false amounts listed, listings claim very cheap total cost for the homes with lower monthly payments but then when calling the agents then your told its much higher. i knew it sounded too good to be true, in my area the houses range from $750,000-$1.5 million average not 3-4 bedrooms for $200,000-$300,000 as these fake listings claim. read more

Simply the best. Stuart Gavan and Bobby King are professional, knowledgeable, and skilled in all aspects of home buying and selling. This is not my first transaction, purchase and sale with Stuart and his team and I cannot express all of my gratitude and appreciation for the stellar Redfin process and Stuart, Bobby and the rest of the Redfin's team, communication, coordination and marketing skills in getting results both on the selling end and purchasing venture. The Redfin dashboard or documents, tasks, and timelines is so user-friendly, and their commission base is quite attractive and I personally think they are more efficient than most realty agencies outside of Redfin. If you want the best in marketing, 3D walk thru, photos both day and night, listing, tracking, coordination, and results, call Stuart Gavan at Redfin. You will be happy you did!! Highly recommended. read more

For any home owners that are looking into selling their home, run away from RedFin. 1. Grossly underestimate your home value, my home is estimated 400,000 less than what other sites are reporting. 2. Ironic, the comparables recently sold home are accurate. 3. They're low-balling you so, they can buy your home on the cheap and sell for the more accurate price. Quick google and seeing comparables can show truth. read more

In short: worst agents and worst of worst home inspector & roofer or .. They just team up with a worst ones to push you to close the deal as soon as possible. And o Ece you move I. They wash their hands and you have pay tens of thousands of dollars to repair. read more

Horrible horrible experience! Buyer agent was more supporting the seller than the buyer. It seemed it is seller rep not buyer. Buyer agent teamed up with P.O.S inspector/ roofer just to provide the false information in order to close the deal ASAP to get the commission! Shame shame shame ..... read more

I request that their agent contact me from their website, and I got a call from someone named Dakota from 949-264-8379. And I asked her if I can put her on hold for a minute. When I took her off the hold, she did not realize that I was listing to her. She was telling someone else that I am wasting her time! I told her that I am not wasting her time and better have her manager contact me. She acknowledges that fact what she said that, but she thought I might be wasting her time. She rushes to judging me for under 30 seconds over the phone, never heard of. This is the problem with this big corporation. There is no culture anymore. There is no integrity. All they think about is money. read more

Redfin - Real Estate Agents Near Me - Irvine, California

I went online to Redfin with two purposes: 1) get a home assessment for a potential sale in ~one year 2) correct the gross underestimate of my home's value on Redfin online site. Chris S. the realtor was solid guy, and was as shocked as I was with what turns out to be more of a 'quesstimate' than an estimate. The valuation was off by between $1.5M -$2.0M which turns out to be ~35%. The algorithms they use aren't working or aren't updated. I ask Chris, who wants to help, but there is no one to address even huge mistakes...unless, unless you list a property with them. Sorry Redfin, but to be that far off, ruins the reputation of the realtor you send. Chris was actually helpful in providing hints to get our house ready... but the first impression that Redfin is to lazy to do effective updates ( and won't fix them even when notified) is a 'deal breaker.' The service request was not met read more

We trusted our realtor, Christine S to make sure that the the house we were buying was sound with no issues. That's her job representing us. Her husband did the inspection as well. But as soon as we moved in, a lot of things we had to take care of because our agent didn't make sure that everything was in the up and up. 1. A/C was not working - Her husband's report did say it was old but it was not noted it was broken. She advised us to get the warranty so we have peace of mind which we did. Well, guess what? Warranty didn't honor the claim and we had to pay over $9K to replace A/C two days after we moved in. TWO DAYS!!! 2. No gate remote was provided - We had to buy another set from HOA. $150 3. No pedestrian key was provided - We had to buy a new one from HOA. $75 4. No swimming pool gate key was provided. We had to buy a new one from HOA. $75 5. No garage key was provided - Our garage has a manual override via a key mechanism. Sure enough, a month in, the garage door won't open and we had no key to override. With the help of a neighbor, we were able to jimmy open the garage manually. I was able to fix the garage door opener (which should not have failed after a month of moving in) but I had to have a new key made so I can open the garage manually with the key if door opener fails again. We had to pay another $120 for that. It was a series of unfortunate events. One after another. I can't even begin to tell you about the epic fails from the house we were selling to get into this new one. That was through Redfin as well. But that's a different story. read more

They did a good job on the buy/sell (used Redfin for both). Once they sell the place and if you have any followup questions (simple ones like the code to alarms, etc.), they pretty much disappear. read more

We were wanting to sell our home of 26 years. It had appreciated a lot and we wanted to get a good price for the home. Matt Blashaw came out and helped us with the upgrades we needed to make sure it showed well. He was super knowledgeable about what to do and what not to do. We used his contractors and got it looking great for a very reasonable price. We put it on the market on Friday and had 8 showings over the weekend. Before the weekend was over we got an offer that was over what we were asking. I couldn't be happier with the way we were treated, the professionalism and the results. Matt Blashaw is outstanding! read more

