I'm not the previous author, but I bought my home (in SF) with Redfin about 2.5 years ago, and our experience was very good. It felt to us like all the good parts of having a real estate agent and none of the bad parts.

We wanted to just browse a webpage for homes ourselves, though (and then have someone help us evaluate and make an offer on them). If you want someone to go out and find houses and offer them to you, it's not the service for you.

I bought with Redfin and my agent was fantastic. She worked much harder to close deals than did the full-commission agents working the sales (we made offers on two properties before closing on the third.)

However Redfin is not for you if you want an agent driving you around, suggesting "maybe you should look at this house," giving you inside tips like "oh, my friend at another brokerage has a great house that will be listed tomorrow," etc. Redfin is good if you don't mind driving the shopping process and you just want someone to close out the deal.

I can say that I saw a lot of really crappy agents selling houses. Most agents I saw absolutely do not deserve whatever commission they get. I do not think Redfin is as good as the best traditional agent. However I do think an average Redfin agent is probably much better than an average traditional agent.

I used them and it was excellent - exactly what I'd want as a tech-comfortable person. It's not the best for people who want a person to meet with in person or talk to frequently on the phone. Also note that Real Estate agents on the other end of the transition can be a bit annoyed by you using RedFin.

What is it? Some kind of real estate brokerage service? It's not merely a research site like zillow or trulia?

EDIT: ok, it looks like it's a real estate agency that's salaried instead of commission -- err, scratch that, they take a less-than-industry average commission. Sounds a little disruptive.

Redfin as a company takes a lower commission -- more precisely, they refund about a third of their commission to you. Agents themselves are paid a bonus based solely on client satisfaction surveys. At least that's how they said it worked when I used them in 2013.

Yes please buy your house from Redfin so they can IPO and I can sell my worthless options.

Besides working there, I also bought my house from Redfin. They tend to do less handholding because each Redfin agent handles more clients at a time than a traditional agent. However, if you are a first time buyer then they will provide more attention. But if you use the Internet for searches then you probably don't need and might even be annoyed by traditional agents.

Took a quick look and their price estimations are dubious at best. In the complex I live in, comparing 2 condos of exact layout and sq footage, same view, sold 4 weeks apart, one on the 2nd floor the other on the 4th: the 2nd floor unit's price 'grew' $20k while the 4th floor unit 'grew' $500. Great job on 2 orders of magnitude error.

The price estimation is not their primary purpose (unlike Zillow, who use their "Zestimate" as a main selling point).

As a buyer I would assume it's pretty similar to other agents. The only big difference is that they contribute some stipend to your closing costs. So it's a bit cheaper for both parties (as they take a smaller commission as well) to go with Redfin.

Minor clarification: when we bought through Redfin in 2010, the rebate came as a check a week or two after closing, not a contribution to closing costs. Adding a transaction to the already complex closing process would not have been worth the benefit of getting the money a bit sooner.

I don't know anything about this company. I have an idea what market they are trying to crack. I can't believe it's taken this long.

I've always felt paying a Realtor 3% on the biggest item most of us will buy in our lives is crazy. I just don't know what they do for that commission. I don't know what makes one successful--just because he/she sold more than the others? Pay them more because they know how to network?

I missed getting my RE Brokers license a few years ago. I procrastinated. The Realestate lobby got to Jerry Brown, and got their bill though. A rediculious bill that just made it more difficult to get a license, essentially cutting down on supply. Enough said. To get a licence. It's about eight courses, and couple of years of doubious experience, and a simple test.

Now what does a good Realtor do earn that huge financial jackpot when they sell/buy you a house? I haven't a clue. Maybe a good omissions/errors insurance policy? I don't have a clue.

I've been told to pay full commission, and you will see what they bring. Then again, this sounds like something the King of Realestate came up with?

So, to all you young, hungry developers. I really believe the Realestate Agent is long past it's due date. I would love to see a safe way to exclude them, and their commissions form the home/commercial buying experience. A fool proof way?

I will now look into Redfin. If it's half what I believe it to be; there's much room for competition?

Good agents can be worth it.

Redfin provides a refund of a portion of their commission as a seller's agent. I considered them when selling a house. However, after having meetings with an agent of theirs and another independent agent that charged the normal 3% seller's fee, I decided to go with the independent.

The Redfin agent had suggested a price of $649k, while the independent suggested $745k. The house wound up selling just under ask of $738k. The Redfin agent did very little work to understand the value of the property and what it could be sold for, and only used an automated tool, while the independent agent did more work to select better comparable properties. And the more expensive broker wound up paying for some items such as light landscaping and staging, so the price difference was less than the percentage differential.

Obviously in this case the discounts Redfin provided did not nearly make up for the difference in selling price. A good broker can get a price that is vastly larger than the difference in their price.

However, Redfin would probably be great for selling properties that are part of subdivisions, or in a condo building, where the automated tool would work very well and not as much "human intelligence" is required to get the job done.

A good real estate agent you can trust is worth the 3%. They can foresee potential roadblocks, help you navigate the somewhat complicated process and really find you your dream home. The real trick is finding one of those agents.

I used to work in the RE business and there are good agents that earn that value and there are bad agents that don't.

You are paying for market expertise, negotiating experience and arms length distance.

On a slightly different note, this podcast and the book "The Middleman Economy" go into detail about why middle men (like real estate agents) are useful: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2016/03/marina_krakovsk.htm...

Edit: typos

you pay them a commission because real estate deals can get ugly, fast, especially in competitive markets like in the coastal US.

a good agent has seen it all before, knows what to do when the seller or buyer starts making threats or is trying to angle the deal somehow. he knows what lawyers to call, what finance people to call, and yes, networks and has relationships with agents to get you properties that haven't hit the market yet.

out of my peer group who has ever bought property, i'd say a good third of them had some kind of issue during the deal that required an expert to mitigate.

of course a shitty real estate agent isn't worth their pay - but that goes for any job. but otherwise, it's the same old shit -- things are going great, what am i paying you for? things are going shitty, what am i paying you for?

I have a great real estate agent. He knew the math equations that HUD used to price their homes at auction, and what percentage of that price they'd take. Our first house (bought in 2008), he suggested that if we waited to make a bid on a house until a certain day, the price would drop, and they'd take 80% of the asking price. He was correct and we made a lot of money by selling when the market came back.

On the next house, he looked at the roof and knew that the house probably had a recalled shingle on it, and we couldn't even get insurance on the house with that shingle. The homeowner was stuck between replacing the shingles or taking a chance that the next buyer would have less attentive real estate/home inspectors.

Twice I have greatly benefited financially by his expertise. I'm not paying him a lot for his services necessarily (although he's great at it), I'm paying him for his expertise.

Some people really want to talk back and forth with a human and have an ear that will listen to their questions. Instead of shopping for their own house, researching areas, etc. So it's convenience cost for the hand-holding.