Technology-Powered Real Estate Brokerage Redfin Expands Home-buying and Selling Services To Corona, Murrieta, Temecula, and Chino

CORONA, Calif., May 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Redfin, the technology-powered brokerage (www.redfin.com), today announced the launch of its full home-buying and selling services in the Corona, Murrieta, Temecula and Chino areas of California's Inland Empire region. Redfin's powerful real estate search website and mobile tools have been available to consumers there since 2007. With today's launch, people in these areas of Inland Empire can now work directly with Redfin agents to buy and sell homes.

"Southern California customers love Redfin and the feeling is mutual," said Scott Nagel, Redfin's President of Real Estate Operations. "We are thrilled to offer even more Californians the opportunity to get to know Redfin agents and experience our service first-hand with this expansion to the Inland Empire."

To celebrate its arrival, Redfin is hosting two welcome events. The first will take place on Wednesday, June 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Europa Village, a Temecula vineyard. The second is in Corona on Thursday, June 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. at King's Fish House. 

Redfin agents can now serve homebuyers and sellers in the greater Murrieta/Temecula area including Lake Elsinore, Canyon Lake, Murrieta, Winchester, and Temecula. In the greater Corona/Chino Hills area, Redfin serves Chino, Chino Hills, Diamond Bar, Norco, Eastvale and Corona.

The Redfin model is different from that of other brokers, uniquely aligning agent and customer interests. Whether his or her deal closes or not, every client who works with Redfin receives a satisfaction survey, and every review is published on Redfin.com. Customer satisfaction ratings, not commissions, determine the agents' bonus pay. Additionally, unlike traditional real estate agents, most Redfin agents get salaries, health care benefits, and opportunities for stock options, so they are not depending on their next home sale to pay their own mortgage.

Paul Reid has been promoted to oversee Redfin's local business as Inland Empire Market Manager. Reid most recently worked for Redfin as a real estate agent in Orange County. "I was initially drawn to Redfin because of its dedication to transparency and customer-centric business model," Reid said. "Having grown up in Norco and worked at Redfin for several years, I am excited to bring the Redfin experience to my hometown."

Redfin refunds homebuyers up to half of the buyer's agent commission. To date, Redfin has refunded clients more than $100 million in commissions. For a $300,000 home, a Redfin client would save more than $1,400. For listing clients, Redfin charges 1.5 percent as opposed to the typical 2.5 percent of a traditional agent, depending on the selling price of the home. For someone selling a $300,000 home, that would mean $3,000 in savings. A person who buys and sells a home with Redfin saves on both sides of the transaction.

In addition to working with real estate agents paid based on customer satisfaction rather than commissions, people in Corona, Murrieta, Temecula, and Chino can now benefit from one-of-a-kind Redfin data and tools previously unavailable in these parts of California, including:

• Offer Insights: Publishes real-time statistics and notes from Redfin agents about their home offers to help homebuyers understand what it takes to win a bidding war in a given neighborhood.
• Mobile Home Tour Scheduling: Enables customers to request an in-person home tour with a Redfin agent using Redfin's iPhone or iPad app.
• Deal Room: Helps agents and their clients coordinate and track the tasks that need to be completed in order to successfully close the home purchase transaction.
• Listing Dashboard: Allows home-sellers to track online and in-person traffic to their listing compared with that of nearby comparable homes for sale.

Redfin also continues to offer the following online and mobile tools to help users quickly access the most accurate and up-to-date information about homes for sale in the Inland Empire:

• Instant Alerts: Sends smartphone or email notifications when new homes are listed or when the status or price of a 'favorited' home changes.
• Search by School: Shows all the homes for sale served by a certain school with one easy search.
• Tour Insights: Publishes comments left by Redfin agents about homes they have seen in person.
• Home Value Tool: Gives customers the ability to estimate the value of their home based on the same up-to-date information used by real estate agents.

About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate broker that represents people buying and selling homes. Founded and run by technologists, Redfin has a team of experienced, full-service real estate agents who are advocates, not sales-people, earning customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions. Redfin's online tools feature all the broker-listed homes for sale, as well as for-sale-by-owner properties that don't pay brokers a commission. The company serves 22 U.S. markets and has closed more than $8 billion in home sales. In 2012, Redfin was named one of The DIGITAL 100: World's Most Valuable Private Tech Companies by Business Insider. Follow us on blog.redfin.com, on Twitter @Redfin, and Facebook.com/Redfin.

SOURCE Redfin