Redfin is horrible. They hire inexperienced realtors and try to sell you homes without doing a thorough research of the properties. Also, they do not really spend time with you and only give you the time of day if you are buying million dollar properties. Additionally, they are shady and will block out all of the bad reviews on the redfin website. So, obviously only the good reviews come through and all the bad reviews (except for a couple) are deleted. One particular agent named Kameron Eliassian is the worst. He has the worst customer service skills and will not respond immediately to you. He does not know real estate procedures and will only help you if he thinks you are a quick buyer. Stay away from Redfin and particularly Kameron Eliassian! You know the saying, "you get what you pay for." Best to go with a full service broker and pay a little more for the expertise and customer service skills, which Kameron Eliassian obviously doesn't have. read more

Brad and I feel so incredibly lucky to have met Joseph Chow through Redfin.  He is the ultimate real estate professional and we can not stop talking to our friends/family about him and his team.  He truly looked out for our needs as a client, always made himself available, and is on top of everything from the very first step to closing and beyond. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the Irvine neighborhoods, the homes, the process, and most importantly prices. We fell in love with a home and knew buying in a "sellers market" would be extremely competitive and difficult.  However, despite 8 other competitive offers with higher down payments, Joe was able to skillfully position our offer to appeal to the buyer and to get her to accept - AMAZING and a DREAM COME TRUE.  After the buyer accepted our offer, Joe guided us through the rest of the process and couldn't have made the home closing experience any easier.  We are still pinching ourselves because it all feels so surreal - we are living in our dream starter home and we couldn't have done it without him.  Joe is diligent, resourceful, trustworthy, knowledgeable, and results-oriented and we would recommend him to anyone! read more

Redfin - Real Estate Agents Near Me - Irvine, California

I had a very bad experience working with redfin agent Joseph Chow. Im the buyer who need to look for a home within 45 days to fulfill 1031 exchange requirement. This redfin agent was pushing me sign the the walk through and remove all contingency at the end, even i told him i was interested to see other home b4 i signed. Long story short, i end up loss more than half of my deposit. This agent also push me to sign the escrow cancellation form to release all deposit. He also convince me to submit an over listing price offer for a back on market property which is 340 ft away of a freeway. He just want to see me give away my deposit even i dont want to close the escrow. Lastly, I had to try hard to contact the listing agent of that property who is really kind and professional to help me out on this. I would use the words very unprofessional and UNETHICAL to describe Joseph Chow as a real estate agent. I m seeking help from redfin manager staff at this moment. Shame on him. read more

Redfin - Real Estate Agents Near Me - Irvine, California

Had an awful experience with Maryam Amiri. I also noticed all the posts on the redfin reviews don't include those who didn't sell or buy. I had a horrible experience as I was trying to make a purchase. Anyhow she had no clue what she was doing when it came to a low income housing restriction for Tustin. I was tossed around to several different agents and even the loan agent she referred me to didn't know how to help me out. Turns out they didn't realize several important details and after 2 weeks in, told me I had to go through the city. I laughed so hard because I was asking them several times if I had to go through the city first. Anyhow Maryam never even called me back to help resolve the situation. Another agent ending up letting me know she was sorry. I would give this zero stars if I could. BIG WASTE OF TIME!!!! read more

Redfin is a great idea - executed in a very mediocre way. Half ways to the finish line they drop the ball and get 'complicated' - meaning communication gets snail paced. Real estate agents are like actors, everybody's a real estate agent now and most of them are not that exciting, Redfin or not. But Redfin runs this centralized office where all the offers are prepared and that place seems to be badly organized and way too slow in communicating. No or late call backs, people are hard to reach, it's constantly voice mail and so on: SLOW! We were actively searching, willing to go with Redfin, but became so frustrated over time, we dropped out. We've sent numerous emails to Redfin explaining our somewhat unhappy situation but no-one ever bothered to reply. They made a great website and then dropped the ball. Or as another review said: Redfin is not for everyone ;-) read more

I LOVE Redfin. Here's why: -I am a control freak. Redfin's business model allows me to be a huge player in the game. I choose the houses I want to see. I determine how much I want to offer (with help of the Redfin agent, who can offer advice on comps, etc.). I drive myself to view the houses I'm viewing. -The agents are not commission based and don't push a sale. Don't like it? On to the next. The agents are customer service based, so they aim to please! -Redfin offers free home buying classes and they even feed you dinner! The class was super informative and they even bring a preferred lender, who we ended up using and loving. -Because you (as the buyer) end up doing some of the legwork, you get a commission refund! Heck yes! I love more money in my pocket as I'm throwing down my life savings to buy a house. -Our agent, Maryam Amiri, was a DOLL to work with. She responded ridiculously quickly to my multitude of emails (daily) and is just the sweetest person you will ever meet! She also wrote an incredible offer for us to beat out our competition on the first house we ever put an offer on! -Redfin's website is pretty fantastic. You can search many different ways (by city, school zones, neighborhoods, etc.) and narrow them by price, bedrooms, bathrooms, all that jazz. You can see how much of a refund you'd receive on purchasing with Redfin. You can receive text or email alerts every time a new home is listed (this is KEY in this market where things are going so quickly). -Docusign. Had never heard of it before, but SO glad Redfin uses it! You can electronically sign documents from anywhere. I wish everyone used it! Honestly, we couldn't have had a better experience with Redfin. We viewed about 5 homes (mostly open houses, without our agent!) and immediately put an offer on the one we loved. Within two days we were in escrow. Maryam was the BEST agent to work with and I highly recommend her (especially if you're a first time buyer and have a zillion questions--she responds quickly!). read more

