Redfin Enters the Atlanta Market – is your market next? (hint: Duh!!!)

The Inman News article below is about Zillow and Redfin combining forces to offer Mortgage Solutions for their customer and it is an important one for you to read – but the jewel of this article is in paragraph 5: Redfin enters the Atlanta Market and how the agency is organizing itself one major market at the time.

If you are a Broker/Owner you must read this article as well as their Press Release – while franchises are battling a the commission level – Redifin is capturing the internet market.

[Read my Bullet Points at the end of this article…]

Inman News: Zillow offers loan quotes through Redfin

Distribution deal includes revenue-sharing agreement

Zillow says it's entered into a distribution deal with online real estate brokerage Redfin that allows visitors to the brokerage's Web site to request loan quotes from the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

A Zillow spokeswoman said the deal, announced on the company's corporate blog, includes a revenue-sharing agreement with Redfin.

In an e-mail, Redfin Chief Executive Officer Glenn Kelman said terms of the agreement have not been finalized. Kelman said that if the brokerage does generate revenue from mortgage customers, it will disclose that fact "and my guess is that we'd refund some portion of it back to the consumer."

"We just thought it would improve Redfin's customer experience if, in addition to our recommended lenders, we also offered consumers some ability to check prices in the larger marketplace," Kelman said. "By the same token, we don't earn any money from our recommended lenders."

Redfin announced last week that it had entered the Atlanta market, the third new market this year and the company's 10th overall. The brokerage said it's organizing its real estate agents nationwide into local teams consisting of an agent, a coordinator and several field agents.

The agent is responsible for the customer's success from start to finish, offering advice, negotiating offers and managing the team, Redfin said. The coordinator assists the agent with tour scheduling and closing paperwork, while the field agent ensures customers can get into homes all over town on short notice.

"This model gives each client the accountability of one throat to choke, the intimacy of a small team who knows the customer by name, while still offering more resources every day of the week than any one agent can deliver on his own," said Scott Nagel, Redfin vice president of real estate operations, in a press release.

To staff the teams, Redfin said it nearly doubled the number of employees in customer service over the past three months.

"We think teams is another big step toward becoming a mass-market service that blends the best of the traditional world with new technology, and a commitment to serving customers rather than chasing commissions," Kelman said in a blog post.

---

Redfin Press Release: Redfin Expands to Atlanta, Organizes Agents into Local Teams

Seattle - Dec. 17, 2009: Online real estate broker Redfin today expanded to Georgia, organized its real estate agents into local teams to give customers a high level of personal service, and began alerting customers by email when a listing sells in their neighborhoods.

Atlanta Expansion
Atlanta is the company's tenth market overall, and third new market this year. Redfin brings to Atlanta its trademark combination of customer service, candor and value. Redfin draws customers to its website by publishing data that most other Atlanta sites lack, such as when a property was originally listed and at what prices. Customers can search Atlanta's entire metropolitan area, which is enormous: the new market increases the number of listings on Redfin by 30%.

Visitors to Redfin.com can use Redfin's online tools to ask an agent for service: answering questions, arranging home tours, preparing offers and listing homes. In Alpharetta, Buckhead, East Cobb, Intown, Perimeter, Suwanee and Woodstock areas, Redfin employs its own agents, paying salary, benefits and a customer-satisfaction bonus rather than commissions.

All of the agents' customers come via Redfin's site, not through sales prospecting, allowing Redfin to focus exclusively on delivering industry-leading customer satisfaction. To measure customer satisfaction, the company surveys every agent's customers, deal or no deal. Redfin then publishes the survey responses on the agent's online profile, giving customers unprecedented information about that agent's past performance.

Customers who buy a home through Redfin then get half the commission refunded at closing, typically worth $7,500 on a $500,000 home. In West Cobb, Gwinnett, Peachtree City and Lake Lanier areas, where Redfin does not employ its own agents, Redfin works with partner agents who agree to provide Redfin's level of service and transparency. The refund from partner agents is 15% of the commission, worth $2,250 on the same $500,000 home.

"Redfin's arrival in Atlanta is a huge win for consumers, who get more information about both properties and real estate agents, and new ways to use the Internet to get better customer service," said James Marks, Redfin's Atlanta market manager. James was a local Atlanta broker for six years prior to joining Redfin, and the vice president of operations for Technology General Contractors before that.

Local Teams
With the Atlanta launch, Redfin is also organizing its real estate agents nationwide into local teams consisting of an agent, a coordinator and several field agents. The agent is responsible for the customer's success from start to finish, offering advice, negotiating offers and managing the team.

The coordinator assists the agent with tour scheduling and closing paperwork, while the field agent ensures customers can get into homes all over town on short notice. For continuity of care, Redfin pairs each agent with another Redfin agent so the two can support one another on days off. To staff all the teams, Redfin nearly doubled the number of employees in its customer-service organization over the past three months.

"This model gives each client the accountability of one throat to choke, the intimacy of a small team who knows the customer by name, while still offering more resources every day of the week than any one agent can deliver on his own," said Scott Nagel, Redfin vice president of real estate operations. Redfin's website and telephone system now automatically route telephone calls and online service requests to Redfin team-members, so customers get fast service from the right person.

