Archive for the ‘Maniac Emptor: Redfin Customers’ Category
May 23, 2008
My friend Geordie is a high-end real estate junkie. He cruises hot neighborhoods for open houses, even when he travels. He goes to every luxury condo party, and even picks up a few units here and there. When I joined Redfin he was ecstatic. Now he’d have someone to talk shop with. So, every time I walk into his house I get peppered with questions … how’s the Fin (his pet name for Redfin)? Anyone buying really expensive houses with Redfin yet – where, who, how much, what was the commission refund? 
When we started this crazy venture to change the real estate industry we were so excited just to get an offer (we actually rang a bell for each close. I hear Amazon used to do the same thing, copycats!?), now we’re working on multimillion-dollar deals. We just closed three multimillion-dollar transactions in April, including one house worth more than $7 million!
“For a higher-priced home, Redfin provided outstanding value compared to what we would have paid a traditional broker for the same service,” said Redfin homebuyer Tina Dur (pictured with her adorable family).
This might sound like peanuts to some brokerages, but it’s an historic first for Redfin and shows how far we’ve come. We’re crossing the chasm from early adopter Seattle tech-geeks to new markets and customers. April’s three multimillion-dollar deals were in California and 33 percent of Redfin buyers work in high technology, a decrease from 48 percent last year.
We won’t turn this into an Oscars’ speech, but, Geordie, this one’s for you. We also couldn’t do it without the improved relationships with the agents listing high-end homes, and our more than 75 customers who have bought $1 million-plus homes via Redfin, who received an average of $26,265, tax free.
The moral (sorry for sounding like Aesop, but I just read The Alchemist and I’ve been looking for omens and morals everywhere) is that high-end homebuyers are just like you and me. We know what we want – all the information, to be respected and an honest value; all core Redfin values, which is why we think we’re seeing more people buying very nice houses. But at the end of the day, we still give customers the same rockstar service whether spending $300,000 or $3 million.
Now another local big shot company is copying our idea! Did you see that Microsoft is giving commission refunds to customers who buy via their search site? And we thought we were changing just the way real estate is done.
Bonus link: Looking for a design coder? The SEO Rapper knows his stuff – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0qMe7Z3EYg
May 2, 2008
Our discussion board, creatively named Redfin Forums after an agonizingly long brainstorm session, was started to give home buyers a place to gripe about home prices, share who their ace termite inspectors are, and ask us how buying a home online works. So it surprised us when customers would use the Forums to gush about the Redfin agent they’ve worked with. A post today from Mitch, a custom home builder in Oakley, CA, made us blush… but not enough NOT to share it with you: 
I would just like everybody to know what a great job Susan Stalker of Redfin has done for me as my agent. I am a custom home builder and have been buying and selling homes for the last ten years and have had a number of agents at my side and none of them have tried and worked harder than Susan Stalker. If anyone out there is looking to buy or sell you would be smart to ask for Susan you will be happy you did. I am now on my second home with her and couldn’t be happier. Susan Stalker and Redfin are a friend and business partner for life. So to Susan Stalker and Redfin I would like to say thanks!
Mitch
Technology Builders
Mitch and his son are in the middle of building an empire of rental properties out in the East Bay. They’ve purchased two properties with us so far. Thanks for the kind words!
July 28, 2006
After a few anxious, quiet weeks following our May 31 Bay Area launch, Redfin Direct’s California business has really started taking off, with over thirty offers submitted through Redfin Direct, and our first two deals already scheduled to close. We’ve also got a bunch of California listings.
One of our first Bay Area customers, Colleen and Scott Barneson, were on the news the other night. Lead California agent Rosemary Vo got it Tivo’d and Bahn Lee loaded it up onto the Web. Seeing it on YouTube, I kept waiting for somebody to start lipsynching. But then I remembered that real estate is a serious business…
The segment compared the service a Redfin customer gets with what the customer of a traditional agent gets. The upshot was that Redfin is a good deal if you feel comfortable picking out the property on your own (or, as we like to put it, without any pressure).
This little segment actually says a lot about what kind of person buys a house online. The traditional agent’s customer was buying as a single person, whereas the Redfin customer was actually a couple. The traditional agent’s customer was new to the area, whereas the Redfin customer knew Danville pretty well. So you can see how it probably made more sense for the couple, who could talk to each other about the property, to work with an online brokerage like us. And, we have to admit, it isn’t such a leap to understand why that nice, lonely guy might have a perfectly good reason to use a traditional agent to drive him around Berkeley.
If you’re into Redfin, and you want to make your own video — especially if you want to spice things up a bit — let us know and we’ll send our YouTube crew your way!
June 9, 2006
Meet Tom Rabideau and Nicole Rendahl, the stars of this installment of Maniac Emptor (Emptor, a buyer and Maniac, a Maniac for Redfin). They’re both practicing attorneys. Tom moonlights as a commercial pilot when he’s not practicing law. Cool. Nicole is the bigger Redfin addict. Way cool.
Their winning offer resulted in a snazzy Belltown condo with sweeping views of Downtown and the Sound. As we walked around the track (1/8th of a mile) on the terrace level of their new home, they had this to say about our service:
1. Received sameday service after submitting their offer late Sunday afternoon, just as soon as they left the home showing.
2. Their offer was accepted by the seller for less than the asking price.
3. They were refunded approximately $8,000 from Redfin.
4. The service was exactly what they they were looking for.
Congratulations, Tom and Nicole!
May 1, 2006
With almost twenty offers signed, sealed and delivered and dozens more in the queue, it’s high time we introduce a new feature on the Redfin blog, Maniac Emptor (Emptor, a buyer and Maniac, a Maniac for Redfin). First up are Michael and Anna Teter. We’ve got a soft spot for them for many reasons:
1. They were one of the first customers to ever submit an online offer
2. They’re first-time home-buyers
3. They got out-bid twice, and bailed on a third after a terrifying inspection, and still they stuck with us
4. To win their house, they had to fend off two agents who snuck in during a private pre-inspection
5. Cute kid that goes to the same classes that I took my son to at the Community Birth & Family Center
Here’s what they won: A nicely remodeled place in the Central District and $8,380 from Redfin!