I was very excited about the concept of RedFin. Their online interface is superb, and I am very independent and felt this was ideal for me: *I* do the search. *I* check out comps. *I* take the initiative with my agent. *I* get a nice 1.5% back on the purchase price ten days after closing. The problem is that when dealing with RedFin, meaning talking to their agent, I got the impression that I was dealing with a budget realty service. Won't say that it seemed like she was doing me a favor, but it was definitely a low energy, oh-okay-let's-see-if-you-get-it kind of thing. The initial response time was good, but after that it was only during business hours, and she took too long to reply when time was of an essence. For example: we got a counteroffer and they gave us 12 hours to reply. Instead of calling me on the spot, the agent emailed me a copy of the counter she got two hours after it had been sent (and on Friday night). By the time I saw her email on Saturday, the time to respond had already expired and the other offerors had already made a couple of offers more and were way ahead. If you're a buyer, I'd recommend RedFin just for the 1.5% rebate ONLY when the property you're buying is a sure deal and any broker would do. If it's anything where you need personalized attention, where there may be multiple potential buyers and you need a broker to be on top of things, I would definitely not recommend RedFin based on my experience. Essentially, this simply boils down to "what you get is what you pay for." read more

I closed on a condo about 6 months ago and because this was my first purchase of a home, the whole process was new to me. I had lots of questions to ask. My agent from Sotheby's was amazing and patient with me. The seller of my place used a Redfin agent, Kameron Eliassian. He was very rude and not professional at all. He wrote an email saying, "I hope you will be happy with our counter offer of 10K more than what you offered." Why would anyone be happy with that? I found his emails to be provoking a reaction rather than pleasing clients. I later investigated and found out that Redfin agents work off of salary and not commission which is why they don't really care about customer satisfaction. There is really no motivation for them to go outside of their 9-5 day to answer questions or put the client's needs first. read more

Redfin Rocks! No more working with real estate agents motivated only by the amount of commission they will get if they sell you the most expensive home for the most expensive price, preferably one on which they are both the listing agent and the sellers agent so they can double dip commission. Redfin agents aren't paid by commission. They are paid to provide you with service, so you are always their FIRST PRIORITY. We just bought our first home with Redfin and our agent was so good we actually ended up closing EARLY. Debbie and her team walked us through all the steps and answered all our first-time-home-buyer questions. Redfin's website provides lots of tools to educate yourself on the market, financing and anything you'll need to help YOURSELF buy your home. You can be confident that the home you choose will be the one that best fits your needs because there's no one pushing you towards a home that's not a good fit just because they want to close the deal. We supplemented home tours with Redfin with visiting open houses ourselves so that we got to see many different types of homes and could figure out what our personal priorities were in buying a home. We also got to explore different areas of LA and make sure we ended up exactly where we wanted to be. Redfin also has an excellent iPhone ap to help you find open houses and listings while you are on the go. We would drive by a house with a for sale sign and wonder how much it was and how many bedrooms, sq ft, etc. With the iPhone Ap, we just pulled over and opened the Ap to show the closest home for sale and got all the information we wanted, including photos of the home and interior. This really cut down on seeing homes that were just too small or too expensive. Of course Redfin is not for everyone. If you want an agent who will drive you around to houses that he or she chooses for you, that's not what you'll get with Redfin. But who knows better what's right for you - you or an agent you just met? Also, Redfin only tours homes with you if you are a serious home buyer. You can't be a lookie-loo. You have to have a pre-approval letter from an lender to book any home tours after the first one. But that's no problem because Redfin can suggest a number of lenders that you can work with or choose your own if you like. We were prepared for everything the lender needed for preapproval so the whole process only took a day. No muss no fuss. Redfin is also not a good place if you just looking to submit low-ball offers or multiple offers on properties trying to speculate. You can only have one offer open at a time so if you put in an offer on a short sale you can't put in other offers until that offer is closed or you withdraw it. Personally we found the short sales too fraught with sellers who didn't really want to sell and just had their houses listed to forestall foreclosure, not really because they were interested in selling, that we avoided them. We found a seller who wanted to sell and was willing to work with us to make that happen, so it worked out for all of us. The other GREAT THING about Redfin is that all the document signing is electronic. You don't need to take a day off work and schedule appointments at the realtor's office to submit your offer, sign off on contingencies, etc. It all comes to you by email. Our only hold up was the escrow agent, who was definitely old school and had a more paper-based approach. I guess it will take a while for that part of real estate transactions to move into the 21st century. All in all, Redfin is an excellent option if you want to control your own home buying experience. If you know what you want and just need someone to guide you through it Redfin is an excellent choice. AND you get a rebate on a portion of the buyers agent commission, so you save on the price and get exactly what suits you in the end. I highly recommend Redfin! read more

