Steve wrote:The DANGER report seems to indicate 3-5 years, but 14:36's guess of within 7.5 years seems more realistic. (https://www.dangerreport.com/)

When you combine the generations of a single method for an infrequent transaction with the large body of licensed salespersons out there, you can see why it's such an uphill battle.

I think we are the key to solving the current inefficiencies by turning the industry on its head since we let homeowners search for buyers, especially pre-market.

RedFin is just a cheaper brokerage.

Zillow can change the entire game tomorrow if they wanted to. Half or more of the buyers and sellers already use them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Redfin? Probably never. It's been how long, they have under 1% of the market, are not profitable, and will go the way of pets.com shortly.

Doesn't mean that this market won't change drastically - maybe google has something in store. Or amazon. But housing is not a commodity market.

I'll answer a different way - real estate sales will change 10 years after car sales change, and I have no confidence that will be while I or my kids are alive.

Uh, the last two cars I bought, I negotiated with 10-15 dealers via email and it was a bidding war to get the lowest price so they'd win my business. Plus, with the internet, I could research exactly what a rational price would be.

WAY different from when I purchased cars in the past. Have you not bought a car lately? Because it really sounds like you don't know what you're talking about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Redfin hasn't had nearly the success disrupting the real estate industry as Uber has had on the taxi industry. I mean, 10 years in it can't even get more than 3% market share in its home market of Seattle.

Besides, Redfin appears to be little more than a pyramid scheme to go public and enrich early investors. I don't see a sustainable business model. Mainly because they keep changing the model like every two weeks.

So the short answer is I don't think we'll see disintermediation of the real estate industry anytime soon.

Thanks, realtor. Change is inevitable.

Not a Realtor. Just someone in business who studies this sort of thing. But it's such a clever retort, calling people who disagree with you Realtors.

Look, digital has had disruptive effects on many industries...

1) Car buying. Auto dealers as we know it are nearly gone.
2) Taxi services. Uber.
3) Banking and capital markets have been transformed.
4) Insurance, etc.

But, no, not real estate. Redfin will launch its IPO and then slowly drift down in value as it misses earnings target after earnings target.

Anonymous wrote:I think Zillow could change the market quickly by offering an auction service, sort of like ebay for houses. They have the eyeballs, and an auction format will ensure the most accurate price for each house. The only piece they're missing is some mechanism to show the houses to live people. Maybe the answer is for Zillow to partner with Redfin. Redfin will get a piece of lots more listings, and they can be responsible for running the open houses and staging and such. Maybe Redfin gets paid on an hourly basis for the service of open house, and staging, and advice on how to present house for sale, while Zillow gets a small commission on the sale for providing the platform.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Redfin hasn't had nearly the success disrupting the real estate industry as Uber has had on the taxi industry. I mean, 10 years in it can't even get more than 3% market share in its home market of Seattle.

Besides, Redfin appears to be little more than a pyramid scheme to go public and enrich early investors. I don't see a sustainable business model. Mainly because they keep changing the model like every two weeks.

So the short answer is I don't think we'll see disintermediation of the real estate industry anytime soon.

Thanks, realtor. Change is inevitable.

Not a Realtor. Just someone in business who studies this sort of thing. But it's such a clever retort, calling people who disagree with you Realtors.

Look, digital has had disruptive effects on many industries...

1) Car buying. Auto dealers as we know it are nearly gone.
2) Taxi services. Uber.
3) Banking and capital markets have been transformed.
4) Insurance, etc.

But, no, not real estate. Redfin will launch its IPO and then slowly drift down in value as it misses earnings target after earnings target.

Not buying the car thing at all. The same dealerships exist that existed decades ago. Moving the haggling to email instead of in person isn't much of an improvement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There seems to be a lot of anger out there towards realtors and many people seem to believe the 6 percent is ridiculous and undeserved. It's only a matter of time before a better "product" is offered. I doubt many would have predicted uber or dollar shave club. These companies are successful because a vast majority of the population was frustrated with taxi service and sick and tired of paying too much for razors. I personally would jump all over an opportunity to avoid paying 6 percent. My parents have sold multiple properties without a realtor but have always had the benefit of time.

Bottom line is the Internet has been a game changer. Real estate agents were a necessity in order for access to knowledge. Now anyone can research comps and find a home. One of my relatives is an older and very successful realtor and said it is only a matter of time. My relative also was making close to 500k a year selling real estate, which I find ridiculous.

