[drzoltar]

We used Redfin to buy a home in a relatively competitive market in 2017. We tried using it again recently but found the (same) agents to be considerably less invested than those from other firms (we ended up using an awesome agent from Coldwell). As I understand it, Redfin pays fixed salaries to agents with some kind of bonus structure on top, but otherwise it seems like agents were managing dozens of serious clients simultaneously. At one point, our Redfin agent was sending in substitute agents for showings.

Maybe I’m just old school but I firmly believe in the value of a good real estate agent. From knowing the area, to having solid intuition about how to strategize a bid.

With that being said, it would be interesting to see a one-stop-shop for real estate. An entity like Redfin that provides everything for home buying, from loan to agent. No marketplaces, just one click to get a loan at a competitive rate. The entity would shop around itself for competitive rates absolving the buyer from all this loan bs.

[poppin3k]

IMO you need a great agent because the offer / offer acceptance process is both subjective and inefficient.

In a competitive market, submitting an offer is an art because buyers agents don’t get a lot of time with the sellers agent. It’s pretty much a game of submitting the most attractive offer you can the first time and hoping for the best.

Of course, the best buyer’s agents will have big networks and deep connections in the real estate community that can get the a second chance or access to more information.

This is why you hear stories about folks missing out on offers even if they were the highest #, and they only found out after the fact that the sellers actually preferred a bigger down payment, etc.

[smileysteve]

> IMO you need a great agent because the offer / offer acceptance process is both subjective and inefficient.

But this isn't even a Real Estate agent's job, the have no fiduciary duty to do this in a way that benefits their clients (in fact, they are incentivized to get the commission check over everything else).

What you really need is a fiduciary broker.

[mikkergp]

Also in my experience a lot of the real estate agents job starts after the bid, but my experience is with somewhat complex properties with land. From finding and explaining easements, understanding taxes and tax deferrals to negotiating after the inspection and coordinating all the work that need to happen.