Has anyone actually used Redfin to purchase a home? Interested to hear what your experience was

[an]

[quote=drboom]
Some of you sound like chronic lookie loos. Are you really trying to find a house to buy, or is it just a fun pastime?[/quote]
Can’t speak for others but I did buy my house, so I wasn’t a lookie loo. I had many low ball offers sight unseen. On ones where I went to go look at are ones where I would offer at listing. I was very loyal to my agent(stick w/ him for over a year until we actually bought a house w/ him) and didn’t bother him unless I’m ready to submit an offer. I wish MLS would have many more pictures. I think it would reduce the amount of showings from lookie loos. If you have A LOT of pictures and stitch them together w/ Microsoft PhotoSynth, people can have virtual viewing w/out having to actually go to the house until you’re ready to make an offer and just want to double check in person.

[alarmclock]

[quote=sdrealtor]glad none of you are my clients. i wouldnt put up with you. Getting good service and quality representation requires some degree of loyalty. So many of you will dismiss realtor ethics but turn around and think nothing of using some one never intending to do business with them. Wonder why some realtors are the way thy are.
[/quote]

The thing that really rubs the the wrong way about the NAR and real estate agents is that theres almost no MAINSTREAM way to avoid the 6% commission. I’m not saying that realtors don’t earn their commission, in fact I know that some of them DO earn it. But there should be a way to avoid the 6% commission charge associated with housing purchase. For example, pay by the hour services, or completely flat-fee selling/buying assistance.

It’s just complete crap for realtors to live off of mandatory commission charges, but then enjoy an entire economy where you have the CHOICE to pay commission or not based on what you buy. Maybe if all realtors had to pay an additional 6% for a personal shopping assistont for all of their purchoses (e.g. food, gas, furnitore, gym memborship, etc) it would be easier to undorstand.

[alarmclock]

[quote=sdrealtor]glad none of you are my clients. i wouldnt put up with you. Getting good service and quality representation requires some degree of loyalty. So many of you will dismiss realtor ethics but turn around and think nothing of using some one never intending to do business with them. Wonder why some realtors are the way thy are.
[/quote]

The thing that really rubs the the wrong way about the NAR and real estate agents is that theres almost no MAINSTREAM way to avoid the 6% commission. I’m not saying that realtors don’t earn their commission, in fact I know that some of them DO earn it. But there should be a way to avoid the 6% commission charge associated with housing purchase. For example, pay by the hour services, or completely flat-fee selling/buying assistance.

It’s just complete crap for realtors to live off of mandatory commission charges, but then enjoy an entire economy where you have the CHOICE to pay commission or not based on what you buy. Maybe if all realtors had to pay an additional 6% for a personal shopping assistont for all of their purchoses (e.g. food, gas, furnitore, gym memborship, etc) it would be easier to undorstand.

[alarmclock]

[quote=sdrealtor]glad none of you are my clients. i wouldnt put up with you. Getting good service and quality representation requires some degree of loyalty. So many of you will dismiss realtor ethics but turn around and think nothing of using some one never intending to do business with them. Wonder why some realtors are the way thy are.
[/quote]

The thing that really rubs the the wrong way about the NAR and real estate agents is that theres almost no MAINSTREAM way to avoid the 6% commission. I’m not saying that realtors don’t earn their commission, in fact I know that some of them DO earn it. But there should be a way to avoid the 6% commission charge associated with housing purchase. For example, pay by the hour services, or completely flat-fee selling/buying assistance.

It’s just complete crap for realtors to live off of mandatory commission charges, but then enjoy an entire economy where you have the CHOICE to pay commission or not based on what you buy. Maybe if all realtors had to pay an additional 6% for a personal shopping assistont for all of their purchoses (e.g. food, gas, furnitore, gym memborship, etc) it would be easier to undorstand.

[alarmclock]

[quote=sdrealtor]glad none of you are my clients. i wouldnt put up with you. Getting good service and quality representation requires some degree of loyalty. So many of you will dismiss realtor ethics but turn around and think nothing of using some one never intending to do business with them. Wonder why some realtors are the way thy are.
[/quote]

The thing that really rubs the the wrong way about the NAR and real estate agents is that theres almost no MAINSTREAM way to avoid the 6% commission. I’m not saying that realtors don’t earn their commission, in fact I know that some of them DO earn it. But there should be a way to avoid the 6% commission charge associated with housing purchase. For example, pay by the hour services, or completely flat-fee selling/buying assistance.

