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Redfin Will Launch Real Estate Brokerage and Search Site in Canada in Early 2019

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Buyers and sellers in Toronto and Vancouver will soon be able to work with Redfin agents

Toronto, Canada – Jan. 14, 2019 (PRNewswire) (NASDAQ: RDFN) Redfin (www.redfin.ca), the next-generation real estate brokerage, plans to launch a national Canadian real estate search site and brokerage service in Toronto and Vancouver by March, with plans to expand to other provinces in the future.

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“Our goal is to make buying and selling Canadian homes more affordable, with Redfin agents who always put customers first,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. “We believe Canadians will love our local full-service agents, low fees and on-demand home showings. Our website and mobile apps will show all the homes for sale via the local Multiple Listing Services used by brokerages. And Redfin will show sale prices for Toronto and Vancouver homes that for years had been unavailable to consumers.”

As a technology-powered real estate brokerage, Redfin can provide full service and charge less because it attracts most customers through its site and has built software to automate tasks and paperwork, making the entire process more efficient. Once someone chooses to work with a Redfin agent, the service is tailored to each client’s needs with Redfin agents guiding clients through the entire home-buying and selling process. Redfin’s local, full-service agents are employees, not independent contractors, and their bonuses are based in part on customer-satisfaction.

For home sellers, Redfin will charge a 1 percent listing fee. Redfin agents provide a complete home-selling service, including pricing and staging advice, free professional photography, a 3D walkthrough of the home, open houses, yard signs and beautifully designed marketing materials. Redfin listings will receive premier placement on Redfin.ca and will be displayed on Realtor.ca and other Canadian real estate websites via the Multiple Listing Services.

By working with a local Redfin agent, a seller in Toronto will save $11,250 on a $750,000 home sale when compared to paying a listing commission of 2.5 percent. The one-percent listing fee does not include a buyer’s agent commission, which is typically paid by the seller.

Homebuyers who work with Redfin also save because the company refunds part of its commission to the buyers it represents. Redfin technology helps buyers act fast with instant alerts that let them know when homes hit the market or drop in price. With Redfin’s Book It Now feature, homebuyers can set up property showings with a few taps on a smartphone.

Blair Anderson, a Toronto native with more than a decade of experience in real estate, will lead Redfin’s operations in the greater Toronto area.

“I was attracted to Redfin’s mission to redefine real estate in the consumer’s favor and have experienced firsthand that it isn’t just a nice sound bite, it’s truly a mindset that is woven into the fabric of who we are as a company,” said Anderson. “I’m proud to introduce Redfin to Canada. Canadian consumers are discerning and tech-savvy and I believe they will be blown away by Redfin’s unmatched combination of agent service, technology and value. Not only will we provide full real estate services for a lower fee, the Redfin model rewards customer service, so our agents are accountable to deliver the best outcome for their clients.”

Redfin customers, whether they buy a home or not, are asked to review the service they received from their Redfin agent. The reviews are published on the agent’s online profile and agent bonuses are based in part on these reviews.

By posting agent reviews and agents’ insights on client offers they’ve written and homes they’ve toured, Redfin aims to empower consumers to make more informed homebuying and selling decisions. Redfin supported making Canadian home sale data more accessible to the public in testimony to the Canadian Competition Tribunal in 2015. Appeals for that case concluded in August 2018, with a Canadian court ruling that real estate sales data can be shared online, paving the way for Redfin to provide this valuable information to Canadian consumers.

For more information and to sign up to be alerted when Redfin launches in Canada, visit www.redfin.ca.

About Redfin Canada

Redfin (www.redfin.ca) is a technology-powered, residential real estate brokerage with a mission to redefine real estate in the consumer’s favor. Redfin will launch brokerage services in Toronto and Vancouver in early 2019, joining more than 85 markets throughout the United States where Redfin already serves homebuyers and sellers. In its first non-US expansion, Redfin will launch mobile apps and a Canadian version of its industry-leading website, allowing consumers to search for homes for sale across most of Canada. In a commission-driven industry, Redfin’s local, full-service agents put the customer first. By pairing Redfin agents with technology, Redfin offers a service that is faster, better, and costs less. Redfin is headquartered in Seattle and Redfin stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “RDFN.”

