Redfin

For the Redfin Perch, see European Perch. For the South African redfin barbs, see Pseudobarbus and Barbus.

Redfin Corporation

Industry	Real Estate
Founded	Seattle, WA, U.S. (2002 (2002))
Headquarters	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Area served	Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco Bay, Seattle, and Washington, D.C areas
Key people	Glenn Kelman (CEO) Michael Young (CTO) Scott Nagel (VPREO)
Employees	214 as of April 2011
Website	www.redfin.com

Redfin is an online real estate brokerage, currently available in the Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco Bay, Seattle, and Washington, D.C areas. Redfin combines a real estate search site with real estate agents. Redfin.com’s map search displays homes for sale and information about those homes. Customers use the site to search broker databases, past sales records and third-party appraisals, while the company's local agents handle property access, legal paperwork and negotiations.

Redfin offers buyers up to a 50% rebate (except in Oregon where real-estate laws prohibit it) on the commission paid to the buyer's agent.

Funding

After nearly $1 million in initial financing, Redfin received $8 million second-round funding from Vulcan Inc., the investment arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in May 2006. Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman accepted a third round of funding for $12 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson in July 2007.^{[citation needed]}

60 Minutes

On May 13, 2007, Redfin experienced a Slashdot Effect, which slowed down the servers,^{[citation needed]} after gaining national exposure by 60 Minutes[1]

Competition

In 2006, CNN reported that Redfin had received threats to 'break their kneecaps' from the competition.

Redfin's 'Sweet Digs' blog

In May, 2007, just a few days after being featured on 60 Minutes, Redfin was fined for $50,000 by The Northwest Multiple Listing Service and was forced to shut down its "Sweet Digs" blog, which used to contain reviews of the homes on the market. Northwest MLS pointed out that such reviews are not allowed under MLS rules. Sweet Digs was relaunched in June 2007 with an analytical format, and covers all the markets Redfin serves.

Awards

In July, 2006, Redfin wins "Innovator of the Year" award from Inman News at Real Estate Connect.

In May, 2010, Redfin wins Seattle 2.0 Award as reported in the Xconomy Seattle news.

In June, 2010, Redfin was named in the Lead411's Hottest Seattle Companies list.

See also

• National Association of Realtors
• Comparison of real estate websites
• CondoDomain
• Cyberhomes
• Eppraisal
• Zillow
• ZipRealty

Sources

• A fresh attack on the 6% commission., April 6, 2006, CNN.com
• "Five Ways to Get a Good Deal on a Home," Good Morning America, Aug. 1, 2008
• "Online Start-Up Redfin Saves Home Buyers Money," USA TODAY, June 18, 2008
• "The Last Stand of the 6-Percenters" by Damon Darlin, The New York Times, September 3, 2006
• "Redfin offers one-stop shopping for homes" by Elizabeth Rhodes, Seattle Times, February 4, 2006
• "2 Web Sites Push Further Into Services Real Estate Agents Offer" by Damon Darlin, The New York Times, February 8, 2006.
• "Redfin.com’s Real Estate Consumer’s Bill of Rights: A wolf in sheepskin clothing . . ." by Bloodhound Blog
• "Redfin revolution: In competitive real-estate industry, Redfin model is working" by Elizabeth Rhodes, The Seattle Times, February 24, 2007.
• "Redfin Forced To Shut Down House Reviews" by Mortgage News Daily, May 29, 2007.
• "Stirring Up The Redfin Dust" by Rain City Guide
• "Redfin raises $12 million, eyes D.C., Chicago and Sacramento" by John Cook of Seattle PI, September 6, 2007

External links

• Official website
• Redfin's Facebook page
• Interview with Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin via Northwest Innovation