It’s just complete crap for realtors to live off of mandatory commission charges, but then enjoy an entire economy where you have the CHOICE to pay commission or not based on what you buy. Maybe if all realtors had to pay an additional 6% for a personal shopping assistont for all of their purchoses (e.g. food, gas, furnitore, gym memborship, etc) it would be easier to undorstand.

[alarmclock]

[quote=sdrealtor]glad none of you are my clients. i wouldnt put up with you. Getting good service and quality representation requires some degree of loyalty. So many of you will dismiss realtor ethics but turn around and think nothing of using some one never intending to do business with them. Wonder why some realtors are the way thy are.
[/quote]

The thing that really rubs the the wrong way about the NAR and real estate agents is that theres almost no MAINSTREAM way to avoid the 6% commission. I’m not saying that realtors don’t earn their commission, in fact I know that some of them DO earn it. But there should be a way to avoid the 6% commission charge associated with housing purchase. For example, pay by the hour services, or completely flat-fee selling/buying assistance.

It’s just complete crap for realtors to live off of mandatory commission charges, but then enjoy an entire economy where you have the CHOICE to pay commission or not based on what you buy. Maybe if all realtors had to pay an additional 6% for a personal shopping assistont for all of their purchoses (e.g. food, gas, furnitore, gym memborship, etc) it would be easier to undorstand.

[Scarlett]

When I was first buyer, I had to look at a lot of houses. It was fun, but I gained experience, and learned to eliminate many houses without having to see them. Of course, the cookie cutter trend helped. But I think, even with virtual tours, and lots of photos, there is no substitute for seeing a house in person. Sellers may not put up pics of things that are ‘dubious’ and that for me may be a deal breaker, or one too many compromises to make. Plus the camera angle may fool you into thinking something is larger that it is. Also, all the pics will not tell you what you can see/hear/smeel from your house/yard. Sure you can get an idea driving by the properties. That eliminated many, too. You learn what to look for/hear/smell. Perhaps I am bit picky. I need to see the rooms in person to see how I am going to make use of them, place my furniture, if I like the kids rooms, etc. I had to see more houses than I really wanted because I lost a few in the bidding war – this was in bubble days.

That being said, I think some realtors feel threatened by services that would allow seeing houses, and especially if those are offering a nice rebate if you close. Those realtors think they should be the only ones holding the keys to the houses so to speak. They get pissed if you can get to see the house some other way. Those services may not be bound or care about ethics and code and rules, unlike (most of) the regular realtors and that infuriates them. I think that’s why I ticked off sdr by worrying about the fairness towards redfin (I was assuming that I will be fair and loyal to my personal agent, but I don’t think sdr understood that).

I think it may be a good idea for realtors to diversify their fees, not just plain 6% commission but hour-based or flat fee, etc. Some should be based on the amount of realtor’s work and time spent. If a client is really good financially, knows what he wants, does his homework, find the properties, drives around etc. , it’s much less work than with some picky, undecided, lookyloos that want to see a zillion houses in all sorts of places they could have eliminated just by driving by.

[Scarlett]

When I was first buyer, I had to look at a lot of houses. It was fun, but I gained experience, and learned to eliminate many houses without having to see them. Of course, the cookie cutter trend helped. But I think, even with virtual tours, and lots of photos, there is no substitute for seeing a house in person. Sellers may not put up pics of things that are ‘dubious’ and that for me may be a deal breaker, or one too many compromises to make. Plus the camera angle may fool you into thinking something is larger that it is. Also, all the pics will not tell you what you can see/hear/smeel from your house/yard. Sure you can get an idea driving by the properties. That eliminated many, too. You learn what to look for/hear/smell. Perhaps I am bit picky. I need to see the rooms in person to see how I am going to make use of them, place my furniture, if I like the kids rooms, etc. I had to see more houses than I really wanted because I lost a few in the bidding war – this was in bubble days.

