A very interesting topic and one I had the opportunity to visit recently. I actually had two Redfin clients that were on the fence between buying with Redfin or working with me. Redfin has an interesting business model, but they lack in a couple of major areas. Redfin runs a system that many agents don’t agree with and understandably so. I personally think it’s a great business model, but they are committed to quantity not quality, hence the process that buyers have to go through. You tend to work with 3 or 4 different people to get the deal done which can actually make the deal much more confusing.
At the end of the day as sdr and others have pointed out if you are going directly to the listing agent to negotiate you’ll have to keep in mind the fiduciary responsibility of the agent. It’s completely lawful to conduct business with the buyer and seller, but often times can be a conflict of interest. Since you are paying the commission regardless, finding a competent agent is extremely beneficial for you as the buyer. I ended convincing both buyers that my knowledge and understanding would be much more beneficial and I think now that both escrows are closed they would agree.
The biggest problem nowadays is that everyone wants a deal and places Redfin have created a way to make that happen for buyers and sellers. As this market slows the buyers and sellers will continue to weed out what they think is the middle man. Be wise in your buying decisions and make sure you understand what your getting yourself into when working directly with the listing agent.
