Redfin: Reservation Agents of Real Estate?

Maybe If travel agents gave the kind of service we do, they wouldn't have gone by the wayside.

Hmmm, maybe charging for the number of homes you see (or can cram into a 3-hour block) will keep buyers from wanting to see every home in their price range in the county. So who gets the money - the agents? What is their split?

Guess they haveto hire agents who have done 25+ deals. Otherwise they wouldn't have a clue as to how much work it really is, and they wouldn't be willing to work for Redfin for the less work, and smaller commissions, they earn. Wonder if there are any stats on consumer complaints filed, etc.

Jeff

Well said, Roberta. I just wish the rebaters would stop hiding behind the false pretense of only wanting to save their clients money. Let's be honest, they just don't want to work for their money or justify the value of their services, or the lack thereof.

Roberta.. You are on the right track...service is the key and is what will differentiate us from them..

Jeff.. No split.. it is a salary job ..actually their whole model of business is rather interesting...I've been working on something that I guess it's getting time to post. about.

Last I heard agents are not allowed to be paid outside of escrow.  So who gets the showing money and how is it paid? 

I have given this whole Redfin thing more than a thought or two since they just opened up 3 offices here and I have already had a string of very strange phone calls. 

So lets say the buyer opts to take the list and go see the properties themselves.  Calls the sellers direct to make appointments and finds out they can't see the properties without an agent able to open the lock box.  Next step, lets call the listing agent to show it to us.  Listing agent asks, are you working with an agent?  Yes.  Ok, have your agent call me.  That happens a few times and they start to get the picture.  Next time they are asked, they lie and say no.  So listing agent thinks they may have a buyer here, are you working with a lender?  Oh yes we are pre-qualified.  We would like to see the property right away.  Agent goes ahead and show them the property and buyer never returns phone call or email.  If they write an offer listing agent wants to declare procuring cause but buyers agent is waving around a buyers agreement.  OK so you are screwed!

I am thinking that we need an agreement to be signed with buyers prior to showing them property clearly stating that they are not currently under contract to another broker under penalty of perjury.  That if they knowingly sign the agreement and are under contract that they will personally become liable for the payment of the entire commission to the listing agent, without recourse, and not offer an arbitration agreement with it.  What do you think, might that work?

If a prospect says that they are not working with an agent, it's easy to respond, "In that case, when we meet and before I show you the property, you'll need to sign a Property Showing Agreement stating that I am your agent on this particular property." That will often flush out any hidden Redfins, relatives or "unavailable" agents.

Great post: Here is a link from 2/14/2007 Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117142055516708035-Cj_zawH26xEw_leHJbP2enSNIfU_20070316.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

Yeah... but Travel Agents were replaced by Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz... these companies just learned how to do something fairly simple more efficiently and with less overhead.  By buying in bulk they could make deals with everyone along the way.

There is only one act that I can see that is similar that could take place in real estate ... Banks getting into Real Estate.  Then they reduce agents to bank employees and they'll have some shiny flat screen doing video virtual tours instead of showing up on site.  They'll also probably add to their loans if someone wants to sell, they have to give the bank first rights to the listing.  It all stinks!

The big online real estate firms will only succeed with local service.  It is too big of a transaction to not have someone professional involved.

But... then that begs to question: if we won't tolerate online real estate comglomeration, why would we do a loan online?? Who is to say that this person on the other end of the line and computer even cares about our financial well being?

When I started in this business, our office manager drilled into us - CITO. It stands for Come Into The Office. Just as Sharon said, ask to meet them in the office, discuss their wants/needs, record their info including the name of their lender, and have them sign a Buyer's Agreement. Doing that for all buyers, will flush out the buyers from Redfin (which aren't in our market) and those with "busy" agents - which we DO have.

I'm waiting for publicized lawsuits when some buyer gets stung with buying "bad" homes and their agent didn't "tell them" about the issues.

The one truth that can't be avoided is that everything that gets done in a transaction has to be paid for, no one works for nothing. So, all the things we do for our customers and clients that are covered by our commissions will have to itemized and paid to someone. Just as a car  is worth less than the sum of its parts, its possible consumers could end up paying more for Real Estate services if its broken down into line items and charged separately 

The demise of the travel agent industry was due in large part to the airlines first reducing, then eliminating altogether, commissions to travel agents.  Corporate Travel still thrives - based on fees paid by the corporate client to the travel agency, and the emphasis is on cost control and compliance with corporate policy.  The specialty leisure travel business still exists - if I'm going on a 4 leg trip to Europe I would like some expert advice.  If I'm going roundtrip to Chicago, I'll book it on the net.

Hi there,

Great info.  I've heard the travel agent/Realtor scenario now for about the last 15 years, long before Redfin and others.

And yes, I do feel our business has changed in many ways and that's not all bad. It's just more options for the conumers out there.  Some (yet not all) shop only based on price at the Walmart's of the world.  Others have different priorities, that's why the Nordstroms, Lexus, and Ritz-Carlton's continue to exist. 

I've long felt most consumers see us all the same, and no doubt that can be a real issue.   Yet it's up to us as individuals to determine our value  and communicate that value with those we work with.  Ha, if it were only about price, wouldn't we all be driving a Hyundai?

Wouldn't that be great if travel agents did all that? I think I'd go full service.

Funny thing about the travel business, I received an email this morning, they are recruiting travel agents.  Geez maybe their business isn't running so well without the human touch either.  They were sending people to this site:  Global Travel

Well, it could be worse -- travel agents vs. chiropractors or hair dresser or lawyers!  Yikes

Roberta, this is a little disconcerting. Since these buyers really aren't being represented, I would think that this would bring up a lot of legal issues. i wonder if the State of California is aware of this and/or if this will only change with pending law suits? The position of the Seller's Realtor seems precarious at best and it would be my strong suggestion that if placed in a position of having to show the property and/or be available for home inspections, that the Seller's Realtor have the Buyer sign that they are physically not being represented and that the Seller's Realtor represents the Seller only.

I would be curious as to the take on this that you have and how if this raises it's ugly head in your business you plan on handling it.