Home-Sale Alerts
With this upgrade to the website, Redfin now also alerts users by email when a property in their neighborhood sells, including photos, property details and the price. To get the alerts, users run a search on Redfin, then click the link in the top-left corner of the screen entitled "Email me New Listings." The alert now not only includes any new listings but also records of any sales that just occurred, limited by the same search parameters. Users can now also adjust what type of data they see in alerts, requesting only listings or past sales, or any changes in the status of a home within their search parameters.

About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the real estate industry's first online brokerage, combining a customer-focused team of real estate agents with online tools for making the process of buying or selling a home easy. Redfin is the only major search site to feature listings direct from broker databases as well as for-sale-by-owner and foreclosure properties from across the Internet. The company pays its agents customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions, and surveys every client, publishing each survey as well as details on the agent's negotiating performance and deal history. Redfin's service is available in the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Washington DC, Baltimore, New York's Long Island and Westchester County as well as most of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California and Sacramento. To keep track of our daring exploits, subscribe to blog.redfin.com or our Twitter feed @redfin.

Press inquiries? press@redfin.com 206-819-7945

---

Key’s Notes:

1. Run a Google Search with “Atlanta Real Estate” or similar market keywords and Redfin is at best on Page 8 under “Atlanta GA Homes for Sale.” – PS page 21 for the former. Question: How long do you think it will take them to rank on page 1 Organically? PPS: They are already on Page 1 of Yahoo under “Atlanta GA Homes for Sale.”
    


2. How do they do it…? They have brought their Internet Marketing and SEO Strategies in-house and take it seriously.
    


3. Two things always happen when Redfin enters a market:
   a. They dominate organically and push a lot of small players out of the way on the Internet by offering more data and more integration than anyone.
   b. Pay Per Click prices go up dramatically since they control the organic side of Internet Marketing and leave previous players to compete after what’s left.
    


4. Should you take this announcement seriously – absolutely! there are many Real Estate Agencies who pretend to understand the Internet – Redfin absolutely does; they have stepped up to offer Solutions that exceed customer expectations and are truly growing organically.
    


5. What should you do? if you have skipped reading the article and the Press Release please go back and read it… You MUST understand their philosophy and use it to inspire you to grow your business...
    


6. What’ should you do Online? You better answer that question quickly – and stop looking for easy answers; what I call the low-hanging fruits of SEO. Internet Visibility is about "Internet Scale" and it is about time you design one for your agency.
    


7. Respect your competition and admire their accomplishment. I have studied Redfin for many years and have come to admire them – I think they indirectly benefit all agencies by raising the Internet bar.
    


8. and oh Yeah - did you hear Google is toying with the idea of Buying Trulia?

Best, Key...

Focus on this Essential Real Estate Internet Objective: “It is central that you bring your Real Estate Internet Services in-house and within your control; make it a daily habit to implement Internet Marketing Solutions that solve the problems and aspirations of your Real Estate Buyers, Sellers, and Investors – embrace your Internet Visibility; and don't be confused by Real Estate SEO!” - Stay in touch on Real Estate Internet Marketing and Key on Facebook!

"Drive your Real Estate Knowledge – Don’t let SEO drive your confusion!" - Key Yessaad

Real Estate Internet Marketing and SEO Trainings by Key Yessaad - Your Search Engine and Google Mentor

Upcoming Real Estate Trainings:

Lexington Columbia SC Real Estate Social Networking Training Thursday January 21st 2010

Web Link: Redfin Enters the Atlanta Market – is your market next? (hint: Duh!!!)
Local Real Estate Blog: Redfin Enters the Atlanta Market and your market will soon be next
Posterous Real Estate Blog: Redfin Enters the Atlanta Market – is your local market next? (hint: Duh!!!)
Realtown Real Estate Blog: Redfin Enters the Atlanta Market – is your market next? (hint: Yep!!!)

Quote: "It’s not the medium – it’s the Story; It’s not the internet – it’s the Story; It’s not your office – it’s the Story; Tell me a Story and I will become your customer…" - zenkey

Categories: Real Estate Websites, Real Estate Internet Marketing, Real Estate Web Trainings

Tags: Real Estate Websites, Real Estate Organic Visibility, Real Estate Organic Search, Real Estate SEO, SEO Marketing for Real Estate, Real Estate Internet Marketing, Real Estate Web Exposure, Real Estate Internet Presence, Real Estate Search Engine Visibility, Real Estate Internet Trainings, Real Estate Google Marketing

From Key – Real Estate SEO Trainings and Internet Strategies. My name is Key Yessaad and to train, motivate, and coach Real Estate Professionals triumph on the internet is my passion. I specialize in focusing Realtors on competing online and understand the key elements of Real Estate SEO Marketing. My Trainings and Internet Strategies intersect in my seminars with powerful ideas and Plans of Actions that produce results. Google or call me (910) 538-6610 and let’s discuss how I can help your Agents climb the Google Tree of Success. I can tailor my Real Estate Seminars to the level of sophistication of your agents and I promise they will leave inspired and will produce results!!! Read some of the Realtors Testimonials. Posts on a Greater Town Board for Real Estate Internet Marketing Ideas and Trainings.