I've Made a Switch!
The new year is set to begin with me hitting the ground in a new role as a lead
agent at Redfin helping home buyers! I accepted the position in November and began training with
the Redfin tools in early December. Most in Chicago who have thought about
buying or selling a home recently are familiar with Redfin’s name and many have at least used their website to browse properties (like a number of my
clients this past year). I believe in Redfin’s non-traditional model and I’m
excited for the opportunity it affords.
(For one thing they gave me a better profile shot than I've had before)
This model has been disruptive in residential real estate so far in a
way similar to Uber with transportation, and I anticipate that the industry
will continue to evolve and become more like it. It is by far the most technologically
capable brokerage I’ve known with great ease of use on the client’s end and
lots of integration behind the scenes that makes things simpler on the agent’s
side as well. As I mentioned, many of my past clients would prefer to browse
properties on Redfin’s website rather than through MLS listings I would send
because it is a lot more pleasant to look at and easier to find information. It’s
also synced with current MLS listings every 5 minutes or so and clients can receive instant notifications when properties hit the market if they like. Redfin is able to employ an
unusually high number of software engineers for a brokerage and accomplish this
tech wizardry because it is a brokerage that functions with a corporate and
team model.
This team model also allows us to show places to our buyers faster than
just about anyone else. In a traditional model, a client is bound by the
availability of their agent (or their team member if they have one) and usually
involves some back and forth communication before a request to the seller’s
agent is even made. Redfin employs an army of agents who are on-call to sub in for a client's main, deal-writing lead agent on showings when a client’s main, deal-writing agent (my role) is unavailable. In other words, if I'm not free Monday night you could still go see the place. A client can literally
hit a button to schedule a showing, specify a time, and do nothing until they
receive confirmation (assuming the seller’s agent grants access). Clients can sometimes
view properties with only an hour or two’s notice, and this kind of speed can
be a huge advantage with competitive listings.
Redfin also preserves a full service, low-pressure feel to a buyer’s
experience because of the way its agents are reviewed and paid. Every review a
Redfin agent receives is posted on their profile, and we receive bonuses based on
the client’s review. This, and the fact that we are salaried, naturally gives us
more incentive to make sure our client has a great experience rather than simply
closing their deal (in the traditional model, an agent is only paid upon
closing which can make things feast or famine). Since we are paid regularly
rather than just at close, we naturally have less subconscious fear of a deal
falling through and can more easily advise a client to walk away if the
situation turns sour.
So far I’ve talked about the benefits of Redfin’s model to a client, and
these are the reasons I believe Redfin is blazing a new trail in real estate. We’re
able to do all this without dropping service levels and still be profitable (even with giving commission
refunds to clients as a standard policy) because the tech platforms and the team
model make us efficient. Having agent apps and online tools that are very well
integrated with each other is extremely helpful to me on the agent side,
but there are a number of additional features with their model that makes it advantageous
and prompted my switch.
The most appealing part of working within Redfin’s model for me is that
I can focus on the actual duties of a broker: working with clients to find
homes, research properties, and negotiate offers. To thrive as a traditional
agent, one has to either spend a lot of money on digital marketing or work
really hard at promoting their name and brand to garner business. While there
have been times I’ve enjoyed the creative challenge of making my own
advertisements and seeing how they perform online, on the whole I don’t know
what I’m doing that way and I was usually wasting money. I’m happy to let Redfin’s marketing team manage all
that. As an agent at Redfin, they supply the business and it’s on me to work
hard and fulfill the brokering duties. The average Redfin agent does thirty-something
deals in a year, so it will provide 2-3
years’ worth of experience in just one (and with that a lot of growth in
expertise).
Apart form not having to spend time or money on advertising, Redfin’s filling
up my client load also means that I don’t need to pump my personal network to
find leads as most traditional brokerages encourage their agents to do. While I
have no issues offering to help out those I know with real estate needs, there
can be a natural inclination to socially identify (or be primarily perceived)
as a real estate agent because it may lead to business. Sometimes I talk about
work and sense that people think I’m bringing it up to so that I can implicitly
offer my services. Every agent has to find a line that way, but in a traditional
model I would have to do a lot more of that than I’d like in order to be more successful
since it’d be my responsibility to find the business.
I’ve heard it said that in real estate 10% of the agents do 90% of the
business. While Redfin’s model won’t have the virtually unlimited earning potential for an agent
like the traditional one in that 10% doing really high volumes, Redfin does have
much higher median earnings for their agents than the traditional model. The company
culture has the same informal-but-driven feel as a successful tech company I
worked at in the past, and the high-capacity folks I’ve worked with so far is
also a boost to my confidence.
So all this combined – that the model is better for clients and better
for most agents- is what makes me think it is here to stay. I’m excited to be a
part of it.