What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Redfin - anyone use to sell a home? (1 Viewer)

jason12vb

Footballguy
Considering using Redfin to sell a house, but wondering if there are any hidden fees or tack on services that 99% of people are going to want that aren't already included in the listing fee (sign post, MLS with lots of photo's, etc).

The wife and I sold our townhouse a year ago FSBO using a flat fee listing agent. I got top dollar (no sale has exceeded mine as of yet), but with a 9 week old in the house and putting in 60 hours a week at work + getting my projects completed to get the house on the market..I'm just not sure I've got the time to deal with handing the sale this time on my own. That being said, no way am I going to pay someone 10k more than I can do on my own. Having only been in this house for a year, there's not much wiggle room in our break-even point.

Anyone have experience selling through Redfin?

ETA - I did search for Redfin here and found some hits...but no real reviews and most were just suggestions without any personal experience given.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I can only speak from the buyer side, but we had a good experience searching for and buying a home with a Redfin agent. I'm not sure if it works the same way from the seller side, but the way the company's agent compensation system is set up, you don't end up paying some huge commission at closing.

 
I had a very good experience selling with Redfin earlier in the year.

I did have several shaky buyers who backed out, but it wasn't any fault of my agent. The marketing Redfin did was top notch, I had about 5 viewings of the home every week, and it sold for $13K over asking. The 4% commission saved me about $12K also.

The marketing/pictures were so good I actually think it led to unrealistic buyers. They wanted the home to be as perfect as the pictures. Eventually I found some buyers who realized repair credits are not a big deal.

Highly recommended. Make sure you get a 5-star rated agent. Try to find the best one in your area. Mine had sold 42 houses last year.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I had a very good experience selling with Redfin earlier in the year.

I did have several shaky buyers who backed out, but it wasn't any fault of my agent. The marketing Redfin did was top notch, I had about 5 viewings of the home every week, and it sold for $13K over asking. The 4% commission saved me about $12K also.

Highly recommended. Make sure you get a 5-star rated agent. Try to find the best one in your area. Mine had sold 42 houses last year.
I didn't realize you had a choice as to who your agent was with them...but I'll certainly do some research on that. Were there any extra things they tried to sell you on, or was the total cost really just 1.5%?

 
I had a very good experience selling with Redfin earlier in the year.

I did have several shaky buyers who backed out, but it wasn't any fault of my agent. The marketing Redfin did was top notch, I had about 5 viewings of the home every week, and it sold for $13K over asking. The 4% commission saved me about $12K also.

Highly recommended. Make sure you get a 5-star rated agent. Try to find the best one in your area. Mine had sold 42 houses last year.
I didn't realize you had a choice as to who your agent was with them...but I'll certainly do some research on that. Were there any extra things they tried to sell you on, or was the total cost really just 1.5%?
No, it really was that. You pay 4%.

They also give you a $250 reimbursement for cleaning, painting, minor decorating.

 
I had a very good experience selling with Redfin earlier in the year.

I did have several shaky buyers who backed out, but it wasn't any fault of my agent. The marketing Redfin did was top notch, I had about 5 viewings of the home every week, and it sold for $13K over asking. The 4% commission saved me about $12K also.

Highly recommended. Make sure you get a 5-star rated agent. Try to find the best one in your area. Mine had sold 42 houses last year.
I didn't realize you had a choice as to who your agent was with them...but I'll certainly do some research on that. Were there any extra things they tried to sell you on, or was the total cost really just 1.5%?
No, it really was that. You pay 4%.

They also give you a $250 reimbursement for cleaning, painting, minor decorating.
By 4% then, I assuming you mean the 1.5% on the seller side and 2.5% to the buyers agent?

 
I had a very good experience selling with Redfin earlier in the year.

I did have several shaky buyers who backed out, but it wasn't any fault of my agent. The marketing Redfin did was top notch, I had about 5 viewings of the home every week, and it sold for $13K over asking. The 4% commission saved me about $12K also.