Redfin Survey: Gen-Xers & Older Millennials Believe Stocks are a Better Investment than Real Estate

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35-44 year olds were hit hardest by the housing bust just as they reached prime first-time homebuying age

Seattle, WA – Jan. 7, 2019 (PRNewswire) (NASDAQ: RDFN) Less than half of homebuyers and sellers between the ages of 35 and 44 believe that real estate is a better long-term investment than the stock market, according to a survey from Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage. In December 2018, Redfin surveyed more than 2,600 people nationwide who at the time bought or sold a home in the last year, attempted to do so, or had plans to buy or sell in the near future.

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Buyers who reached the median first-time homebuyer age of 31 years old between 2008 and 2012 during the Great Recession and housing market collapse are now 37 to 41 years old. Redfin’s survey results show that this was the only age group that has less confidence in real estate as an investment than the stock market. Just 48 percent of homebuyers and sellers in this age group believe that real estate is a better long-term investment than the stock market.

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“The oldest Millennials and youngest Gen-Xers entered their late twenties or early thirties during the housing crash, which explains why they are more skeptical about investing in real-estate,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “This generation experienced a major setback during the housing bust, which hit just as they were most likely to be getting married, starting a family, and becoming a first time homeowner. Looking into the future, we expect to see homeownership increase as Millennials enter prime home-buying age. This is because Millennials have a more favorable opinion of real estate as an investment than Gen-Xers, and Millennials are a larger group than Gen-Xers.”

In every other age group, buyers and sellers who believe that real estate is a better long-term investment outnumbered those who believe the stock market is better. Younger Baby Boomers, respondents aged 55 to 64, were the most optimistic about real estate as an investment.

For the complete report and methodology visit www.redfin.com.

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer’s favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the #1 brokerage website in the United States and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry’s lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 85 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $60 billion in home sales.

Redfin Survey: 20% of Recent Homebuyers Made an Offer Sight-Unseen, Down from 35% Late Last Year

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Survey Findings Suggest that Buyers Are Under Less Pressure to Make Hasty Bids as Competition Eases

Seattle, WA – Oct. 15, 2018 (PRNewswire) (NASDAQ: RDFN) One in five recent homebuyers said they made an offer sight-unseen, according to Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage. This statistic was discovered from a Redfin-commissioned survey in May of 1,463 people across 14 major markets who had bought a home in the last year. That’s down from 35 percent in a similar survey conducted in November, when the share of buyers making sight-unseen offers had been growing consistently for at least a year and a half.

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When Redfin analysts first noticed in May that the prevalence of sight-unseen offers had returned to 2016 levels, they struggled to pinpoint a clear explanation. At that time, the market was breaking records for price growth, competition and home-selling speeds. Buyers felt pressured to move incredibly quickly to secure the most desirable homes, which were off the market in a matter of days. Making an offer without seeing the home first in person had become an advantageous strategy for buyers in inventory-strapped markets like Denver or Seattle.

In July, Redfin first reported that the market was beginning to shift toward buyers’ favor, with rising inventory and slowing price growth. Buyers had become more choosy about what homes to move on and were behaving less hasty in making offers. And now, buyers are facing fewer multiple-offer situations, which allows buyers even more time to visit homes in person before making an offer. Redfin analysts now believe that the declining prevalence of sight-unseen offers was likely an early indicator of this changing market. Redfin intends to watch this trend closely and plans to survey homebuyers again this fall to see if the prevalence of sight-unseen offers continues to change.

“Now that most homes are staying on the market for longer than a week, there just isn’t as much pressure for buyers to make offers so hastily,” said Jessie Culbert, a Redfin agent in Seattle. “That’s a big change from earlier this year when sellers set offer review deadlines, and they were strict! This meant that whether or not you had time to physically step inside the home, you had to get your offer in on time in order to be considered. Otherwise you would miss out entirely on the opportunity to compete for it.”

It’s also worth pointing out that one in five homebuyers making offers sight unseen is still a lot, and we believe this is a reflection of the fact that technology has made it easier to learn about a home from anywhere with internet access. For example, using Redfin 3D Walkthrough, a buyer can tour a home virtually on their computer or smartphone, seeing the walls, appliances and nooks and crannies from every angle. Additionally, Redfin agents use tools like FaceTime, Skype or YouTube to show homes to customers who aren’t able to join them for an in-person tour. This technology is especially useful to homebuyers moving to a new city, who would have to drive for hours or take a flight to see a home. Over time, as technologies continue to advance and people become more comfortable relying on them to make big financial decisions, we expect sight-unseen offers to become more commonplace, even throughout fluctuations in supply and demand.

To read the full report, complete with historical survey and methodology, click here.

About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer’s favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country’s #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry’s lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $60 billion in home sales.