Redfin allows real estate brokers to publish micro-blogs

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Jacob Gaffney [1]

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Say a Redfin broker runs up against a builder they think charges too much simply because he's the only renovation specialist in the neighborhood. That broker can now name and shame the builder for the practice.

Redfin is now allowing its real estate brokers the ability to micro-blog about their experiences on selling a property.

The technology and service provider hopes the added transparancy will aid its brokers in decision making and may even give potential homeowners some insight.

So for example, say a Redfin broker runs up against a builder they think charges to much simply because he's the only renovation specialist in the neighborhood. That broker can now name and shame the builder for the practice, on a neighborhood level at first. After the property is sold, and the site updated, the comment will be linked to that house.

Redfin said it hopes it will show it's members "how to win in a competitive-offer situation, or how to price or negotiate a sale."

Redfin said it is respecting privacy rights in allowing the running commentary.

"Only Redfin employs local agents across hundreds of neighborhood across America who use online tools for crafting an offer that are directly connected to our real estate search website," Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. "Our long-term strategy is to combine the expertise of local agents on the ground with powerful technology running in the Internet cloud; the source of all our strength is that we are both a service company and a software company."

The "Offer Insight" function will be meant to highlight unusual and interesting circumstances surrounding the negotiations, such as the number of competing offers, or whether or not the Redfin client waived financing or inspection contingencies.

Following is an example of an Offer Insight:

"We were up against multiple offers. We presented right away and went in slightly over list price to be competitive. This was a probate sale that did not need court approval. The attorney reviewing the files decided to work with an offer with a substantial down payment. Despite being one of the first offers in, they seemed to have held out for a better offer without giving us any updates until their decision was made."Redfin Agent, Keith Thomas, Jr. (Trabuco Canyon, Orange County, CA)

What's really neat, is that at the end of the transaction Redfin sends homebuyers a notification email about the Offer Insight. However, only Redfin agents are able to post Offer Insights.

jgaffney@housingwire.com