The old realtor model is outdated and Redfin is the future. With Redfin, you research your own properties online but once you find one a Redfin agent takes it from there. I really don't feel like I lost anything by not using a traditional realtor and I appreciated that all of the Redfin staff are low-key and low-pressure. I received about $10,000 back on my purchase. While some may see it as a disadvantage to communicate with your realtor via e-mail, I found this to be a huge advantage because I would often receive a response to questions within minutes of sending an e-mail. Specifically I had a couple of bumps along the way that the agent helped me with. Negotiations over repairs to the property almost derailed the whole transaction but my agent negotiated and got me what I wanted. I had lots of trouble with my bank but Joyti helped me in making calls and being persistent in getting the problems taken care of. I must admit that I was reticent about the service in the beginning but I having completed my transaction I feel like I was in very good hands along the way. Update: After reading other people's reviews I have a couple more tips. 1.) You need to have your pre-approval letter in hand to use this service. Due to the nature of their business model, they need to be sure you're a qualified buyer and serious about buying. This is mildly annoying but helps you immensely if you get into a situation where there are multiple bids. You're already qualified and that's an advantage for you. 2.) Whenever possible you should see the property on your own. Look for open houses or call the listing agent but clearly identify that your agent is Redfin. I found my house by going to an open house and putting in an offer with Redfin immediately afterward. It was all done in plenty of time to get the property. read more

First time home buyer here, and I would do it all over again, if only for the sake of working again with Katrina Jauregui and her fantastic team! A little background on us: Mid 30's married couple with a 3 year old and 9 month old. First time home buyers. We had casually searched the market a little in 2009 solely using redfin's website, but never toured any homes; we were just browsing back then. Fast forward to August 2011 when we really began searching in earnest as our apartment lease was ending on February 2012. Our first home tour was on September 8, 2011. Then, 62 (Sixty-Two!) home tours later, on December 23, 2011 we got the keys to our dream home. For those that are wondering, the home we purchased was the 60th home we toured out of the 62. COMMUNICATION. It's difficult to reach me on my mobile phone during the day because I'm always in meetings, so our communications naturally evolved toward email. And let me tell you, Katrina has got it covered ... no email I sent went unanswered. If I sent an email at 7pm, I didn't expect an answer until the next morning, but sometimes she answered within minutes! Emails I sent at 2am had replies waiting for me when I rolled out of bed in the morning. Also, the times I did call to speak with Katrina, she was almost always reachable. If she wasn't, she always had a voicemail greeting to let people know that she was on a home tour and when she would be available. TRUST. I'm writing this to YOU, perspective Redfin buyers: In case you didn't know, unlike traditional agents, Katrina and her team doesn't work off commission. We didn't feel any sales pressure at all from Katrina or her team. Everyone we met was so friendly, so easy going and they were happy to tour homes with us, even with our sometimes-fussy kids! Naturally, Katrina can't tour every.single.home with every.single.customer, so for that, her team of field agents covered. We remember every field agent we toured with: Javier, Grace, Danielle, Kevin, Daniel. Also, Timbra, the team coordinator was awesome, too, as she kept us updated and on schedule with all our offer and closing paperwork. KNOWLEDGE. Katrina was able to answer all questions we had and in ways that made sense to us, too. She pointed out potential problems on houses from stains on ceilings to any deferred maintenance items on the property. Then, when it came down to offering, she remembered all the terms and conditions we discussed, and made sure the seller held up their end of the deal. I felt like our family was her utmost priority. BITTERSWEET. Do you remember the last day of your senior year in High School? It was a great feeling to be graduating, but it was also tinged with a bit of sadness because you were also parting with some people you'd grown close to. This is the same bittersweet feeling we had when closing on our home -- we wouldn't be seeing Katrina and her team again! THANK YOU. To Katrina: Thank you. Thank you, a thousand times over. During our signing, I almost (almost!) started getting sentimental. The whole weight of finding our first home, plus how blessed and fortunate we were to have you and such a wonderful team working on our side was enough to make a man's heart burst. Thank you for helping me find a house, no, scratch that, a HOME; OUR home, for me, my wife and my children. read more

Redfin rocks, as simple as can be when looking to buy a home. As a website it is intuitive, has ample information and the daily updates are great. As a service, it is fantastic, I used a Redfin agent, Deirdre Salamone, and the experience was everything I could ask for in a Realtor. Redfin checked in regularly to confirm I was receiving excellent service throughout. Most important, the site is the most up-to-date of all the real estate sites on the web. Using the house I purchased as an example, I looked on line a few times searching by address and Redfin was the only one that had the right status, One actually still shows the original time it was on the market with no updates since! Redfin is the most up-to-date! Buying a home, or just like looking around, Redfin is the service to use. read more

