Bay Area

[Jung415]

Do seller's agent give Redfin agent a hard time or refuse to work with Redfin agent on a sale? I ask this because there seems to be lots of animosity of some agents towards Redfin and was wondering if working with Redfin agent would make my negotiations harder than it has to be..

Actual experiences and anecdotal accounts will be greatly appreciated!

[discoganya]

I have found the attitude hostile, e.g.

-- Being rude, late to appointments, asking why you chose Redfin, scoffing at the whole way Redfin works, pestering you to "think about other options", etc.
-- Sometimes selling agents promote other offers over Redfin. This happened to us and I heard the seller (later) saying "There was another bid from these guys, but their RE agency is out of town in Seattle and they only deal over the phone... hence it might be a hassle to sell to them"
-- Many times seller's agents also represent potential buyers. In such cases agents always promote their clients over Redfin. e.g. agent represents both buyer and seller, asks buyer to make offer at $x, picks up 6% in commission on $x, gives 2% rebate to buyer. Even if a Redfin bid comes in greater than $x, it has a poor chance of going through, as it will not be promoted by the selling agent (since selling agent stands to lose if Redin offer is accepted). I guess this occurs with traditional agents too and is not unique to Redfin. It did happen to us though!

[Jung415]

But isn't it the duty of the seller's agent to present all offers to the seller?

Bottome line, did you make an offer and close on the deal?

Anyone else have had their offer or deal fell through because of the fact that you are using redfin agent?

[discoganya]

But isn't it the duty of the seller's agent to present all offers to the seller?

Duty ... maybe, legal obligation ... probably none.

Bottome line, did you make an offer and close on the deal?

Bottom line is the our RedFin offer was rejected (on that particular property). We continued to look and found our current home a little later, but that is a different matter.

[JanelleS]

Refusing to do business with a qualified buyer simply because they use an alternative brokerage is an antitrust violation.

One common misperception is that doing business with an agent who "hasn't seen the property" is not to a buyer's advantage. This is not true. In fact, we did a study called The Redfin Advantage talks about, well, the advantages of Redfin representing the buyer. Take a look.

Good luck.

[kurt5]

One of the offers we received was from a Redfin client, and their agent, Charmaine Villareal(?), seemed very well prepared. Our agent respected her and treated her with as much or more respect as other agents we heard offers from. In addition to representing her clients and their offer well, she addressed the Redfin issue right off (assuring us and our agent). Small sample size of one redfin buying agent and one big company selling agent, but there you go.

[Jung415]

How funny...

After much consideration, I gave redfin a try and got in touch with Charmaine.
We just signed the contract!! Happy ending after all ;-) Much kudos to Charmaine and I highly recommend her to anyone who is buying a house in East bay.

[tylg]

Thats crazy! in todays delining market... i would think that almost ALL agents would be totally excited to have ANYONE with a buyer showing interest in there listings. What's really cool is i found a website call: www.publicMLSList.com where you can access free reports and access to the MLS for Napa, sonoma, and Solano counties. it's really helpful for buyers, especially becouse you can get free, NO obligation lists of the homes you want and then work with the agent of your choice.

[JanelleS]

tylg,

I must say, this borderlines on cruising our forums to drum up business for other brokerages.

All the websites you mention lead people to a website cleverly titled publicMLSlist.com… which appears to be a nifty public service (to the unsuspecting) but actually is simply an ordinary Realtor website form iHomefinder.com for an agent or company called Team1realty.com. When people sign up for the “free” information and searches there, they are giving the team 1 realtors permission to solicit their business.

Not cool, tylg. Not cool at all...

[Atul]

See the following blog of a local agent who talks about his issues with Redfin:

http://www.sancarlosblog.com/?p=89