Comments on: The love that dare not speak its name

By: Trevor Smith

Trevor Smith — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 05:07:04 +0000

You know, something I have noticed about many of the blogs that are discussing Redfin, Trulia, and Discount Realtors is that traditional Realtors are scared. Now I am not plugging Redfin, but I think anytime a Realtor or company gets outside of the “John L Scott – Windermere – Coldwell Banker – ReMax – I only charge 6-7% commission, and pay $20,000 to my Broker” box, the agents who have been around 30 years throw a fit. If charging 6-7% commission for tradtional real estate services is a successful business model than it will succeed. If Redfin’s business model is a successful model then it will succeed. Let the market determine the winners. We can quit being the real estate police now.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 19:28:06 +0000

yeah this is really not about winning and losing. the important thing is you make the costumer satisfied. and happy.

By: Seattle’s Rain City Real Estate Guide » A Two Week Moratorium for Redfin Critics

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:28:54 +0000

[...] A Two Week Moratorium for Redfin Critics September 11, 2006 You are cordially invited to a two week Moratorium on “Sticking it to the Man”. I know Greg and others have been having a lot of fun poking at Redfin, but I would like to announce that Glenn Kelman of Redfin is getting married this weekend. [...]

By: The San Diego Home Blog » Blog Archive » Redfin 101 and the Debut of the Podcast

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 02:57:08 +0000

[...] I made reference recently to the New York Times article last week, The Last Stand of the 6-Percenters?, and vowed to revisit it. The article dealt with brokerages they called “innovators”, primarily Redfin who has been the subject of tremendous, heated industry debate. The blogging community (see Sellsius, 360Digest, ) has been in aÂ veritable lather over the emergence of the “new” discount (or, more appropriately, limited-service) anti-Christ. It’s actually not new, as the debate has been going on for some time. If you follow the hype, this has been nearly beaten to death. If you are new to the subject, it is worth some serious thought. I find the topic so chock-full of issues begging to be addressed, that it has taken me the better part of a week to collect my thoughts and figure out just how I’m going to skin this cat. Therefore, this will be the first in a several part series and a logical introduction to our first podcast. [...]

By: John K

John K — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 20:56:28 +0000

I find the whole Redfin excitement to be a bit much, as well. Everyone seems to love it, because of it’s potential, or, even, it’s goal. Whether or not it will ever reach them, is another question.

Redfin is only in two states! Plus, as they’ll tell you, they’ve only rebated under a million dollars in commissions, so they are very small players in a very big pond.

I had to laugh, as well, when I read in the Times article that Redfin ended up opening a couple traditional offices (complete with agents), “because we found that it was what buyers wanted”.

Yeah, you think?

By: Liam Knuj

Liam Knuj — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 23:36:09 +0000

Hmm, this guy sounds a lot like Bernie Ebbers.

By: James Moore

James Moore — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 23:10:59 +0000

“It doesnâ€™t have to be â€œwe win, you lose, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead, let the best man winâ€. You can play nice and still be successful, and be admired to boot.”

That’s just whining. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with running a business that attempts to ruthlessly crush the competition within the bounds of the law. In particular, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with attempting to destroy your competition by reducing the size of the market itself by doing things like fee-based transactions; you should expect to see flat fees for buyers in the $2k range in the not-so-distant future, and then expect to see that $2k figure drop like a rock as existing brokerages are destroyed.

You can play mean, attempt to destroy the current anti-consumer culture of the real estate business, and take a large chunk of a much smaller pie. Sounds like a perfectly fine strategy to me.

This is capitalism, guys, and this isn’t Japan. Cooperation isn’t always good. Fees for buying and selling real estate are absurdly high and have been high for far too long. The days of percentage-based commissions are numbered; prepare to see zeros sliced off how much it costs to do a real estate deal.

By: Marc Davison

Marc Davison — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 16:35:37 +0000

Do a search in Lexus Nexus and you will see Redfin is in the news everywhere. 2 reasons why: They have an excellent PR company and what they are doing is in fact newsworthy. Donâ€™t you think? Redfin is new and that is what the â€œNewsâ€ is all about. Redfin is interesting. Theyâ€™re taking big risks. They have formidable VC. To wonder why that gets coverage is borderline idiotic. Maybe, those who are making a fuss about it are really wondering why Redfin gets coverage and they don’t.

By: RealEstateUndressed » Blog Archive » Warning: Not about Redfin only, but any discount or flat fee broker.

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:17:14 +0000

[...] This article in by Marlow Harris in her 360 digest about Redfin I propose you think about with all discounters. Click Here with Fear. [...]

By: Marlow Harris

Marlow Harris — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 16:30:01 +0000

Yes, Jason. Alpha males are defined primarliy by a desire to be at the top of their local social structure, by threatening and cajoling others into submission.