Red in redfin means LOSS in selling or buying. Its appraisal price is a random number. I've requested them to fix my property value but they say it cannot be changed because their random value is generated by a machine. Go Realtor.com or Zillow.com which is real real estate agents who seriously take care of customers. Redfin's value is just worth 10k or less any software developer can build in a month. read more

My husband and I had just recently been married November 2014 and, due to the apartment situation that we were in (e.g., horrible management, 20% monthly rent increases, horrid neighbors, terrible parking situation, etc.), we ended up deciding to seriously look at a new home by end of November. While we had originally looked at a few things on Trulia and Zillow, it was, personally, much easier for me to check via Redfin on potential new homes than any other website. Through Redfin, we found a condo in Stanton that we were interested in. I clicked a few buttons to schedule a tour, and was immediately called by one of the Redfin staff, who told me that my agent would be Andrew Pollaro. THE AGENT: My husband and I first met Andrew at the Stanton condo, and he was there for the majority of the tours I scheduled He is amazing. Very cordial, very professional, and intensely knowledgeable. While we may not have chosen the best areas, or we may not have chosen a very updated condo, he always said very positive things about a place. He was always very honest about things, but wouldn't say anything bad or negative unless it could be a potential safety risk. In the end, husband and I ended up being able to close escrow at a condo in Placentia. It is everything that we wanted in our home (for the moment, anyways). From when we first made an offer to when we closed escrow, Andrew made everything as stress-free as you can possibly have for buying a new home. He was aware that we were first-time homebuyers, and was always very patient and kind when we asked our questions (and, trust me, there were a LOT of questions). He was very flexible, and would email us information, as that was the best and easiest way to contact us. For things that were urgent, he would, of course, call. But he never ignored an email, a call, or a text, and was always very good in answering ALL questions we had, even when it was likely that he had to answer such questions before. He was great in keeping in contact with our lender and with the seller's choice of an escrow company, and was constantly giving us updates everyday from the offer process to when we finally closed escrow. Keep in mind that this was the holiday season! He was emailing us on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. Now THAT is commitment. While we did see other agents during the process of finding a new home, Andrew stood out as being well-seasoned, confident and, overall, a very good person. We were proud to have him by our side, and have had no regrets going through Redfin to have a fairly pleasant experience of finding our new home. THE WEBSITE: As I've said before, the Redfin website is very easy to use. Plug in the area you want, the requirements you want (number of bathrooms/bedrooms, min/max of HOA, etc.), and search. And, if you choose to put in an offer, you can check out the Deal Room to see how the offer is progressing, as well as any paperwork or tasks that you need to do. Basically, for people who are a little OCD, it keeps you on track. THE REFUND: Who doesn't like a refund? Redfin does not operate on commission and, instead, the agents get a salary so that they don't have to pressure their clients into purchasing anything. And, if you like your agent a lot, you can write a review to help them get a bonus. THE PROCESS: Honestly, it wasn't that bad. It felt very easy and, for the most part, it was just waiting on things, such as the appraisal, inspections, and contingencies, to get processed or passed. My husband and I was able to put in an offer on December 23, got approved by December 26, and we had a 30-day escrow that closed on time. WOULD WE DO IT AGAIN?: With Redfin, probably. If we could have Andrew as our agent, then it is a definite yes. :) read more

Dear Redfin, I love you and I am severely addicted to researching properties on your website. I love the easy to read layout, the MLS-generated data, and how simple it is to cancel out different property types I don't want showing up in my searches. You should make a tool kind of like Pandora or Slacker Radio, where you begin to take note of the homes we are marking as "Favorites," and then suggesting like-properties in like-areas... tough, I know, because of actual property conditions... but maybe have an on/off feature where users could turn it on, or even receive daily alerts? Meh, you probably already offer this because you're always one step ahead. 5-stars unless your agent completely flakes on me. Other than that, I don't think you can lose using your services, especially with the 1.5% commission kickback into my pockets... which I'll go off to spend on good whiskey and a Pontiac Fiero converted into a Lamborghini Countach in Tijuana. read more

Great service. I've been impressed with the agents..they are incredibly helpful:) Being able to utilize the efficiency and resources of Redfin, while working with agents who are not commission-based, changes the entire experience. Gone, should be the days of agents collecting massive commission and pushing sales; the same agents who advised people to purchase homes they could not afford several years ago. Why would someone work with a pushy agent who's incentive is to SELL when it comes to one of the biggest investments they will make? Redfin has a great model, not only for getting accurate unbiased information, but also with respect to individualized advice and help with customer decision-making. p.s. I'm not sure what the 2011 review was about.. there is nothing 'mediocre' about this. read more

