RedfinNow Reviews

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Reviews for RedfinNow, a California home direct buyer provides fast home sales for cash typically accompanied by lower-priced home offers and high transaction fees.
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Buying and Selling with RedfinNow

RedfinNow is a real estate investment company, owned by Redfin. RedfinNow is one of the only direct home buyers that openly admits that when listing a home on the open market, sellers may be able to sell a home for more than RedfinNow's offer price.

RedfinNow does not represent sellers in the sale of their home. If a seller decides to sell to RedfinNow, neither Redfin nor RedfinNow will represent the seller's interests regarding the sale.

RedfinNow further recommends that sellers seek independent representation in the sale of a home, which directly contradicts the claim that RedfinNow process saves 4%-6% in traditional real estate agent commissions.

RedfinNow Pricing

RedfinNow makes money with a difference between buying and selling each home. This difference is a combination of fees and home value appreciation between what RedfinNow buys and seller each home for.

Sellers can expect to receive 80%-85% of their home value from this type of sale after any fees, cost of the minor repairs, and resale. RedfinNow claims 7% - 9% in service fees, but this amount does not include a discounted cash offer seller typically receives.

Listing Services

  • This Service Does Not Represent Sellers

Buyer's Agent Services

  • This Service Does Not Represent Buyers

RedfinNow Editor's Review:

Last updated: 25 April 2021
First published: 17 February 2019

RedfinNow will buy a home at a price that is below market value due to necessary repairs, renovation, and other factors. After RedfinNow buys the home, it renovates and resells it for a profit to other buyers or companies that rent homes to qualified tenants.

RedfinNow claims that its fees are limited by 7% - 9% RedfinNow fee, but this fee does not mean that RedfinNow will offer consumers a fair market offer. RedfinNow is not obligated to present consumers with a fair offer for their property because, unlike a real estate agent, it does not represent consumers when selling a home. Additionally, similar to a traditional home sale process, the seller is responsible for covering their closing costs. This typically includes (but is not limited to) title insurance policy, attorney and escrow fees, and any HOA transfer fees.

With higher fees comes a convenience of an all-cash closing when selling a home. RedfinNow claims to provide convenience, speed, and certainty of a fast sale. Dubbed as an iBuyer, RedfinNow makes an offer on a house within days or hours, but this offer is highly conditional.

Each offer RedfinNow makes is just an estimate, it is non-binding until the company makes a home inspection. At the inspection, RedfinNow will often find reasons to lower its original offer when it finds items that need repair or if it has made a mistake in its original valuation.

When the company is unable to make an offer, it simply redirects consumers to a real estate agent - either a Redfin Agent or a partner Agent in exchange for a 30% referral fee. RedfinNow offers fast home sales, but these are typically accompanied by higher fees. RedfinNow only makes offers to select homes in select regions.

The main disadvantage of using RedfinNow is high losses in homeowners’ equity. RedfinNow is a “heavy” model, backed by a large amount of VC capital ready to buy homes in all-cash transactions. As any real estate investor, RedfinNow is susceptible to losing money in any given transaction. This model is susceptible to a number of risk factors, high operational costs and a continued need for higher-than-average Return on Investment (ROI) with each flip. RedfinNow is not legally bound to represent consumers, its main legal obligation is to its shareholders.

RedfinNow’s fast transaction and easy move-out experience typically come at an extremely high price because this model incurs “double” transaction costs during the purchase, holding period, rehab work and final sale that includes real estate agent fees. RedfinNow pays real estate agent commissions like any other buyer and seller of real estate, so these costs must be accounted for in the company’s fee structure.

The facts continue to point against RedfinNow’s claims that it offers fair value for the houses it buys. Moreover, because most homes in the United States are financed, homeowners own only partial net equity in their home. Banks receive the same amount of the remaining mortgage sum regardless of how any given home is sold, whereas only homeowners’ net equity is lost in transaction fees paid to RedfinNow.

Typically RedfinNow uses the following factors when determining the offer: existing condition of the home including repairs needed, time it will take to finish needed repairs, value of a home compared to other comparable homes in the area, real estate commission required to resell, costs associated with maintaining a home during repairs, including taxes, payments, insurance, utilities and homeowner dues.

Today, there are a number of highly qualified real estate agents who offer competitive listing rates and flat fee listings across the United States. Unless a situation absolutely requires a quick sale, HomeOpenly recommends that consumers first consider using a licensed real estate agent working on competitive terms to properly list their homes on the open market before turning to RedfinNow option.

Some real estate agents are now offering Concierge services that include painting, landscaping, and other services that help consumers place their home on the open market without upfront costs and high loss to home equity.

FAQ for RedfinNow

What are the alternatives to RedfinNow?

RedfinNow directly competes with iBuyers that include HomeVestors, Offerpad, Orchard, Zillow Offers, Opendoor, and others.

However, genuinely legitimate alternatives to using any iBuyer are real estate agents who offer savings and help consumers efficiently list homes on the open market, such as flat fee listing agents and agents with competitive listing rates.

What are the pros and cons of RedfinNow?

Pros: quick cash sale. Unfortunately, this benefit is highly questionable, making it highly unlikely that RedfinNow will make an offer on the seller's home. Consumers systematically decline the vast majority of all instant cash offers from iBuyers. Since its inception, RedfinNow has bought only a handful of properties for re-sale.

Cons: there are several main disadvantages to RedfinNow. First, RedfinNow has no legal obligation to offer consumers full value on their home. Second, RedfinNow operates in highly limited markets and is highly selective when buying homes. Third, RedfinNow steers consumers toward pay-to-play schemes, such as Redfin Partner Program and it openly colludes with competing iBuyers. Fourth, consumers may lose as much as 20%-30% of their home's equity when selling a home to an iBuyer.

What is RedfinNow?

RedfinNow is a multi-state home direct buyer that provides fast home sales for cash typically accompanied by lower-priced home offers. RedfinNow makes money with fees and a difference between buying and selling each home.

Is RedfinNow legitimate?

Yes and No. RedfinNow is not legally bound to represent consumers, its main legal obligation is to its stakeholders. The main disadvantage of using RedfinNow is a high loss in homeowners' equity.

RedfinNow is a risk-heavy business model, ready to buy homes in all-cash transactions. RedfinNow model further suffers from double expenses and holding costs when first buying and then selling the same home. In summation of all fees, an offer equal to 80% of home value is reasonably expected from this type of sale after fees and cost of the repairs and resale.

Where does RedfinNow operate?

RedfinNow currently operates in select areas across Orange County, San Diego and the Inland Empire in California .

Contact RedfinNow:

1099 Stewart St
Seattle, WA 98199 US
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