I've found each home I've purchased on my own and simply don't believe the agent worked hard enough or brought something special to the table to earn tens of thousands of dollars from each sale. No way.

I think you're confusing the two or three people who post here incessantly with "a lot of anger out there."

There's not.

New poster here. Yes there is. People have similar feelings towards realtors that they have towards lawyers (or worse).

Anonymous wrote:

This looks interesting. Does the website charge sellers to search?

Anonymous wrote:

You realize you are brokering without a license, right? There are all sorts of implications of risk with what you're doing. Someone will sue you eventually.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Zillow could change the market quickly by offering an auction service, sort of like ebay for houses. They have the eyeballs, and an auction format will ensure the most accurate price for each house. The only piece they're missing is some mechanism to show the houses to live people. Maybe the answer is for Zillow to partner with Redfin. Redfin will get a piece of lots more listings, and they can be responsible for running the open houses and staging and such. Maybe Redfin gets paid on an hourly basis for the service of open house, and staging, and advice on how to present house for sale, while Zillow gets a small commission on the sale for providing the platform.

Do you understand how regulated real estate is? They can't just start auctions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Redfin hasn't had nearly the success disrupting the real estate industry as Uber has had on the taxi industry. I mean, 10 years in it can't even get more than 3% market share in its home market of Seattle.

Besides, Redfin appears to be little more than a pyramid scheme to go public and enrich early investors. I don't see a sustainable business model. Mainly because they keep changing the model like every two weeks.

So the short answer is I don't think we'll see disintermediation of the real estate industry anytime soon.

Thanks, realtor. Change is inevitable.

Not a Realtor. Just someone in business who studies this sort of thing. But it's such a clever retort, calling people who disagree with you Realtors.

Look, digital has had disruptive effects on many industries...

1) Car buying. Auto dealers as we know it are nearly gone.
2) Taxi services. Uber.
3) Banking and capital markets have been transformed.
4) Insurance, etc.

But, no, not real estate. Redfin will launch its IPO and then slowly drift down in value as it misses earnings target after earnings target.

Not buying the car thing at all. The same dealerships exist that existed decades ago. Moving the haggling to email instead of in person isn't much of an improvement.

No, digitization has definitely shrunk the role dealerships play in the point of sale of a car, primarily by shifting asymmetry of information. Buyers now hold all the cards.

The chief reason this won't happen for real estate is the fact that it's a regulated industry. Cars are durable goods but still liquid assets. And anyone can sell them -- you don't need a license. There's also more supply of cars -- if you can't reach a price on a particular Prius, there's another one to buy.

You can definitely inject more transparency into the home buying process, but property is a more heavily regulated and illiquid commidity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Zillow could change the market quickly by offering an auction service, sort of like ebay for houses. They have the eyeballs, and an auction format will ensure the most accurate price for each house. The only piece they're missing is some mechanism to show the houses to live people. Maybe the answer is for Zillow to partner with Redfin. Redfin will get a piece of lots more listings, and they can be responsible for running the open houses and staging and such. Maybe Redfin gets paid on an hourly basis for the service of open house, and staging, and advice on how to present house for sale, while Zillow gets a small commission on the sale for providing the platform.

Do you understand how regulated real estate is? They can't just start auctions.

Yes, I understand real estate agents are regulated. But there is no regulation that prevents me from selling my house without a realtor, and no regulation that prevents me from using an auction site to do it.

You are not thinking like an entrepreneur. The regulations are just fences put up by realtors to protect their turf.

Anonymous wrote:Not gonna happen - and no, I am not a realtor.

I say "not gonna happen" because there are too many people who do not have the time, desire, or inclination to manage the whole transaction on their own.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Zillow could change the market quickly by offering an auction service, sort of like ebay for houses. They have the eyeballs, and an auction format will ensure the most accurate price for each house. The only piece they're missing is some mechanism to show the houses to live people. Maybe the answer is for Zillow to partner with Redfin. Redfin will get a piece of lots more listings, and they can be responsible for running the open houses and staging and such. Maybe Redfin gets paid on an hourly basis for the service of open house, and staging, and advice on how to present house for sale, while Zillow gets a small commission on the sale for providing the platform.

Do you understand how regulated real estate is? They can't just start auctions.

Yes, I understand real estate agents are regulated. But there is no regulation that prevents me from selling my house without a realtor, and no regulation that prevents me from using an auction site to do it.

You are not thinking like an entrepreneur. The regulations are just fences put up by realtors to protect their turf.