My wife and I just bought our first home using Redfin, and I can't imagine any reason to use a traditional buyer's agent. They were helpful, prompt, and incredibly easy to reach at any time by telephone or e-mail. Two different agents helped us with the purchase - we had excellent experiences with both, and communication went very smoothly even though we never actually met either in person. The whole experience of using Redfin was incredibly low pressure, probably because none of their agents are working for a commission. They are paid a salary or a flat fee for working with customers, so they can afford to be less pushy than an agent trying to make a living on his 3% commission. Redfin's search interface is excellent, and their free home tour service is incredibly convenient. We toured somewhere around 30 homes with Redfin agents without paying them a dime or incurring any obligation to use them for an actual purchase. It takes about 5 minutes online to set up a free tour of six homes - Redfin agents then do all the work of finding a suitable time, contacting the sellers to gain entry, and driving out to meet you on the doorstep. When we actually initiated a purchase, our agent displayed an excellent knowledge of the local market. She carefully explained every step of the whole purchase process and happily gave detailed advice on negotiating the lengthy exchange of offers and counteroffers. I actually traveled to China during the last week of escrow, and she had no trouble switching over smoothly from dealing largely with me to talking to my wife exclusively. I would probably be recommending Redfin even without the rebate, but that sure clinches the deal. The lack of sales pitches and the fantastic search tools would probably have been enough to convert me, but the rebate of 1.5% of the purchase price is incredible. We're getting around $7500 back in cash, tax-free, and I don't feel like we made even a tiny sacrifice in service to get it. I'll be surprised if Redfin or competitors like them are not replacing the majority of traditional buyer's agents within the next 5 to 10 years. One of the few qualms I have about Redfin is that they won't handle offers on short sales. Apparently they got burned in the past because a very small percentage of short sale offers actually followed through into successful closings. I assume that given their smaller-than-usual cut of the purchase price, Redfin was having trouble turning a profit on these. read more

Redfin was exceptional in all respects. We started out with a traditional broker and felt that she was always too busy to show us around. Once a regular broker goes on vacation you are out of luck. Redfin has the depth to provide you with your regular broker (go Debbie Martin!) AND cover if he/she is not available. Electronic signatures are a great way to avoid driving to your broker's office every time you put in an offer. Overall, we had a great experience, and the 50% commission back is just icing on the cake. We are now selling our old place through Redfin and so far so good. The whole idea of Redfin agents getting paid based on customer satisfaction and a flat rate rather than commission is great. I never felt like Debbie was pushing us to buy so that she could get paid. I was always concerned about the motivation of our previous (conventional) broker. read more

I am not afraid of technology, reading all of the legal documents that it takes to buy a house, doing some of the work, and doing the research it takes to know when a home list price is too high. To explain why I like RedFin, let me start from the beginning... During the housing bubble starting in 2005, I had read a lot about market bubbles, historical bubbles, economics, etc... and I knew that we were in a bubble and it was going to burst so we stayed out of it and saved money instead. Yeeeeah, I said it...I was one of the FEW that accepted the data while everyone laughed at me. I'm not bitter. ;) So what did I do for fun during the bubble? Go to all of the open houses so I could throw up a little in my mouth in disgust whenever I heard a National Association of Realtors (NAR) Agent say, "The next phase will be more expensive" and "they're not making any more land" and "buy now or be priced out forever." Just thinking about the NAR is making me nauseous. So for all of you that want to stick it to one of the players involved in making the housing bubble as bad as it was, and helping crash the economy...then help bring down the NAR and all their evil ways by using a service like RedFin. Every time I think about how much I hate the NAR and how much I love my house...I smile big. As a first time buyer, let me just say...WOW. Contrary to the frothy housing bubble days when a loan was secured with nothing more than a weak pulse...these days the mortgage companies and the underwriters look under every boulder, rock and pebble of your financial life. It's the probing of a lifetime, until you're a man over 50. I have three inches of documentation filed away for this home purchase to prove it. I was asked to provide every financial document I own...you have money somewhere, they want to see it. That was for the pre-approval, then when we bid they wanted it again, then the day before close, again. In fact, I was wisely advised to not even deposit loose change, or a rebate check from my credit card company...or anything into my checking account because it might spook my underwriter and I would have to provide all kinds of documents to support this "undocumented income." Wow...a lot has changed from the bubble days, hasn't it? I guess when the banks are actually made responsible for the loans they give out, they suddenly have an interest to make sure you can pay it back...unlike our Fed Government created housing bubble. I do have to give props to my mortgage lender...he was AWESOME. Knew his business, calmly talked me off a ledge once or twice, got me a GREAT rate, and made sure I was all "in-order" for the underwriter review so no surprises would happen, and none did. Contact me if you want his info. All that said, RedFin was exactly what I wanted. RedFin is the agent in the background, not constantly in-contact or pushy, but always available when you need them. All the documents (except for the notarized ones from escrow) were done using DocuSign, so I was able to sign off at work or home on the reams of documents that needed to be read, reviewed, understood and signed. When I had a question and emailed RedFin, they responded quickly, and answered it. Setting up home tours was so easy, they were always on-time, they never "pitched" the home but just provided access so you could walk around and get a feel on your own. All of the home information is on their website anyway. They work as a team so there is someone who coordinates everything, someone in charge of your account and agents that show up to unlock the door. Also, there is always a way to email the boss of the person in charge of your account in case you have a problem with them. I also like that all agents are rated and all ratings are posted. Of course, splitting the buyer agent commission is a plus too. For my deal, I got a check for almost $10,000 (FYI - which you can't use for the down payment, which has to be paid for with organic funds like savings and investments). But it can be used for the closing costs or you can request a check, and it's tax free. The downside of RedFin? Not many. I don't think my agent agreed with my offers, maybe she thought they were too low but I was only offering what I felt the market price was at. As it turned out, the final agreed-on price that got me the house was $134,000 below the seller's list price and only $35,000 above my initial offer (which I knew was low, on purpose). And the appraiser came in within $10,000 of my final offer, so I must have had a decent idea of the market. Outside of that minor thing (again, as long as you are willing to educate yourself on these things)...RedFin is awesome and I would definitely use them again. Lastly, if you are assigned Danielle to open a door for you from the Irvine RedFin agency...request someone else. Wow, was she irritating. Ask for Jen instead, she was awesome. read more