Highly recommended. Make sure you get a 5-star rated agent. Try to find the best one in your area. Mine had sold 42 houses last year.
I didn't realize you had a choice as to who your agent was with them...but I'll certainly do some research on that. Were there any extra things they tried to sell you on, or was the total cost really just 1.5%?
No, it really was that. You pay 4%.

They also give you a $250 reimbursement for cleaning, painting, minor decorating.
By 4% then, I assuming you mean the 1.5% on the seller side and 2.5% to the buyers agent?
yes

 
Really wished I had used them as a buyer's agent. Just bought my first place so thought I'd use an agent to guide me through the process, but in retrospect I did 99.99% of the work myself. Makes me a little sick to my stomach knowing how much our agent made off our deal without adding any value.

 
Really wished I had used them as a buyer's agent. Just bought my first place so thought I'd use an agent to guide me through the process, but in retrospect I did 99.99% of the work myself. Makes me a little sick to my stomach knowing how much our agent made off our deal without adding any value.
This is really a double edged sword. With my last house I represented myself on the buying side and it was actually a bigger hassle than I realized it would be. I do think you pay way too much for the service a buyers agent provides, but it seems like the bulk of the fee is going to their agency to support their infrastructure. I'm up in the air on how I want to go about buying the next house. I lean towards using an agent I used 2 houses ago who knows the area we want we to buy in...but it's tempting to give Redfin a shot as that reduced fee may help close a sale in our range.

 
Really wished I had used them as a buyer's agent. Just bought my first place so thought I'd use an agent to guide me through the process, but in retrospect I did 99.99% of the work myself. Makes me a little sick to my stomach knowing how much our agent made off our deal without adding any value.
This is really a double edged sword. With my last house I represented myself on the buying side and it was actually a bigger hassle than I realized it would be. I do think you pay way too much for the service a buyers agent provides, but it seems like the bulk of the fee is going to their agency to support their infrastructure. I'm up in the air on how I want to go about buying the next house. I lean towards using an agent I used 2 houses ago who knows the area we want we to buy in...but it's tempting to give Redfin a shot as that reduced fee may help close a sale in our range.
I don't know about selling but I first tried to go the route of buying without an agent and I could not get the selling agents to show the house unless I had an agent. Since the buyer 'technically' is not paying for the agent (though without an agent you could conceivably negoitate down further) we went ahead and got an agent. I did all of the leg work in finding houses to see. She would set up the times to see them and meet me there and she handled the offers and back and forth with agents. Since our search was ridiculously long and had several near buy's fall through... she earned her money.

 
Really wished I had used them as a buyer's agent. Just bought my first place so thought I'd use an agent to guide me through the process, but in retrospect I did 99.99% of the work myself. Makes me a little sick to my stomach knowing how much our agent made off our deal without adding any value.
This is really a double edged sword. With my last house I represented myself on the buying side and it was actually a bigger hassle than I realized it would be. I do think you pay way too much for the service a buyers agent provides, but it seems like the bulk of the fee is going to their agency to support their infrastructure. I'm up in the air on how I want to go about buying the next house. I lean towards using an agent I used 2 houses ago who knows the area we want we to buy in...but it's tempting to give Redfin a shot as that reduced fee may help close a sale in our range.
What surprised you? I'm not sure the entire scope of responsibilities Redfin buyer agents undertake but it's not the same as representing yourself. In our case, our agent coordinated transmission of paperwork and made a few appointments for us - that's about it.

 
Really wished I had used them as a buyer's agent. Just bought my first place so thought I'd use an agent to guide me through the process, but in retrospect I did 99.99% of the work myself. Makes me a little sick to my stomach knowing how much our agent made off our deal without adding any value.
This is really a double edged sword. With my last house I represented myself on the buying side and it was actually a bigger hassle than I realized it would be. I do think you pay way too much for the service a buyers agent provides, but it seems like the bulk of the fee is going to their agency to support their infrastructure. I'm up in the air on how I want to go about buying the next house. I lean towards using an agent I used 2 houses ago who knows the area we want we to buy in...but it's tempting to give Redfin a shot as that reduced fee may help close a sale in our range.
I don't know about selling but I first tried to go the route of buying without an agent and I could not get the selling agents to show the house unless I had an agent. Since the buyer 'technically' is not paying for the agent (though without an agent you could conceivably negoitate down further) we went ahead and got an agent. I did all of the leg work in finding houses to see. She would set up the times to see them and meet me there and she handled the offers and back and forth with agents. Since our search was ridiculously long and had several near buy's fall through... she earned her money.
That seems crazy to me. Everything you read on the internet (which I assume is mostly propiganda posted by realtors) says buyers without agents will end up paying x% more than buyers with agents. Why wouldn't those selling agents want more money?

