Big New Redfin.com is Loaded For Bear: Neighborhood Analytics, Mapped Favorites, Agent Transaction History
Redfin released a big, beautiful new version of its website last night. For the first time in years, there’s a whole new web page on the site — not just a map and a web page for each property on the map — but a set of graphs, pictures, charts, numbers showing all the pricing trends for each of the 9,000 neighborhoods, postal codes and cities Redfin covers. This is the good stuff, drawn straight from the MLS databases real estate agents use to list properties and the tax rolls that counties use to record sales.
It’s a big deal, because consumers have never had access to reliable real estate data down to the neighborhood level. The numbers the newspapers publish every month are for big metro areas like the Bay Area, Boston or Chicago, which mash together neighborhoods that are really worlds apart: Palo Alto and Vacaville, Newton and South Boston, Schaumburg and Highland Park. Saying that all of Boston or Chicago is up or down doesn’t say much.
Now you can see what’s really going on with your neighborhood’s prices, right now: dollars per square foot, numbers of homes for sale, days on market, price reductions. We split out condos and houses because they’re priced so differently. The pricing graphs show listings and past sales separately, so you get a view of what sellers expect and what they really got. We give you a list of all the price-reduced homes, all the open houses, all the recent sales. It’s FASCINATING. 
There’s even a graph that is so densely powerful that it’s a little hard to explain: it shows days on markets and price reductions together, so you can figure out whether a listing is about to drop its price. Of course, it’s our favorite. If you can figure it out, it can save you a lot of money.
Favorites on the Map!
The new release has lots more going on too. We finally revamped favorites, so you can map your favorite properties, or delete a bunch of them all at once, or sort them by different criteria like how much they cost or when you first flagged them. Over the past few years, we must have ignored a thousand requests to upgrade favorites, so it’s a relief to finally set things right (or sort of right — we still need to do notes, x-out, the list goes on and ON).
Tours Shopping Cart!
The last big thing we did with this release was to make it easier to schedule a home tour with one of our agents, building a little online shopping cart to add listings to as you browse Redfin.com. It’s a major step toward building a gigantic online application for every step of the home-buying and -selling process, which is how we’ll really make real estate better for consumers and agents and everybody else.
Listings from Zillow! Agent Profiles!
And then there were the little things. The Redfin data team, bloodthirsty for conquest, added thousands more for-sale-by-owner listings, this time from Zillow.com (next up is land and apartment buildings). And we also started publishing agent profiles, showing every one of our agent’s recent deals, so you can check out the raw numbers on what we’ve sold, for how much, in which neighborhoods, with customer ratings. LIVE BY THE SWORD, DIE BY THE SWORD (we promise to give it to you straight)!!!
Phew!
So there’s a lot in there and it was a lot of work. Not for me of course, but everyone else! Beyond all the old heroes who designed, tested and shipped this release were a few new faces: stats man Mose Andre in his first gig as a coder, muscle-bound product manager John Kim, Heavy Rubber lead guitarist Ray Sayre, fresh-faced Thomas Young, and man-child Robert Gay. We’re proud of what everyone accomplished, and anxious as always to hear: what do you think?
Weekly News Round-Up: It’s All About Redfin | Redfin San Francisco Sweet Digs said:
[...] new this time around? The full explanation can be found over at the corporate blog, along with graphics, but the basics [...]
August 13, 2008 7:04 AM
Weekly News Round-Up: It’s All About Redfin | Redfin San Diego Sweet Digs said:
[...] new this time around? The full explanation can be found over at the corporate blog, along with graphics, but the basics [...]
August 13, 2008 7:04 AM
Everything Changes | Redfin Orange County Sweet Digs said:
[...] the new changes the changes here. Definitely check it out to maximize your researching [...]
August 13, 2008 7:21 AM
Alex Loddengaard said:
Radical!
August 13, 2008 8:55 AM
Alan DR said:
I so agree–this neighborhood database is an amazing addition to the Redfin toolbox. I would be happy to pay a subscription to access this valuable data and have it presented so well.
I’ve reviewed the areas of interest to me and the numbers tell me what I suspected but couldn’t know on my own. I can clearly see that those areas that are dropping prices to meet the market are lowering inventory, but some areas think they are gold plated and will not lower prices so the inventory is rising.
August 13, 2008 9:25 AM
JanelleS said:
I think Robert may bristle at being called a “man-child”.
Hi, Loddy!
August 13, 2008 9:48 AM
Sasha said:
@Alan DR:
If you send us your personal address, we’d gladly charge you a subscription fee for the information.
Just kidding, of course; we’re glad you like it!
August 13, 2008 10:01 AM
Redfin Adds Neighborhood Pages | urbnlivn on Seattle condos said:
[...] usually leave the number crunching posts to other blogs but I did want to point out a new feature on Redfin; neighborhood pages. Now you can see MLS and county data powered charts showing condo [...]
August 13, 2008 10:02 AM
Matt Goyer’s Real Estate Blog » Blog Archive » New Version of Redfin said:
[...] Glenn’s got rundown on the latest version of Redfin. [...]
