What Does Redfin Offer A Home Seller?
Marlow Harris at 360Digest quotes an article from the Puget Sound Business Journal and points out that a Redfin investor hired Windermere to sell their home.
Matt McIlwains used Seattle’s Redfin to buy their new home, but turned to Windermere Realtor Barbara Shikiar to sell their old home.
This doesn’t really surprise me. Redfin’s value proposition to buyers (cash back when you buy) has always struck me as far more compelling than their value proposition to sellers (flat fee to list). Especially in a challenging sales environment, I think more and more home sellers are going to be looking for someone who’s going to creatively market their home. Throwing your home on the MLS and throwing up a sign is not creative marketing.
What Redfin should do is leverage its online marketing experience and create a compelling package for homeowners; a mini site, Google AdWords buy, craiglist listings, that sort of thing. In order for them to set themselves apart from the other brokers out there, they should provide something that the big boys and other discounters don’t (yet) provide, savvy Internet marketing.
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4 Comment(s)
3 Trackback(s)
- From dynamiclistingexchange.com | Nov 8, 2006
- From realiventblog.com | Nov 7, 2006
- From theresoldgumbootprincess | theresoldgumbootprincess | Nov 30, 1999
Galen | Nov 14, 2006 | Reply
You mean they should take a page from Greg and Cathy Swann at Bloodhound Realty?
Joel Burslem | Nov 14, 2006 | Reply
Exactly.
Eric | Nov 14, 2006 | Reply
Hi Joel,
Thanks for your post and for the suggestions. We actually already provide sellers many of features that you mention in your post to sellers. We’ve found that the majority of buyers for our listings started their search online so it makes sense to help our sellers reach them there.
For more information on what we provide today, take a look here: http://www.redfin.com/stingray/do/staging-and-marketing?direct-section=sell
Thanks again for the ideas,
Eric
Chris | Nov 29, 2006 | Reply
Judging by what’s on Redfin’s website, those guys are looking to do the least amount of legwork, whether it’s with the buyers or sellers. For most people buying or selling a house is the single biggest transaction of their live (and probably their biggest asset they own). Why would anyone in their sound mind put themselves in hands of Redfin staff made up of IT guys and venture capitalists who probably know very little about actually selling real estate?