In a competitive market like Seattle, Would you go with redfin agent where you're guaranteed to get a refund back (2k), or would you go with a different agent who does a great job but doesnt offer any kickback?
Only 2k refund back? You gotta be kidding. We usually talk about 2-10% back here.
10% back...from a 3% commission rofl
Last year my real estate agent saw that the zestimate was over valued and saved me $100K on a purchase. Sellers had low balled their selling price expecting people to over bid. We bid full price and they begged for another $3K and got it.
where?
South Bay
bought recently with a highly recommended and decorated traditional agent with the old world 3% deal, which in the market now is a crap-ton of money. for me, it was worth it. agent spent a lot of time going over the market and offer details, comparables, expectations and targets, and so on, then was in constant contact with Buddy-buddy seller agents during the offer process. ended up winning a bid on the second try with an offer that wasn't close to the highest, despite everything being double digit offer count situations. so yeah, I could have had a $20k or $30k rebate, but then I would have likely spent a lot longer and missed places I really wanted, then may have ended up paying more in the end anyway. I'm sure there are great Redfin agents and I have no doubt that the low-commission, technology-assisted method is a good bet for buyers' markets, but for now there's still a very good reason to get what you pay for when you're jumping into a piranha-filled pool of a market.
Use Redfin to tour all the houses you want, call the selling agent of the one you want to buy. Whether it's illegal or not, you know they'll push your offer in their own interest.
This is the best advice for buying in a seller's market
A good agent is vital. Redfin is useless in a market as hot as seattle. I buy most properties off market which simply wouldn't be possible without an agent. Completely worth skipping the couple thousand refund.
What areas are you buying in?
Does your agent find those off market properties for you?
No agent and a high offer. Has always worked for me.
Bought in March in Seattle with a non-RedFin agent. Don't be fooled by your $2K back and go with an agent you pay for that will help you win a bid.
If you are smart and believe in your ability do some leg work, use Redfin. If you are dumb and/or lazy, use a real estate agent. An agent is same as a car salesman, you can do more research on your own. They sing a lot and make up fake stories - and those are the good one. Most are outright dumb.
I found my agent was pretty useful. I didn't have a good sense of how to know what a house was worth, what gotchas to look for, how much alterations would cost etc. If you find a really good agent who you can trust (personal recommendation helps) then it makes the house buying process vastly easier. If I'm paying insane amounts of money for a house then I want to delegate the task of doing the right thing to someone who knows what they are doing. Make sure you get a good one though. A good agent will be happy to give you a list of past customers and all will say how useful their agent was any how they steered them away from bad decisions and towards a good deal on a house they love.
Which area?
If you are a buyer, in a market like Seattle it will be very hard for you to buy a house let alone get a good deal. You won't believe this but if the house you are bidding on has a non-redfin agent then as a buyer with redfin agent your bid is at the bottom of the pile just because that agent doesn't want to deal with redfin. They have about 10 legitimate reasons why they don't want to deal with redfin. Apart from that redfin agents have no interest in getting you a good deal, on the other hand some non-redfin agents will fight to get you a good deal because they want referrals, reviews and recommendations. I know all this because my wife and her entire family is in real estate business.
I bought my house with a Redfin agent in Seattle and she was totally awesome. Very experienced with bidding strategies and really pleasant to work with. My previous traditional agent was really pushy. Apparently Redfin agents get paid based on customer satisfaction ratings so the incentives are better aligned.
^ this is true. Plus if Redfin agents get referrals, the pay for those comes with a bonus. Every brokerage has agents who don't perform or aren't good.. Redfin at least has a three stage interview process and will fire agents that don't do well. Other brokerages charge their agents a fee, have very little oversight of their agents, and doesn't care about performance as long as they pay their monthly dues.