Realtor.com again.
Thanks for the lead. I had not seen this site. The property descriptions are more complete than realtor.com and there are more pcitures for most houses. However the video tour that sometimes appears on realtor.com is missing and the the occasional slide show (with dozens of pictures) is missing. Still it will be fun to have another site to explore.
redfin.com is limited to certain states. I can tell you that unless the NAR does something to straighten out their act from the "old days", redfin is really going to be the future of Real Estate. It makes the NAR's methods look archaic.
I know someone that bought with redfin in San Diego. He was an educated buyer and knew what he wanted and where. He pretty much told me that he would buy 3 more properties using redfin because it was THAT easy to do. In this day and age with e-docs and a powerful tool like redfin, there is nothing stopping them.
On the flip side, I cant say that it would work out too well for someone that doesnt have the slightest clue of where to start (eg Property Virigin). There are agents that work for redfin that can probably answer all the questions a first timer would have.
Also when it comes to dollars and cents. I dont see how the commission structure of an old school REALTOR is going to compete with the tools redfin has. It can give a ton of leverage to a buyer or seller in that dept. 6% days are going bye bye.
I just closed on a home I bought using Redfin.
When looking at homes you will be assigned a field agent to show the home.
Could be somebody different each time.
But our experience was we ended up working with 3 field agents.
We looked at many many many homes.
When it was time to make an offer we worked with an agent that specializes in negotiations.
The process went smoothly and their online document system was a huge time saver.
We made offers on several homes before we were able to close a deal.
The agent we were working with was professional and knowledgeable.
When we finally did get the deal it almost fell apart due to an appraisal issue.
Again the agents were there to help, and we resolved the problem and closed the deal.
I never felt like I was having to settle for limited service in exchange for the rebate.
The rebate was credited to us on the HUD1 at closing and saved us thousands.
The Redfin websits is the best in the area for researching homes.
What are are you located in. They are only operating in the larger markets.
Thanks for the lead. I had not seen this site. The property descriptions are more complete than realtor.com and there are more pcitures for most houses. However the video tour that sometimes appears on realtor.com is missing and the the occasional slide show (with dozens of pictures) is missing. Still it will be fun to have another site to explore.
There is one other minor difference between Redfin and Realtor.com you might want to consider.
Redfin will give you thousands of dollars in cash when you use them.
[mod]...[mod] I agree Redfin kicks butt as a site to search for housing. They've even added a feature where their agents post honest comments (ie, not always positive) about the homes they view.
I've been using the Redfin site in my ongoing moving odyssey and find it invaluable (pictures could be bigger, though). The "videos" a lot of sites post are useless. Just panned shots of the still photography.
A friend of a friend (so major hearsay) had a good experience using them to buy a place. Agree that the NAR needs to change its model-- and reputation.
I haven't used Redfin but I did went through its website... it only shows properties on some locations and favors some popular locations like parts of Virginia and California... I like the whole layout of Redfin because it shows the properties on a map so you have an idea WHERE the property is located... this is FAR better than Realtor... Its also really fast at pulling up these properties compared to other websites like Hotpad (or whatever it is called)... I like Redfin, I used it primarily to locate property... still looking for a piece of land for the right price though... its been 4 years already.. I am beginning to think that my land doesn't exist for my price.... lol...
NAR and Redfin are not an even comparison.
Apples and oranges.
Redfin is a real estate company, complete with a brokerage model.
NAR is not a brokerage.
Last edited by Marka; 07-03-2011 at 01:12 AM..
Reason: removed quote
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