Mike,
I watched this story last night as well--I think that the $26K in savings was attributed to lowered RE commissions by not using a traditional realtor on either end (selling their old house and buying their new one). They did mention that they got $10K under their asking price when they sold their old home, but were OK with that. Of course, the Windmere agent they interviewed at the end of the story said that one reason to use a traditional agent is to maximize the selling price, due to realtor's expertice in flyer creation, house staging, etc.
It's interesting that in several states the _____ (pick your state) Association of Realtors have lobbied to keep Redfin from doing business in their state by various means. The NAR has jumped into the fray as well. The big sticking point is access to the MLS of course. I see some big fights coming up on this one.
And this story came on an hour after I watched Robert Mak do a piece on Zillow on Up Front with Robert Mak at 6pm on King5.