Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

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FIREGuy88
Posts: 282
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2020 9:56 pm

Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by FIREGuy88 »

Curious if any Bogleheads have sold their house on Redfin.

A few things seemed interesting to me with their offer:
  • Redfin takes 1.5%
  • You pay the buyer's agent fee of 3%, so your total fee is 4.5%
  • Sometimes you can find a buyer that doesn't have an agent (the dream), so in those situations your fee is 1.5%
  • They'll come to your house and take photos for free with no obligation and give you the photos
  • It seems that there are a ton of hedge fund and private equity firms that are buying property site unseen, and I would imagine that listing on one of these mega broker sites would allow you to potentially get scooped up in the algorithms of these PE firms and get bids from them. Since housing is comically overpriced right now, having a bidding war between private equity algorithms seems like a great idea

Is there anything I'm missing regarding selling your home on RedFin?
alaskantraveler
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Joined: Wed May 11, 2016 12:26 pm

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by alaskantraveler »

I didn't use redfin, but I did just find a flat fee MLS listing service for $300. Getting listed on the MLS automatically pushed the Zillow/Trulia ads. I posted in my listing that I was willing to pay a 2.5% buyer's agent commission. You dont have to though. I got professional photos done as well. Cost me $200. Got my house under contract in 5 days. Paid the same flat fee MLS agent $250 to review and help write counter offers.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by ResearchMed »

alaskantraveler wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:42 pm I didn't use redfin, but I did just find a flat fee MLS listing service for $300. Getting listed on the MLS automatically pushed the Zillow/Trulia ads. I posted in my listing that I was willing to pay a 2.5% buyer's agent commission. You dont have to though. I got professional photos done as well. Cost me $200. Got my house under contract in 5 days. Paid the same flat fee MLS agent $250 to review and help write counter offers.
That listing agent, charging you $200, included professional photos?
If so, that's a great deal for you, but "what's in it for them?"

The one time an agent arranged professional photos (for one of our vacation rental properties), they looked absolutely fabulous. Nothing was re-arranged, but the lighting, I'm guessing, plus just the camera/lens and the angle of the shot?
I was really surprised.
If I had had any idea how much better they looked, I probably would have paid for them when we starting renting, to put on our website.

RM
This signature is a placebo. You are in the control group.
alaskantraveler
Posts: 287
Joined: Wed May 11, 2016 12:26 pm

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by alaskantraveler »

I paid $300 for the Flat fee MLS listing to an agent. Just gave him the home details and posted it.

I paid another $200 for professional photos to a photographer. Just look at some Zillow listings in your area you will see some images have the photography company name in the corner. Google them and set up an appointment.
THANKS
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2020 12:00 pm

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by THANKS »

ResearchMed wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:54 pm
alaskantraveler wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:42 pm I didn't use redfin, but I did just find a flat fee MLS listing service for $300. Getting listed on the MLS automatically pushed the Zillow/Trulia ads. I posted in my listing that I was willing to pay a 2.5% buyer's agent commission. You dont have to though. I got professional photos done as well. Cost me $200. Got my house under contract in 5 days. Paid the same flat fee MLS agent $250 to review and help write counter offers.
That listing agent, charging you $200, included professional photos?
If so, that's a great deal for you, but "what's in it for them?"

The one time an agent arranged professional photos (for one of our vacation rental properties), they looked absolutely fabulous. Nothing was re-arranged, but the lighting, I'm guessing, plus just the camera/lens and the angle of the shot?
I was really surprised.
If I had had any idea how much better they looked, I probably would have paid for them when we starting renting, to put on our website.

RM
It looks like $750 all in. $300 flat fee, plus $200 photos, plus $250 for assistance with offer reviews/counter offers.
alaskantraveler
Posts: 287
Joined: Wed May 11, 2016 12:26 pm

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by alaskantraveler »

Yes, that is correct. Even if you hired an agent, they may set up the photo appointment for you, but you still have to pay for it. Smaller homes were $150 for photos. I was selling what would be considered a 1st time homebuyer type home , for that reason I offered a buyer's agent commission.
Outafter20
Posts: 221
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Location: New York for now.

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by Outafter20 »

I used Redfin about 8 years ago when I sold my house. Then it was a 1% fee to Redfin and a 2.5% fee to the listing agent. Al in all, no problems.

