Has anybody bought a home using Redfin?
Hi all -
Has anybody used Redfin or Ziprealty to buy (or make an offer on) a home? If so:
- What was your experience like (and would you refer a friend)?
- What area did you buy in (closer to Seattle, or more suburban/rural)?
- Should we have any concerns about traditional agents not wanting to work with, or accept offers from, non-traditional agents?
Background: We used a traditional realtor who we really like to buy and sell our last home but as she isn't familiar with the area we're moving to, we're looking at the option of using one of the fee-based/rebate-offering agencies. We were/are planning on building a house, but with county permitting slowness, a softening market and good mortgage rates, we're starting to look at our options again. Prices have been softening for close to a year now in the area we're looking at (rural/suburban pierce co) and we might try making an offer on a "cosmetic fixer"... there are numerous properties that have been sitting on the market for 3-6 months with multiple price reductions.
Any experience/anecdotes would be appreciated. Thanks!
Has anybody used Redfin or Ziprealty to buy (or make an offer on) a home? If so:
- What was your experience like (and would you refer a friend)?
- What area did you buy in (closer to Seattle, or more suburban/rural)?
- Should we have any concerns about traditional agents not wanting to work with, or accept offers from, non-traditional agents?
Background: We used a traditional realtor who we really like to buy and sell our last home but as she isn't familiar with the area we're moving to, we're looking at the option of using one of the fee-based/rebate-offering agencies. We were/are planning on building a house, but with county permitting slowness, a softening market and good mortgage rates, we're starting to look at our options again. Prices have been softening for close to a year now in the area we're looking at (rural/suburban pierce co) and we might try making an offer on a "cosmetic fixer"... there are numerous properties that have been sitting on the market for 3-6 months with multiple price reductions.
Any experience/anecdotes would be appreciated. Thanks!
Comments
So.. What can go wrong? What important value aspects will I be missing? (thoughts)
If you are willing to do your own research to narrow down the possibilities to just a few, Redfin will save you money but you can save a lot more by hiring the guys at purchaselaw.com. Redfin charges a 1% buyer's agent fee (instead of the typical 3%), whereas Kirk Mulfinger et al at purchaselaw.com charges a $1000 flat fee if you find the house yourself, and they have fuller-service options too. He not only has a real estate license, he's also an attorney. They charge a $4500 flat fee (or thereabouts) for selling a house (see site for specifics).
I've dealt with Redfin as the "other" agent in the deal, and I'm not going to preach against them, I don't have a problem dealing with them, but on one occasion the Redfin agent was notoriously bad at returning my calls/emails, and on another occasion the seller or the Redfin agent wouldn't budge on the asking price at all...the house sold many months later after they switched to a traditional brokerage and lowered their price. It may not have been Redfin's fault, some sellers are unrealistic and while the agent can suggest an asking price, perhaps this time the seller insisted on this unrealistically high asking price.
Write up your own bid and specify that the buyers agent fee comes back to you. Make sure you include financing/inspection contingencies. Plent of books exist on the topic. Easy to do - and you are not so likely to be ignored in a slow market. Not like people are knocking the doors down right now.
It's not rocket science - despite what RE agents claim. I've done it before and saved $18 grand.
Would you care to recommend some of the books?
Right now I plan to go with a real estate attorney (AFAIK included with work/legal benefits), but it wouldn't hurt to visit a local library and get a good book.
I looked at using Redfin and it just didn't make sense for my situation. The property we wanted to make an offer on is a low enough price that there wouldn't be much financial benefit to using Redfin over a traditional agent. And since we have a traditional agent we've worked with before and we had great experiences with her, we approached her about making an offer on a property we'd already found and she offered us a good deal.
We negotiated to a good price (at a significant discount from asking), it works out the same for us in terms of cost, and she gets a commission, too. I'd rather support her than someone I don't know. So in my case, Redfin didn't make sense. But that doesn't mean it won't be right for someone else.
FYI for the curious - the property was originally listed at 350K and had been reduced to 300K over 6 months. Selling price is 270 - which happens to be only the rate of inflation over what the seller paid five years ago.
I was afraid someone would ask that... It was 8 years ago so I don't remember (and I think my ex-wife has the book). I also found a lot of info on web sites. About.com has a pretty good guide
http://homebuying.about.com/od/offersne ... ptance.htm
.