As for the seller paying the buyers agent....that from what I hear is a regional thing and depends on the market. Here in MN it seems like it's common for the buyer to ask for assistance, but it's not a forgone conclusion that the seller will pay the buyers agent.

 
my wife has been selling houses for about 9 months now, she's kicking ### at it. I can tell you that some clients are easy money, others are a giant PITA and that makes up for it. Overall, she does earn her money.

I was skeptical about needing a full-blown RE agent in the past, but I now know the reason it seemed like I was just giving them money is because I had my #### together...most people don't.

Redfin very well may give you everything you need in an agent if you are comfortable with the whole process - pricing, photography, advice on any repairs pre-marketing, scheduling showings, open houses, lock-boxes, signs, MLS, etc. Not sure how full-service they are. If you have done FSBO successfully in the past you should be able to handle everything, but consider this: if you have a lot of other stuff going on, and it causes you to miss a showing, which could have been the right buyer, which could cause your house to sit on the market longer.

 
Really wished I had used them as a buyer's agent. Just bought my first place so thought I'd use an agent to guide me through the process, but in retrospect I did 99.99% of the work myself. Makes me a little sick to my stomach knowing how much our agent made off our deal without adding any value.
This is really a double edged sword. With my last house I represented myself on the buying side and it was actually a bigger hassle than I realized it would be. I do think you pay way too much for the service a buyers agent provides, but it seems like the bulk of the fee is going to their agency to support their infrastructure. I'm up in the air on how I want to go about buying the next house. I lean towards using an agent I used 2 houses ago who knows the area we want we to buy in...but it's tempting to give Redfin a shot as that reduced fee may help close a sale in our range.
I don't know about selling but I first tried to go the route of buying without an agent and I could not get the selling agents to show the house unless I had an agent. Since the buyer 'technically' is not paying for the agent (though without an agent you could conceivably negoitate down further) we went ahead and got an agent. I did all of the leg work in finding houses to see. She would set up the times to see them and meet me there and she handled the offers and back and forth with agents. Since our search was ridiculously long and had several near buy's fall through... she earned her money.
my wife just got a listing where the seller insists that no one come look at the house without an agent and being pre-qualified for finance. sometimes it's not about the money, in this case the buyer didn't want riff-raff lookey-loos off of the street coming through her house if they weren't verified to be serious buyers.

 
my wife has been selling houses for about 9 months now, she's kicking ### at it. I can tell you that some clients are easy money, others are a giant PITA and that makes up for it. Overall, she does earn her money.

I was skeptical about needing a full-blown RE agent in the past, but I now know the reason it seemed like I was just giving them money is because I had my #### together...most people don't.

Redfin very well may give you everything you need in an agent if you are comfortable with the whole process - pricing, photography, advice on any repairs pre-marketing, scheduling showings, open houses, lock-boxes, signs, MLS, etc. Not sure how full-service they are. If you have done FSBO successfully in the past you should be able to handle everything, but consider this: if you have a lot of other stuff going on, and it causes you to miss a showing, which could have been the right buyer, which could cause your house to sit on the market longer.
can you unpack what pia means and how thit justifies the ludicrous fees agents think they deserve? Also if your wife has been doing this all of 9 months, what makes her an expert?
 
my wife has been selling houses for about 9 months now, she's kicking ### at it. I can tell you that some clients are easy money, others are a giant PITA and that makes up for it. Overall, she does earn her money.

I was skeptical about needing a full-blown RE agent in the past, but I now know the reason it seemed like I was just giving them money is because I had my #### together...most people don't.

