Redfin Launches Online Real Estate Service in Chicago

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A F REDFIN LOGO REDFIN LOGO Redfin Corporation. (PRNewsFoto/REDFIN CORPORATION)[TK] SEATTLE, WA UNITED STATES 08/12/2008

    CHICAGO, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Online real estate broker Redfin
 Corporation today launched its real estate e-commerce service for the
 Chicago area, its eighth market overall and first new market in 2008.
 Redfin's brokerage, headquartered in Schaumburg, Ill., now serves Cook and
 Lake counties, but users can search for listings throughout greater
 Chicago. The company also expanded its real estate search to reach most of
 California, Illinois, Maryland, northern Virginia, Massachusetts and
 western Washington, increasing the number of listings and sale records on
 its site by more than four million, or almost 40 percent, to a total of 16
 million homes.
 
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070426/SFTH054LOGO)
 
     "After the steepest decline in real estate prices nationwide since
 World War II, Redfin is perhaps the only brokerage expanding into new
 markets," said Mark Reitman, Redfin's Chicago market manager. "We are
 continuing to grow because we have seen that a hard-nosed, data-driven
 approach to home-buying appeals to consumers now more than ever. And
 Chicago is the ideal market: it is the most-requested new market for Redfin
 and it's bursting with progressive professionals, the kind of people who
 have embraced Redfin from the start."
 
     To buy homes through Redfin, clients use Redfin.com to search homes for
 sale and describe offer terms, then work with Redfin's Chicago real estate
 agents to access properties and negotiate transactions. Buyers who use
 Redfin get two-thirds of the commission refunded at closing; for a $600,000
 house offering a 2.5 percent commission to the buyer's agent, the refund
 would be $10,000. Redfin also offers a service for homesellers for a flat
 fee of $4,000. For a $600,000 house that would normally pay a seller's
 agent commission of 2.5 percent, the savings would be $11,000.
 
     Unlike any other brokerage, Redfin pays its agents based on customer
 satisfaction, not commissions, and offers a
 100-percent-customer-satisfaction guarantee, refunding all commissions and
 fees if the customer is dissatisfied. Redfin also is the only online
 brokerage to combine foreclosure and for-sale-by-owner listings with
 broker-listed properties from local Multiple Listing Services (MLS). In the
 markets that Redfin serves, Redfin.com displays more homes for sale and
 more information about those homes than any other website.
 
     Expanded Search Capabilities
 
     Redfin.com users now can search for listings and past-sales records in
 nearly 100 additional counties in the states we currently serve --
 California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Washington as well
 as the Washington, D.C. corridor of West Virginia. Redfin does not offer
 brokerage service in these areas, but homebuyers can view the complete MLS
 listing plus days-on-market, price drops, lot outlines and nearby similar
 listings. Homebuyers also can search sale records of homes sold between one
 week and 20 years ago to get information such as past sales prices and tax
 records. Expanded search counties include:
 
 

     -- California: Monterey, San Benito, Santa Barbara
     -- Illinois: DuPage, Will, Winnebago
     -- Massachusetts: Plymouth, Springfield, Worcester
     -- Maryland: Carroll, Hartford, Frederick
     -- Virginia: Caroline, Fauquier, Spotsylvania
     -- Washington: Grant, Thurston, Whatcom
     -- West Virginia: Berkeley, Hampshire, Jefferson
 
     Also new today, Redfin.com homebuyers can use Google Maps Street View
 to get a 360-degree, dynamic perspective on a home and its neighborhood.
 
     "The expansion of Redfin real estate search to areas beyond the reach
 of our brokerage service was driven by a fundamental shift in how clients
 come to us," said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. "At first, many consumers came
 to Redfin because of the novelty of our business model, but today about a
 third of our clients first hear about Redfin from people who fall in love
 with the search site, which has seen 15 to 20 percent month-over-month
 traffic growth in 2008. Because we offer more data about each listing and
 more listings in each market than any other national site, we believe we
 can successfully develop a broader brand, and that this will drive
 word-of-mouth for our brokerage business in the core urban areas."
 
     Dish and Dig on Chicago Neighborhoods
 
     Now Chicago customers can join Redfin's Chicago Forum, a local real
 estate message board designed to let consumers communicate with one
 another. Redfin is the only brokerage to offer an open forum for customers
 to comment on its service. Available at
 http://forums.redfin.com/rf/board?board.id=Chicago.
 
     Redfin also launched its online real estate blog, "Sweet Digs," for
 Chicago. Homebuyers can read daily, local real estate market information
 via the Sweet Digs blog, email newsletter or RSS feed. At launch, Sweet
 Digs will cover Andersonville, Bucktown, Evanston, Lincoln Park, Lincoln
 Square, Ravenswood, Uptown, Wicker Park, Wilmette, Winnetka and
 Wrigleyville. As Sweet Digs' Chicago readership grows, Redfin will expand
 its coverage. Available at http://blog.redfin.com/chicago.
 
     For a complete run-down of the new features in Redfin.com, check out
 our blog at blog.redfin.com.
 
     About Redfin
 
     Redfin (http://www.redfin.com) is the real estate industry's first
 online brokerage, currently available in the Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles,
 Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco Bay, Seattle and Washington, D.C
 areas. Redfin combines the best real estate search site with local,
 experienced real estate agents. Redfin.com's map search displays the most
 homes for sale and information about those homes. Customers who use Redfin
 to buy or sell properties earn a refund of most of the commission
 traditionally due their broker, and get full support in paperwork, offer
 presentation, negotiations and closing. Redfin has the highest customer
 satisfaction rate in the industry -- 96 percent, and is the only brokerage
 with a 100-percent-customer-satisfaction guarantee. To give the Redfin
 service a try, visit http://www.redfin.com; to keep track of our daring
 exploits visit our blog at blog.redfin.com, or our customer message boards
 at forums.redfin.com.
 
 
 

SOURCE Redfin Corporation