That being said, I think some realtors feel threatened by services that would allow seeing houses, and especially if those are offering a nice rebate if you close. Those realtors think they should be the only ones holding the keys to the houses so to speak. They get pissed if you can get to see the house some other way. Those services may not be bound or care about ethics and code and rules, unlike (most of) the regular realtors and that infuriates them. I think that’s why I ticked off sdr by worrying about the fairness towards redfin (I was assuming that I will be fair and loyal to my personal agent, but I don’t think sdr understood that).

I think it may be a good idea for realtors to diversify their fees, not just plain 6% commission but hour-based or flat fee, etc. Some should be based on the amount of realtor’s work and time spent. If a client is really good financially, knows what he wants, does his homework, find the properties, drives around etc. , it’s much less work than with some picky, undecided, lookyloos that want to see a zillion houses in all sorts of places they could have eliminated just by driving by.

[Scarlett]

When I was first buyer, I had to look at a lot of houses. It was fun, but I gained experience, and learned to eliminate many houses without having to see them. Of course, the cookie cutter trend helped. But I think, even with virtual tours, and lots of photos, there is no substitute for seeing a house in person. Sellers may not put up pics of things that are ‘dubious’ and that for me may be a deal breaker, or one too many compromises to make. Plus the camera angle may fool you into thinking something is larger that it is. Also, all the pics will not tell you what you can see/hear/smeel from your house/yard. Sure you can get an idea driving by the properties. That eliminated many, too. You learn what to look for/hear/smell. Perhaps I am bit picky. I need to see the rooms in person to see how I am going to make use of them, place my furniture, if I like the kids rooms, etc. I had to see more houses than I really wanted because I lost a few in the bidding war – this was in bubble days.

That being said, I think some realtors feel threatened by services that would allow seeing houses, and especially if those are offering a nice rebate if you close. Those realtors think they should be the only ones holding the keys to the houses so to speak. They get pissed if you can get to see the house some other way. Those services may not be bound or care about ethics and code and rules, unlike (most of) the regular realtors and that infuriates them. I think that’s why I ticked off sdr by worrying about the fairness towards redfin (I was assuming that I will be fair and loyal to my personal agent, but I don’t think sdr understood that).

I think it may be a good idea for realtors to diversify their fees, not just plain 6% commission but hour-based or flat fee, etc. Some should be based on the amount of realtor’s work and time spent. If a client is really good financially, knows what he wants, does his homework, find the properties, drives around etc. , it’s much less work than with some picky, undecided, lookyloos that want to see a zillion houses in all sorts of places they could have eliminated just by driving by.

[Scarlett]

When I was first buyer, I had to look at a lot of houses. It was fun, but I gained experience, and learned to eliminate many houses without having to see them. Of course, the cookie cutter trend helped. But I think, even with virtual tours, and lots of photos, there is no substitute for seeing a house in person. Sellers may not put up pics of things that are ‘dubious’ and that for me may be a deal breaker, or one too many compromises to make. Plus the camera angle may fool you into thinking something is larger that it is. Also, all the pics will not tell you what you can see/hear/smeel from your house/yard. Sure you can get an idea driving by the properties. That eliminated many, too. You learn what to look for/hear/smell. Perhaps I am bit picky. I need to see the rooms in person to see how I am going to make use of them, place my furniture, if I like the kids rooms, etc. I had to see more houses than I really wanted because I lost a few in the bidding war – this was in bubble days.

That being said, I think some realtors feel threatened by services that would allow seeing houses, and especially if those are offering a nice rebate if you close. Those realtors think they should be the only ones holding the keys to the houses so to speak. They get pissed if you can get to see the house some other way. Those services may not be bound or care about ethics and code and rules, unlike (most of) the regular realtors and that infuriates them. I think that’s why I ticked off sdr by worrying about the fairness towards redfin (I was assuming that I will be fair and loyal to my personal agent, but I don’t think sdr understood that).

I think it may be a good idea for realtors to diversify their fees, not just plain 6% commission but hour-based or flat fee, etc. Some should be based on the amount of realtor’s work and time spent. If a client is really good financially, knows what he wants, does his homework, find the properties, drives around etc. , it’s much less work than with some picky, undecided, lookyloos that want to see a zillion houses in all sorts of places they could have eliminated just by driving by.