Redfin very well may give you everything you need in an agent if you are comfortable with the whole process - pricing, photography, advice on any repairs pre-marketing, scheduling showings, open houses, lock-boxes, signs, MLS, etc. Not sure how full-service they are. If you have done FSBO successfully in the past you should be able to handle everything, but consider this: if you have a lot of other stuff going on, and it causes you to miss a showing, which could have been the right buyer, which could cause your house to sit on the market longer.
can you unpack what pia means and how thit justifies the ludicrous fees agents think they deserve? Also if your wife has been doing this all of 9 months, what makes her an expert?
She is by no means an expert, but she is learning the ropes and doing quite well. One thing she has going for her is she is in a Keller Williams office with 200 other agents. If she has an issue, she has no problem bringing it to attention of the broker or other agents to seek advice. She can and does lean on their expertise and experience with anything tricky. `

Here are some examples of things she has had to deal with:

  • client went under contract on condo on lake with boat slip. found out during inspection that boat across from slip was too big, but was granted exception from HOA. Bigger boat prevented access to slip, client had to back out of contract at last minute. it was a pretty big deal for her and the client to navigate thru.
  • numerous houses had appraisal value come in well under contract price. She knew it would happen before hand - her unofficial appraisals have been pretty spot on, but the sellers (as they typically do) had it priced too high and wouldn't come down. She helped negotiate clients get into the house for much less than contract price - $10k or more. in one case, buyer was willing to pay $10k out of pocket to make the deal happen - wife suggested he negotiate down as the appraisal would stick with the house - buyer would not be able to sell for original price, so they were not in a strong negotiating position. Client was able to buy house for a lot less than he initially wanted.
  • client was a single dad post-divorce, he had trouble keeping house kept up for showings. She had stagers come in (on her dime) to properly stage the house, and helped him find someone to come in periodically and clean up. also, she did a lot of going to that house to let the dog out/in before and after showings.
  • lots of issues with other agents being lazy with paperwork, lots of back and forth. Things don't always go smoothly with the other agent you are working with; in some cases they try to strong-arm you and dictate you do things the way they want to. One example in particular - lenders have tightened up a lot and one clients bank was dragging feet on closing date - had to keep pushing back. Buyers agent insisted that client should drop lender and suggested a new lender they had a relationship with in the name of expediting the process. It is illegal for the buyer to deny a sale on the basis of who the lender is, so her trying to strong-arm another lender was border-line unethical.
  • home warranties seem all the rage these days. Not all home warranty companies are equal, she has dealt with a few and knows some that should be avoided.
  • same goes with closing attorneys. Yesterday a closing was nearly screwed because the paralegal claimed she didn't have paperwork by 2:00, where she signed for it's delivery at 9:30AM. The deal was almost sunk because the paralegal didn't want to do her job. She won't be using that attorney again.
  • she has had a few very needy older clients, who just simply demand attention. multiple phone calls every day, changing their minds about what they want and how much they want to offer, wanting to re-do offers after they had been submitted, etc. Remember - as an agent, you are dealing with the general public. think about how on-the-ball most folks out there actually are.
  • she has had exactly 2 days off in the past 9 months where she didn't have any showings, meetings, open houses, phone duty, training, working with clients, negotiations, etc. Now, she's not necessarily busy all day every day, but she has been quite busy. most folks want to look at houses on weekends - guess what, that means she is generally busy most of the day Saturday and Sunday.
I'm not saying that most people couldn't keep on top of all of this - you certainly can. however, if you have other commitments - job, family, etc that sap attention, or if you need something bought or sold quickly, it can definitely help to have someone in your corner looking out for your interest and helping to navigate the situation.

