Redfin Expands to Dallas

DALLAS, Dec. 14, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Redfin today expanded to the Dallas metropolitan area, increasing the number of listings available on Redfin's website by 8%. Dallas is the fifth market Redfin has opened in 2010, and the 15th overall.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20070426/SFTH054LOGO)

Having launched its first Texas market less than 45 days before, in Austin, Redfin now brings to Dallas its trademark combination of advocacy, transparency and value. Redfin draws customers to its website by publishing data that most other Dallas real estate sites lack, such as when a property was originally listed and at what prices. Redfin's agents then work with customers to buy or sell homes, using technology to make the whole process convenient, pressure-free and efficient.

When buying or selling a property through one of Redfin's own agents, a customer pays half the typical commission, saving $7,500 in fees on a typical $500,000 listing. In the case of buyers, the savings comes as a commission refund check after closing. In outlying areas of Dallas, Redfin relies on partner agents, but still refunds 15% of the commission to the consumer.

In Plano, Frisco, Richardson, Addison, and from Downtown Dallas to North Dallas, Redfin provides direct service, employing its own real estate agents and support staff. In the surrounding Dallas areas, Fort Worth, and suburbs, Redfin relies on partners.  Redfin's search site covers most outlying areas of Dallas and Fort Worth.

Because Redfin agents do not solicit customers for business, a Redfin agent is nearly ten times more productive than the traditional agent. Redfin customers use online tools for arranging home tours, preparing offers, monitoring escrow, getting paperwork signed and listing homes.

Redfin is also one of the first sites in Dallas to rate agent performance, by surveying an agent's customers and publishing all the results, unedited. To avoid the conflict of interest that commissions can create, Redfin pays its own agents bonuses based on these customer-satisfaction ratings. As a result, customers can know for the first time exactly how their agent has performed, and be sure that his or her recommendations are based exclusively on their best interests.

"Redfin is one of the first brokers in Dallas to use technology to fundamentally change how real estate is bought and sold," said Jason Aleem, who runs Redfin's Dallas business. "We publish information about listings and agent performance that other websites hide. We pay agents bonuses based on customer satisfaction, not the price of the home. And we save consumers thousands in fees."

As with many Redfin market managers, Mr. Aleem started his own brokerage. He is also a founder of the successful philanthropic organization, "Blend in Black." Prior to that, he worked for years as a real estate agent at Keller Williams and elsewhere and he also had several positions at Dell Incorporated.

"Redfin's October expansion into Austin has been far more successful than we hoped," said Scott Nagel, Redfin vice president of real estate operations. "We think Dallas will follow the same pattern. As we have increased the efficiency of our operations, we can continue to expand rapidly into the major cities of the U.S."

Redfin is also announcing today the ability for users to log-in via Facebook, and an online Deal Room to guide its home-buying clients through the escrow process.

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the real estate industry's first online brokerage, combining a customer-focused team of real estate agents with online tools for making the process of buying or selling a home easy. Redfin's agents handle every facet of a transaction, including tours, pricing analyses, negotiations, inspections and closings. Redfin is the only major search site to feature listings direct from broker databases as well as for-sale-by-owner and foreclosure properties from across the Internet. The company pays its agents customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions, and surveys every client, publishing each survey alongside the agent's complete deal history. Redfin's service is available in the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas , Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, Washington DC, New York's Long Island and Westchester County as well as most of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego. To keep track of our daring exploits, subscribe to blog.redfin.com or our Twitter feed @redfin.

SOURCE Redfin