[Scarlett]

When I was first buyer, I had to look at a lot of houses. It was fun, but I gained experience, and learned to eliminate many houses without having to see them. Of course, the cookie cutter trend helped. But I think, even with virtual tours, and lots of photos, there is no substitute for seeing a house in person. Sellers may not put up pics of things that are ‘dubious’ and that for me may be a deal breaker, or one too many compromises to make. Plus the camera angle may fool you into thinking something is larger that it is. Also, all the pics will not tell you what you can see/hear/smeel from your house/yard. Sure you can get an idea driving by the properties. That eliminated many, too. You learn what to look for/hear/smell. Perhaps I am bit picky. I need to see the rooms in person to see how I am going to make use of them, place my furniture, if I like the kids rooms, etc. I had to see more houses than I really wanted because I lost a few in the bidding war – this was in bubble days.

That being said, I think some realtors feel threatened by services that would allow seeing houses, and especially if those are offering a nice rebate if you close. Those realtors think they should be the only ones holding the keys to the houses so to speak. They get pissed if you can get to see the house some other way. Those services may not be bound or care about ethics and code and rules, unlike (most of) the regular realtors and that infuriates them. I think that’s why I ticked off sdr by worrying about the fairness towards redfin (I was assuming that I will be fair and loyal to my personal agent, but I don’t think sdr understood that).

I think it may be a good idea for realtors to diversify their fees, not just plain 6% commission but hour-based or flat fee, etc. Some should be based on the amount of realtor’s work and time spent. If a client is really good financially, knows what he wants, does his homework, find the properties, drives around etc. , it’s much less work than with some picky, undecided, lookyloos that want to see a zillion houses in all sorts of places they could have eliminated just by driving by.

[an]

Scarlett, if you take enough pictures of all the angles if the house (this is needed to produce a meaningful stitch using PhotoSynth), then this will eliminate the camera angle problem. Also, when I seem something missing, I automatically assume that it must be bad, that’s why they’re trying to hide it. Of course REAL virtual tour (not these follow my camcorder ones) will only get you so far. If you’re serious about a place, you definitely need to drive buy, go inside, etc. But virtual tour will eliminate 90+% of the houses that have deal breakers (ones that you know as soon as you see it). If you looked into PhotoSynth, you’ll notice that it’ll stitch pictures together and create almost like a 3D environment, where you can move around in 3D if there’s sufficient images to cover all the angles.

[an]

Scarlett, if you take enough pictures of all the angles if the house (this is needed to produce a meaningful stitch using PhotoSynth), then this will eliminate the camera angle problem. Also, when I seem something missing, I automatically assume that it must be bad, that’s why they’re trying to hide it. Of course REAL virtual tour (not these follow my camcorder ones) will only get you so far. If you’re serious about a place, you definitely need to drive buy, go inside, etc. But virtual tour will eliminate 90+% of the houses that have deal breakers (ones that you know as soon as you see it). If you looked into PhotoSynth, you’ll notice that it’ll stitch pictures together and create almost like a 3D environment, where you can move around in 3D if there’s sufficient images to cover all the angles.

[an]

Scarlett, if you take enough pictures of all the angles if the house (this is needed to produce a meaningful stitch using PhotoSynth), then this will eliminate the camera angle problem. Also, when I seem something missing, I automatically assume that it must be bad, that’s why they’re trying to hide it. Of course REAL virtual tour (not these follow my camcorder ones) will only get you so far. If you’re serious about a place, you definitely need to drive buy, go inside, etc. But virtual tour will eliminate 90+% of the houses that have deal breakers (ones that you know as soon as you see it). If you looked into PhotoSynth, you’ll notice that it’ll stitch pictures together and create almost like a 3D environment, where you can move around in 3D if there’s sufficient images to cover all the angles.

[an]

Scarlett, if you take enough pictures of all the angles if the house (this is needed to produce a meaningful stitch using PhotoSynth), then this will eliminate the camera angle problem. Also, when I seem something missing, I automatically assume that it must be bad, that’s why they’re trying to hide it. Of course REAL virtual tour (not these follow my camcorder ones) will only get you so far. If you’re serious about a place, you definitely need to drive buy, go inside, etc. But virtual tour will eliminate 90+% of the houses that have deal breakers (ones that you know as soon as you see it). If you looked into PhotoSynth, you’ll notice that it’ll stitch pictures together and create almost like a 3D environment, where you can move around in 3D if there’s sufficient images to cover all the angles.

[Author]

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