 
Really wished I had used them as a buyer's agent. Just bought my first place so thought I'd use an agent to guide me through the process, but in retrospect I did 99.99% of the work myself. Makes me a little sick to my stomach knowing how much our agent made off our deal without adding any value.
This is really a double edged sword. With my last house I represented myself on the buying side and it was actually a bigger hassle than I realized it would be. I do think you pay way too much for the service a buyers agent provides, but it seems like the bulk of the fee is going to their agency to support their infrastructure. I'm up in the air on how I want to go about buying the next house. I lean towards using an agent I used 2 houses ago who knows the area we want we to buy in...but it's tempting to give Redfin a shot as that reduced fee may help close a sale in our range.
I don't know about selling but I first tried to go the route of buying without an agent and I could not get the selling agents to show the house unless I had an agent. Since the buyer 'technically' is not paying for the agent (though without an agent you could conceivably negoitate down further) we went ahead and got an agent. I did all of the leg work in finding houses to see. She would set up the times to see them and meet me there and she handled the offers and back and forth with agents. Since our search was ridiculously long and had several near buy's fall through... she earned her money.
my wife just got a listing where the seller insists that no one come look at the house without an agent and being pre-qualified for finance. sometimes it's not about the money, in this case the buyer didn't want riff-raff lookey-loos off of the street coming through her house if they weren't verified to be serious buyers.
Having a pre-approval or bank statements showing cash is pretty standard and makes absolute sense all around.

I guess it also makes sense to have an agent as a check against criminal element but for a criminal really looking to case a joint- they can pretty much do that with an agent anyways.

I think we will continue to pressure on the realtors. A whole bunch of their value has been eroded by technology. Their compensation compared to their value is way out of line and pretty much the only thing keeping it where it is that it is how we have done things for so long. Some players are moving in to be disruptors such as Redfin. It would be an easy industry for a company like Amazon (which loves to be a disruptor) to come in and completely change the rules and leave realtors holding an empty bag.

 
my wife has been selling houses for about 9 months now, she's kicking ### at it. I can tell you that some clients are easy money, others are a giant PITA and that makes up for it. Overall, she does earn her money.

I was skeptical about needing a full-blown RE agent in the past, but I now know the reason it seemed like I was just giving them money is because I had my #### together...most people don't.

Redfin very well may give you everything you need in an agent if you are comfortable with the whole process - pricing, photography, advice on any repairs pre-marketing, scheduling showings, open houses, lock-boxes, signs, MLS, etc. Not sure how full-service they are. If you have done FSBO successfully in the past you should be able to handle everything, but consider this: if you have a lot of other stuff going on, and it causes you to miss a showing, which could have been the right buyer, which could cause your house to sit on the market longer.
can you unpack what pia means and how thit justifies the ludicrous fees agents think they deserve? Also if your wife has been doing this all of 9 months, what makes her an expert?
She is by no means an expert, but she is learning the ropes and doing quite well. One thing she has going for her is she is in a Keller Williams office with 200 other agents. If she has an issue, she has no problem bringing it to attention of the broker or other agents to seek advice. She can and does lean on their expertise and experience with anything tricky. `

Here are some examples of things she has had to deal with:

