Comments on: Redfin Retools Around Virtual Earth

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:33:11 +0000

US based real estate websites are way in front of their European peers in VE implementations. We have just launched the UK’s first such residential solution based on crystal clear bird’s eye views of London. what does the group think?

http://www.london-executive.com/propertybird

By: Redfin Integrates Microsoft Maps « Screenwerk

Redfin Integrates Microsoft Maps « Screenwerk — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 23:36:47 +0000

[...] Joel Burslem posts about discount broker/real estate site Redfin — one of the original sites to use satellite/dynamic mapping — integrating the Microsoft Virtual Earth API. They said they abandoned their own technology because there’s a mapping “arms race” going on and they didn’t want to have to keep up. [...]

By: Michiel Bonte

Michiel Bonte — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:44:54 +0000

matt, and others, congrats on the new site. it definetly looks better.. one thing to improve is that you probably would like to rank the listings on the maps as well as you rank the listings in your traditional webrowser.. it is now a blur on data on the maps where you f.i. would first like to see the houses that are cheapest in your range, and then, while zooming in, go to the more expensive ones (just an example). let’s have the listing match with the results on the map! I talked to glenn last week in ny and explained that we could do that for you. it’s called altitude ranking.. maybe good to have a chat? regards, Michiel / GlobeAssistant

By: Galen

Galen — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:57:55 +0000

Thanks for the favorable comparison, Joel. Matt is right; real estate search really is still in its infancy and there are many ways in which Redfin and ShackPrices are going to improve it.

We’re continuing to innovate – more soon.

By: MetroBellevue.com

MetroBellevue.com — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:22:28 +0000

I like the new site though the navigation and loading of pages take longer than usual. It’s possible that a lot of users are hitting the server because of this story.

By: New mapping tools on Redfin

New mapping tools on Redfin — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:41:02 +0000

[...] UPDATE: The Future of Real Estate Marketing blog says it was about time for Redfin to retire the Flash-based maps, but notes that there is now a “generic” feel to the online real estate site. Meanwhile, the Redfin blog notes that the new map platform will help them “innovate faster.” Posted by document.writeln(showE2(”johncook”,”seattlepi.com”,”John Cook”))John Cook at January 12, 2007 8:00 a.m.Category: Online real estate Comments #21164Posted by futureofrealestate at 1/12/07 10:07 a.m.They’ve also updated their home page to show that they will be soon launching in Southern California, Chicago, Boston and Washington DC. Report violation function specialcodes(){ document.getElementById(’codes’).style.display = ‘block’; } [...]

By: Matt Goyer’s Real Estate Blog » Blog Archive » Coverage of new Redfin version

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:15:32 +0000

[...] Future of Real Estate Marketing, Redfin Retools Around Virtual Earth [...]

By: Matt Goyer

Matt Goyer — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:00:59 +0000

Hi Joel, thanks for the feedback!

We’re reserving the red icons for something else in a future release. We also decided it was more important to have icon colors which worked for all users (these colors should be color blind safe) then it was to have icons which fit with our current visual design.

I too like how ShackPrices and HotPads differentiates single and multi-unit and we’ll get to that really soon.

As for losing differentiation from competitors, I disagree. This first release is about getting on the platform. Now that we’re on the platform all we’re focused on is differentiation. Expect to see us releasing much more frequently now. Though with this release we still have our signature parcels available when you zoom in. I don’t believe any other real estate site has that integrated with Virtual Earth or Google Maps (though I could be wrong).