I'm writing to voice my support for Redfin. First of all, their website is awesome for doing my own research, saving favorites, and booking tours. The usability and efficiency outclass other sites such as Zillow. Redfin saves buyers money by returning a portion of their fee. That's amazingly great and a real benefit. The best thing however, are the agents that Redfin attracts. My agents, Jennifer and David Elia, are personable, knowledgeable and extremely professional. That can be said of many agents, but Jennifer & David take customer service to another level. I know this, having bought and sold houses through other agents. I highly recommend them, and their company Redfin. Their emphasis on customer service and responsiveness more than exceeded my expectations. read more

Redfin helped me sell my condo and buy a home. Kim O'Hare was a great seller agent and got my home looking the best it could. She brought in offers in the first week and they were right on target. Steve Polito was a great buyers agent coordinating our purchase of a new home. He was really knowledgeable and has a fantastic support staff to get the inspection and all necessary documents signed digitally to make moving in simple. This is the second time I have used Redfin and will continue to tell my friends and family about the top tier staff and the financial benefits as well. With regards to the information on their website, they have the most updated info, better than Zillow better than Truila. Read the reviews carefully to be sure you are viewing realtor reviews or website reviews. Redfin realtors are the best! read more

At last! I bought my first home! After a year of searching for the right place I finally found it and Redfin helped me the throughout the entire process! Redfin is all about teamwork, this means from the start--you do your homework. Realtors from Redfin are not a "full service" real estate agency but who cares? You are going to live in the prospective home, you should do the homework (crime rates, proximity to rail road tracks, stuff you care about) anyhow. Redfin real estate agent don't preview homes but in my opinion, who cares? Even if you see a house that is a total piece of sh*t you either 1.) learn about some qualities that you don't want to see in a home or 2.) buy the fixer. For a discount brokerage I think you get every pennies worth with Redfin. They are fast, efficient and don't try to pressure you into buying a home that is outside your price range or style. By the way, for a "discount brokerage" I got 6300 bucks towards my closing costs--which pretty much covered it. Yes, the communication is primarily by e-mail (except when making appointments with a scheduling agent) but it beats all the day time phone calls racking up on your bill. My Redfin agent was Joyti Goundar, she is a dream to work with. The seller's agent that she had to deal with was a NIGHTMARE. The seller's agent was dumb as rocks and a spaz. If I was in Joyti's position I would have been sticking a pen in my eye but Joyti remained calm and patient. Joyti is professional, competent, and prompt to respond to your questions. Sara, her assistant with transactions, is just as great! They work so well together! The only downside is that I didn't get to meet Joyti but hopefully she'll make it to the house-warming party! :) read more

Called to start the process of selling my condo and buying a home. Believe it or not, there wasn't a Redfin agent who was available to help me. Or was it bc I was selling a condo and not a higher value single family home? The gal on the customer service line told me there might be agents in the area, but none were available to take on another property. I thought for sure her next line would be, but let me get your name and number and I'll call you when one becomes available... Not- poor customer service. read more

Went on their site today and Chatted with Crystal. Said she would provide a contact for me. Never got an email. And according to them they don't look for the type of SRF I was interested in. Hope someone in management is looking and reads the chat log, cause they lost my $20MM portfolio of residential duplexes and SFRs I currently own. Won't do business with them. Kiss my a.... read more

I just closed on my house in La Jolla. My experience with Redfin was fantastic. I would use this service again without hesitations. I had the pleasure to work with Angela Creech and Sarah Masey. Both were professional, helpful and ALWAYS available, even on their days off! I was impressed with their knowledge and found their assistance invaluable at every step of the process. My refund was mailed ahead of schedule. Needless to say I saved a large amount of money by using Redfin and did so without compromises. read more