I guess things have changed a bit.
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rick0
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Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:54 pm
Location: WA

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by rick0 »

I used Redfin to sell my house 4 years ago - Seattle suburb.
All went well. Very professional photo shoot, listing process, sales negotiation. 1+3=4% total fee.
I think we got a good price.
Big Dog
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Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by Big Dog »

you are not gonna get a bidding war from investors/flippers. They have their models and will walk away if they can't make some serious coin. Bidding wars are based on retail emotions.
FoolMeOnce
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Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by FoolMeOnce »

We've both sold and purchased with Redfin. Would highly recommend.
Millennial
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Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by Millennial »

I used them to sell a 2-family in Boston in 2018. All went well and we only paid 3% total (1% to them, 2% to buyer's agent). Our agent was on top of communication and proactive.

In hindsight, I think our buyers overpaid. I don't think that had anything to do with redfin.
bwalling
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Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:04 pm

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by bwalling »

FIREGuy88 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:37 pm
  • It seems that there are a ton of hedge fund and private equity firms that are buying property site unseen, and I would imagine that listing on one of these mega broker sites would allow you to potentially get scooped up in the algorithms of these PE firms and get bids from them. Since housing is comically overpriced right now, having a bidding war between private equity algorithms seems like a great idea
The algorithms are designed to find them deals where they're going to make money. Not to overpay like some fanboy dying to get a PS5 off eBay.
JuniorBH
Posts: 179
Joined: Fri Jun 09, 2017 12:54 pm

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by JuniorBH »

Currently buying and selling with Redfin. In our case, total fee is 3% (2% to buyer agent and 1% to Redin because we get 0.5% back by buying with them). I questioned whether 2% was low for buyer agent, but about 50% of the listing in our area pay that amount, so it's reasonable.

I haven't sold a house before, so nothing to compare to, but the process has gone well. I'm sure it's primarily due to being in a sellers market, but we've been happy with the service and we have an above asking offer which will hopefully be in contract this week.
rage_phish
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Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 3:27 pm

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by rage_phish »

FIREGuy88 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:37 pm Curious if any Bogleheads have sold their house on Redfin.

A few things seemed interesting to me with their offer:
  • Redfin takes 1.5%
  • You pay the buyer's agent fee of 3%, so your total fee is 4.5%
  • Sometimes you can find a buyer that doesn't have an agent (the dream), so in those situations your fee is 1.5%
  • They'll come to your house and take photos for free with no obligation and give you the photos
  • It seems that there are a ton of hedge fund and private equity firms that are buying property site unseen, and I would imagine that listing on one of these mega broker sites would allow you to potentially get scooped up in the algorithms of these PE firms and get bids from them. Since housing is comically overpriced right now, having a bidding war between private equity algorithms seems like a great idea

Is there anything I'm missing regarding selling your home on RedFin?
We just sold our house. Commission was 4.5%
So I don’t see any benefit to this offer from redfin
LuckyOz
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2020 4:29 pm

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by LuckyOz »

alaskantraveler wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:58 pm I paid $300 for the Flat fee MLS listing to an agent. Just gave him the home details and posted it.

I paid another $200 for professional photos to a photographer. Just look at some Zillow listings in your area you will see some images have the photography company name in the corner. Google them and set up an appointment.
I did the same for multiple properties. All sold at good prices, and I sold a few years ago in a market not as good as today.

I did not even both taking professional photos. De-cluttered and took photos with good lighting.

I set buyer's agent commission at 0.2% higher than the norm in my market. So buyers agents got a little more money if they pushed my property. It worked really well.

I have no clue why anyone uses a seller's realtor at 3% commission on their side, when you can get your property onto MLS for $100-$300 (depending on market). The sellers realtor doesn't really do anything, buyers agents do all the work. If your dayjob is white collar professional, you are probably far more competent than any residential realtor. The only time I used a realtor to sell a property, he made the dumbest mistakes. Spelling mistakes in MLS description, photo arrangement mistakes, etc.
Xrayman69
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Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 8:52 pm

Re: Have Any Bogleheads Sold Their House On Redfin?

Post by Xrayman69 »

Outafter20 wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:13 pm I used Redfin about 8 years ago when I sold my house. Then it was a 1% fee to Redfin and a 2.5% fee to the listing agent. Al in all, no problems.

I guess things have changed a bit.
Sold a home in seattle in 2016 using Redfin, it was a home that we rented out for several years. Redfin agent commission was 1.5%. We stipulated that buyers agent total commission would be capped at 2% of final sale price. Redfin paid for photos and provided a stipend for staging (I think about $500). Home sold in about 2 weeks after 2 open houses for 1% below list.
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