Redfin Explained

Redfin Corporation
Type:Public
Subsid:RentPath
Bay Equity Home Loans
Title Forward Settlement Solutions
Industry:Real estate
Foundation:
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Location City:Seattle, Washington
Location Country:U.S.
Key People:Glenn Kelman (CEO)
Bridget Frey (CTO)
Chris Nielsen (CFO)
Services:Real estate agent
Broker
Mortgage origination
Area Served:100+ markets in the United States and Canada
Revenue: (2023)
Operating Income: (2023)
Net Income: (2023)
Assets: (2023)
Equity: (2023)
Num Employees:4,693 (December 2023)
Footnotes:[1]

Redfin Corporation, based in Seattle, provides residential real estate brokerage and mortgage origination services. The company operates in more than 100 markets in the United States and Canada.[1] In 2023, the company had a 0.76% market share in the United States by number of units sold and had an average of 1,776 lead agents.[1]

History

Redfin was founded in 2004 by David Eraker, Michael Dougherty, and David Selinger. Eraker had dropped out of medical school at the University of Washington for a career in software design and Dougherty received degrees in electrical engineering and international studies from Yale University.[2] [3] David Selinger, an alumnus of Stanford University who had previously led the research and development arm of Amazon's data mining and personalization team, joined Redfin as the third founder and CTO. Selinger helped build Redfin's mapping and real estate data analytics engine.[4]

In January 2006, Redfin named Glenn Kelman as CEO.[5] The company's website began to show available homes on an interactive map in 2007.[6]

In 2012, Redfin began an automatic agent rating system. After it drew criticism for using inaccurate data, the system was discontinued.[7]

In June 2017, the company began Redfin Now, a home flipping division.[8]

On July 28, 2017, Redfin became a public company via an initial public offering, raising $138 million.[9]

In June 2019, Redfin began allowing buyers to submit offers on homes listed by Redfin's selling agents without using a buyer's agent.[10] A month later, the company partnered with Opendoor, whereby visitors to the Redfin website can request an offer to buy their houses from Opendoor.[11]

In June 2022, the company announced layoffs of 8% of its staff.[12]

In November 2022, the company announced additional layoffs of 862 people, or 13% of its staff, and the wind down of its Redfin Now home flipping unit.[13]

Acquisitions

! Date! Acquired !!Description! Cost! Source
October 2014Walk ScoreAnalysis and apartment search toolN/A[14] [15]
April 2021RentPathOwner of Apartment Guide, Rent.com, Lovely, and Rentals.com$608 million[16]
January 2022Bay Equity Home LoansMortgage lender$137.8 million[17] [18]

Fines and litigation

In May 2007, Redfin was fined $50,000 by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, and was forced to shut down reviews of homes on the market on its website, prohibited under multiple listing service rules.[19]

In November 2020, a class-action lawsuit by several fair housing organizations accused Redfin of violating the Fair Housing Act by offering fewer services to homebuyers and sellers in minority communities and not offering to sell lower-priced homes because of the lower profits on such sales.[20] [21] [22] In 2022, the company paid $4 million to settle the lawsuit, changed its policies, and implemented a new internal monitoring system.[23] [24]

Awards

In July 2006, Inman News awarded Redfin the Innovator Award for the Most Innovative Business Model.[25]

In May 2010, Redfin won the Seattle 2.0 award for "Best Startup".[26]

In October 2012, Redfin was named one of The DIGITAL 100: World's Most Valuable Private Tech Companies by Business Insider.[27]

In July 2013, Inman News awarded Redfin an award for "Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise".[28]

In June 2014, Seattle Business magazine recognized Redfin as the best company to work for in Seattle in the Large Companies category.[29]

In December 2019, Redfin was named one of the top tech companies to work for in Seattle by Hired.com.[30]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Redfin Corporation 2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K) . February 27, 2024 . U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. News: A sit-down, flyby real-estate overview . Elizabeth . Rhodes . . September 26, 2004.
  3. News: Why Redfin, Zillow and Trulia Haven't Killed Off Real Estate Brokers . Brad . Stone . Brad Stone (journalist) . . March 7, 2013 . subscription.
  4. Web site: David Selinger . Entrepreneur.
  5. News: Redfin raises $1.25M, names new CEO . . January 9, 2006 . subscription.
  6. News: Redfin set out to change real estate. Then real estate changed Redfin. . Timothy B. . Lee . . August 10, 2015.
  7. News: New Battle on Providing Real Estate Agent Performance Data . Ann . Carrns . . May 1, 2012 . limited.
  8. News: Redfin testing 'Redfin Now' service that lets it buy and resell homes directly with customers . TAYLOR . SOPER . . June 30, 2017.
  9. News: Real estate start-up Redfin surges over 44% in IPO: 'We are the Apple of real estate,' CEO says . Diana . Olick . Anita . Balakrishnan . . July 28, 2017.
  10. News: Redfin's newest online tool cuts out the buyer's agent . Nina . Zafar . . June 4, 2019 . limited.
  11. News: Clark . Patrick . Opendoor Partners With Redfin to Expand Home-Flipping Reach . . July 11, 2019 . subscription.
  12. News: Saric . Ivana . Redfin laying off 8% of its staff . . June 14, 2022.
  13. News: Redfin to cut 13% of workforce and shut down home-flipping business RedfinNow . NATE . BEK . . November 9, 2022.
  14. Redfin Acquires Walk Score . . October 22, 2014.
  15. News: Redfin buys Walk Score, marking first acquisition in company history . JOHN . COOK . . October 22, 2014.
  16. Redfin Completes Acquisition of RentPath for $608 Million . . April 5, 2021.
  17. Redfin Completes Acquisition of Bay Equity Home Loans for $137.8 Million . . April 4, 2022.
  18. News: Redfin's Purchase of Bay Equity Home Loans Is 'Positive Step' . Sabrina . Escobar . . January 12, 2022.
  19. News: John . Cook . Redfin fined $50,000, shuts down home reviews . . May 17, 2007.
  20. News: Fair housing groups sue Redfin with allegations of 'redlining' minority communities . Gene . Johnson . . . October 31, 2020.
  21. News: Housing groups sue Redfin, alleging federal discrimination violations . Michele . Lerner . . November 2, 2020 . subscription.
  22. News: A Progressive Real Estate Firm Faces Accusations of Discrimination . . January 18, 2022.
  23. News: Redfin will implement internal fair housing monitoring system in $4M legal settlement . TODD . BISHOP . . May 2, 2022.
  24. News: Redfin settles lawsuit alleging housing discrimination . . . April 29, 2022.
  25. Redfin Wins Innovator of the Year Award From Inman News at Real Estate Connect . https://web.archive.org/web/20060810170949/http://www.prweb.com/releases/Redfin/1/prweb418140.htm . dead . August 10, 2006 . . July 30, 2006.
  26. News: Redfin, Bonanzle, TisBest Win Seattle 2.0 Awards . Gregory T. . Huang . . May 20, 2010.
  27. News: Shontell . Alyson . The 2012 Digital 100: The Complete List 1-100 . . October 3, 2012.
  28. News: Announcing: 2013 Innovator Awards winners . . July 12, 2013.
  29. Web site: Nick . Horton . 100 Best Companies to Work For 2014: Large Companies . Seattle Business Magazine . July 2014.
  30. News: 5 Top Employers in Seattle According to Tech Workers . Napala . Pratini . Hired.com . December 13, 2019.