I am a loan officer and just closed a transaction with Mary Ann Lawson (Realtor) and Roxanne Pegues (Transaction Coordinator). They where both great to work with, professional, very responsive, and provided everything we need in a timely manner, helping us get the transaction ready to close 2 weeks ahead of the closing date. I look forward to working with them again in the future. read more

I was a first time home buyer and I was so grateful that my husband found Leslie. She was patient, professional, and very considerate. When we messaged her, she replied quick. She really listened to our needs and knew exactly what we were looking for. She also gave great advices and analyzed pros and cons on each property. Her advice was very much to the point that helped us to make decisions. I thought house shopping would be a pain in the neck but Leslie made it super pleasant. I had ZERO complaint about her, and I would recommend her to anyone. read more

It was an honer working with Maryam Amiri as our agent. She is very professional and she knows exactly what she is doing, and this is the most important thing ( There are lots of agents out there that do not know how things work, and they put you in trouble) She understand her client's concerns and needs, when it comes to buying a house- especially as a first time buyers. I would like to share my experience with who is looking for a professional, and reliable agent. We were struggling in this HOT market finding a right house, and we failed many times, because our previous agent was not professional, knowledgeable, and understanding. After searching and reading reviews online we finally found Maryam. She is ranked the most top real estate agent. When we first met Maryam and decided to put an offer we were in doubt that we could get the house - and here she goes ( we got the house!!!!!!) when she told us seller accepted our offer , we got shocked ! It is easy to write and submit an offer, but the most important thing is the negotiation, which Maryam is the goddess of negotiation. We had the best experience working with Maryam's Team including her incredible coordinator Mandy Abbott ( she was on top of everything). Everything went very smooth from opening the escrow till our closing date (we closed within 30 days). Maryam always communicated with us and addressed all of our concerns and questions ( she will not leave you in the dark). Maryam was reachable at any time, and our concerns were her priority. we didn't felt we are working with a real estate agent, we felt we are working with our best friend who cares, and walks through this journey with us. We need more agents like Maryam who cares for her clients, and I will always recommend her to anyone who is looking for a "REAL" real estate agent. read more

Understanding buyer's needs is a single important characteristic of a successful Realtor. Katrina's professional character includes this element. During the escrow process we explored Katrina as a smart, straightforward, fast paced, responsive and thoughtful Realtor. She earned our trust at early stage of our purchase when she started writing our offer; and strengthened that trust during the escrow process. Besides, she exceeded our expectation by helping us to buy a few personal properties from the seller. We enjoyed working with her and we recommend her for your future real estate purchases. Minni, one of the field agents of Redfin, is the best out of all those people helped us in showing properties. Her responsible action and follow-up leaded us to put the offer on our favorite house in the first place. We wish her best of luck and appreciate her kind heart. Also, we would like to thank Mark for resolving a few initial problems; and Sara for her couple of comments during escrow when needed. To us, Redfin is a revolution in the real estate sales industry. Redfin's approach in real estate sales environment attracts smart people, and provides them with unlimited sources for their real estate needs as well as some cash back in their pocket. Ramin & Pantea read more

I scheduled a tour on their website, which explained that I needed to submit my pre-approval letter before the tour. I was actually waiting for my letter (it was to come in within the hour). So, I scheduled anyway and selected a box they provided that said I was currently working with a lender. So, a guy calls me from their site. Of course, I being a first time home buyer was excited and friendly. He ignored my polite greetings, like, "hi- how's it goin'... thanks for calling me back..." and interrupted me instead to get to business, "Do you have the pre-approval letter?". I told him the mortgage guy just called me and was emailing me as we spoke, I should have it in a few minutes. He says, "oh... well, just re-schedule on the site when you get it.... bye". I wonder how he would treat me if he called with my "worth" in hand? I don't know about you, but when I'm making such a huge decision, I mean spending possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars on a place that I may live most of my life, well, I want someone that is at least friendly. Is that too much to ask? So, I get my pre-approval letter and I try to reschedule on their site like the man told me, but the site wasn't offering a place to re-submit the approval letter and said that I already scheduled a tour for the property. So, I call the main number to get a little help, and the girl that answers the phone obviously hates her job. Her tone was that of a person being interrupted, from the get-go. She was condescending and impolite and when I mentioned that I felt she was being a bit rude to me, she started speaking in in a high pitched, fake nice voice... you know the type of voice I'm referring to, the kind that has a little tone influx at the end of each sentence and makes you think of drop kicking bunnies. I think she was attempting to agitate me further for reasons unknown, before she hung up on me. And guess why she hung up on me? I asked her calmly, to please stop speaking to me in the high pitched insincere tone and pleaded with her if she minded just helping me out to schedule a viewing. So, to wrap things up, I called another company, and guess what? They were thrilled to hear from a fully qualified buyer that already had properties in mind. I mean, really, who wouldn't be? I'm the easiest sale yet. So, I guess Redfin did something right, they unintentionally warned me of their incompetence before I committed to using their service. Thanks! read more