  • client went under contract on condo on lake with boat slip. found out during inspection that boat across from slip was too big, but was granted exception from HOA. Bigger boat prevented access to slip, client had to back out of contract at last minute. it was a pretty big deal for her and the client to navigate thru.
  • numerous houses had appraisal value come in well under contract price. She knew it would happen before hand - her unofficial appraisals have been pretty spot on, but the sellers (as they typically do) had it priced too high and wouldn't come down. She helped negotiate clients get into the house for much less than contract price - $10k or more. in one case, buyer was willing to pay $10k out of pocket to make the deal happen - wife suggested he negotiate down as the appraisal would stick with the house - buyer would not be able to sell for original price, so they were not in a strong negotiating position. Client was able to buy house for a lot less than he initially wanted.
  • client was a single dad post-divorce, he had trouble keeping house kept up for showings. She had stagers come in (on her dime) to properly stage the house, and helped him find someone to come in periodically and clean up. also, she did a lot of going to that house to let the dog out/in before and after showings.
  • lots of issues with other agents being lazy with paperwork, lots of back and forth. Things don't always go smoothly with the other agent you are working with; in some cases they try to strong-arm you and dictate you do things the way they want to. One example in particular - lenders have tightened up a lot and one clients bank was dragging feet on closing date - had to keep pushing back. Buyers agent insisted that client should drop lender and suggested a new lender they had a relationship with in the name of expediting the process. It is illegal for the buyer to deny a sale on the basis of who the lender is, so her trying to strong-arm another lender was border-line unethical.
  • home warranties seem all the rage these days. Not all home warranty companies are equal, she has dealt with a few and knows some that should be avoided.
  • same goes with closing attorneys. Yesterday a closing was nearly screwed because the paralegal claimed she didn't have paperwork by 2:00, where she signed for it's delivery at 9:30AM. The deal was almost sunk because the paralegal didn't want to do her job. She won't be using that attorney again.
  • she has had a few very needy older clients, who just simply demand attention. multiple phone calls every day, changing their minds about what they want and how much they want to offer, wanting to re-do offers after they had been submitted, etc. Remember - as an agent, you are dealing with the general public. think about how on-the-ball most folks out there actually are.
  • she has had exactly 2 days off in the past 9 months where she didn't have any showings, meetings, open houses, phone duty, training, working with clients, negotiations, etc. Now, she's not necessarily busy all day every day, but she has been quite busy. most folks want to look at houses on weekends - guess what, that means she is generally busy most of the day Saturday and Sunday.
I'm not saying that most people couldn't keep on top of all of this - you certainly can. however, if you have other commitments - job, family, etc that sap attention, or if you need something bought or sold quickly, it can definitely help to have someone in your corner looking out for your interest and helping to navigate the situation.
:hifive: At KW also. If you have all the time in the world AND you have the experience, then FSBO/Redfin can be a viable option. In many deals, there is an issue that comes up that requires the expertise of the broker steering you in the right direction no matter how long you've sold RE.

75% agents do not make it past their first year. 75% of the rest don't do it full time. Find a full time agent and they are easily worth it. Really good agents get the most dollars for your home and can easily justify whatever they make. I just netted a seller $10k more than she thought she was going to make yesterday by marketing and positioning the home correctly. There are just too many things that can come up in a transaction that can leave a seller in severe legal issues if they are not handled correctly from the start.

 
my wife has been selling houses for about 9 months now, she's kicking ### at it. I can tell you that some clients are easy money, others are a giant PITA and that makes up for it. Overall, she does earn her money.

I was skeptical about needing a full-blown RE agent in the past, but I now know the reason it seemed like I was just giving them money is because I had my #### together...most people don't.

Redfin very well may give you everything you need in an agent if you are comfortable with the whole process - pricing, photography, advice on any repairs pre-marketing, scheduling showings, open houses, lock-boxes, signs, MLS, etc. Not sure how full-service they are. If you have done FSBO successfully in the past you should be able to handle everything, but consider this: if you have a lot of other stuff going on, and it causes you to miss a showing, which could have been the right buyer, which could cause your house to sit on the market longer.
can you unpack what pia means and how thit justifies the ludicrous fees agents think they deserve? Also if your wife has been doing this all of 9 months, what makes her an expert?
I'm probably going to make 2k on a sale that has lasted 8 months now.

Lots of back and forth with buyers attorney, lender and sellers agent.

Been a huge pain as some of the clients I have had have no clue on what to do so I help out as much as possible by getting them home insurance, helping them gather their financial credentials.

Working on obtaining their child support statements, helping them with the divorce decree from 4 years ago etc....

This is assuming the sale does in fact go through and I get that 2k.

I don't have to do all that extra stuff but the clients I have are typically people I know so I want to help them as best as possible but still a PIA at times.

Another client I bought and sold their house.

He was so hands on and did a lot of stuff on his own I almost felt bad when I ended up with like a 12k commission.

I ended up giving him and his family a house warming gift of 3 gift cards for a total of $500.

 
In general agents are overpaid on smooth transactions and underpaid on lengthy ones. It probably blends out to something reasonable but each person has their own experience and a lot of times agents will minimize behind the scenes issues that the buyer may not fully appreciate.

with that said most agents are pretty worthless.

i have my own brokers license on the side for nothing other than managing my rental and buying and selling my own home. Being able to just do it myself and have access to the mls whenever is worth it, although when I sell my rental this year as well as well my current home and buy my next one I may just shelve it.

for ease of experience you may want to check out Open Door. There are fees but it is quick and overall reasonable.

 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top