August 13, 2008 11:15 AM
What, Exactly, is a Man-Child? | Redfin Corporate Blog said:
[...] Washington, DC « Big New Redfin.com is Loaded For Bear: Neighborhood Analytics, Mapped Favorites, Agent Transaction H… [...]
August 13, 2008 12:20 PM
MORE REASONS WHY REDFIN ROCKS | Redfin Washington, DC Sweet Digs said:
[...] our fearless (and I really do mean that) leader himself, Glenn Kelman. I encourage you to read his latest blog entry, but in the meantime, here’s a little snippet to tide you [...]
August 13, 2008 1:07 PM
Heads Up, Real Estate Data Freaks! Redfin’s Done it Again! | Redfin Seattle Sweet Digs said:
[...] Real estate data freaks, did you see the latest Redfin release?! Now you can see what’s really going on with your neighborhood’s prices, right now: dollars per square foot, numbers of homes for sale, days on market, price reductions. We split out condos and houses because they’re priced so differently. The pricing graphs show listings and past sales separately, so you get a view of what sellers expect and what they really got. We give you a list of all the price-reduced homes, all the open houses, all the recent sales. It’s FASCINATING. (Read more from Glenn here.) [...]
August 13, 2008 3:44 PM
New Market Analysis Tools from Redfin | Seattle Bubble — News & discussion about real estate & the housing bubble in the Seattle area. said:
[...] Glenn Kelman announces the new features in a blog post today: Redfin released a big, beautiful new version of its website last night. For the first time in [...]
August 13, 2008 5:00 PM
Jim T said:
Well done guys, just what I needed – numbers, numbers, numbers.
August 14, 2008 9:16 PM
“I Think I Just Had a Nerdgasm” | Redfin Corporate Blog said:
[...] new neighborhoods release inspired all sorts of reactions. Many, like The Tim on SeattleBubbleBlog, lauded the new release as [...]
August 15, 2008 11:48 AM
It’s New. It’s Improved. It’s Redfin’s New Housing Inventory & Pricing Tools. And More… | Redfin Orange County Sweet Digs said:
[...] for example, new ways to manage your favorite listings. For more information on these tools, see CEO Glenn Kelman’s post or Sheila’s [...]
August 18, 2008 8:35 PM
Opening up the Zillow API to Allow Sites in the API Network to Access Homes for Sale | Zillow® Blog said:
[...] into their listing search functionality. We’re happy to have Redfin as an early adopter (Redfin blog post) of FSBO listings in the markets it covers. Here’s an example of a FSBO listing from Zillow [...]
August 19, 2008 5:00 AM
Tom Gretz said:
I have heard rumors that Redfin is too mechanical. A past client of mine complained that they did not get a personal touch.They claim that Redfin does not provide the personal knowledge of area info and proposed developments. Do you guys have any plans of personalizing the experience to mirror that of a more traditional Realtor?
August 19, 2008 10:02 AM
Glenn Kelman said:
Hey Tom,
This has been the complaint of traditional Realtors like yourself, and I think there is merit to it.
Some clients are more comfortable working online, some are more comfortable working with a person.
We’ve tried to sort the balance between the two, focusing our personal attention on home tours and offer consultation, but leaving the initial phase of research (deciding where to live, searching for listings in that area) up to the consumer.
It’s not for everyone, but many folks, especially younger folks, prefer it.
Regards, Glenn
August 19, 2008 10:55 AM
Is the Rain Symbolic of the Real Estate Market? | Redfin Seattle Sweet Digs said:
[...] sending the kids to private school. Adam Wiener, one of our lead Product Managers, showed off our new site and said people loved sorting and mapping Favorites, and wanted more pricing [...]
August 21, 2008 1:58 PM
Frank LL0SA- Broker FranklyRealty.com said:
Hey Tom,
I see you are a DC Long and Foster agent.
Did you know that most (if not all) of the DC office is made up of former Long and Foster agents?
I’ve met them, and they are very sharp. I recently had a bidding war on a listing, and the best written (cleanest) offer was from a Redfin agent.
As for what you heard, my guess is it came from actual agents, not from actual buyers.
Probably from the same agents that say blogging is too impersonal.
Frank
Broker blog.FranklyRealty.com
September 1, 2008 12:04 AM
Robert McAbee said:
In the statistics by neighborhood I noticed that on the per square feet calculations of home prices and even average home prices sold there is an asterix and the price a home was listed for when it was taken off the market is counted towards these statistics.
I think it was obvious to everyone including Redfin that if the home would have sold at the list price, it wouldn’t have been taken off the market, but by including it the statistics are then skewed as if this house had sold at this price. In a declining market including these homes taken off the market as part of the figures such as average house price or average per square feet brings into question the accuracy and usefullness of the statistics given.
What was Redfin’s logic in including these figures?
September 3, 2008 11:27 AM
Glenn Kelman said:
It’s just a flaw in our calculations Robert. We hope to correct it in a future release, but wanted to explain it in the current release.
September 3, 2008 11:53 AM
The School of Redfin, Part III | 1000Watt Consulting said:
[...] week, the company released a significant update to its website. It is worth a close look. Redfin has used its access to MLS data to generate [...]
March 24, 2009 12:20 PM