SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage, today announced ‘Book It Now,’ making booking a home tour as fast and easy as ordering a car service or making a dinner reservation online. ‘Book It Now’ is especially important in today’s strong real estate market, in which homes are selling at their fastest pace in nearly two years.
“Our goal is to turn every listing into an open house that you can see on your own schedule, without having to explain to anyone how much money you have or why you want to move,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman.
Each website page showing a home for sale on Redfin.com now displays the option to ‘Go Tour This Home.’ Customers select their preferred date and time, how long they’re available and click request tour. That’s it! They will receive a confirmation email and a phone call from a Redfin tour coordinator shortly. If it isn’t the customers first time on a tour, they may be booked automatically with just an e-mail confirmation prior to meeting their agent at the home. This automation is the future of ‘Book It Now’ and will happen more and more frequently as Redfin refines the tool. In the meantime, customers can add or remove homes from their tour schedule. Unlike most brokerages, touring with a Redfin agent requires no obligation or commitment to buy with Redfin, and home buyers can tour as many homes as they want.
“‘Book It Now’ lets Redfin clients get into homes quickly and not waste time and energy juggling schedules,” said Redfin agent Joseph Hunt, who is based in Seattle. “Getting the house you want in today’s market is all about speed and convenience.”
Redfin’s team-based model paired with technology is what makes ‘Book It Now’ possible. Technology is the first step and allows for ease of booking a home tour from your laptop, tracking when listings are available to show, as well as agents’ schedules, location and customer relationships. Redfin then assures coverage with a network of agents in neighborhoods across the country that allows potential home buyers to get in and see listings day and night, seven days a week.
Other Redfin features that help homebuyers include Tour Insights, which are observations about homes for sale from Redfin real estate agents; and Redfin Hot Homes, which identifies homes that are likely to sell in two weeks or less, so customers can prioritize which homes to see first.
Redfin has a different business model than other real estate brokerages. Redfin real estate agents earn bonuses based on customer satisfaction, not just commission. When we help someone buy a home, we give part of our commission back to that person in the form of a refund. When we help someone sell a home, we charge a fee of only 1.5 percent of the price of the home, instead of the typical 3 percent. The commission refund for buyer is prohibited by law in a few states. Redfin always charges a lower fee to our home-selling clients. More information is available on Redfin.com.
For screenshots of the ‘Book It Now’ feature and more information on Redfin technology for homebuyers and sellers, visit https://www.redfin.com/blog/2015/07/redfin-book-it-now.html.
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About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a next-generation real estate brokerage that represents people buying and selling homes. Founded by technologists, Redfin employs a team of experienced, full-service real estate agents who are advocates, not salespeople, earning customer-satisfaction bonuses, not just commissions. Redfin.com features all the broker-listed homes for sale, as well as for-sale-by-owner properties that don't pay brokers a commission. Redfin also offers online tools, built by its own software engineers, that make the entire process of buying or selling a home easier and more fun. The company serves major markets across the U.S. and has closed nearly $20 billion in home sales. In 2012, Redfin was named one of The DIGITAL 100: World's Most Valuable Private Tech Companies by Business Insider.
