I wanted redfin to work when we solf our house in the SF Bay area a few months ago.
Redfin's issue is the selling agent was located 45 minutes away and just ran random comps and said our house was 120k lower then market. She said it would never sell for what I thought it was worth. So we ended up going with a local agent who put it on market for more then we thought and it sold for 1% over asking.
This happens with full price agents too. In my experience, their "expertise" is really just confidence and bluster. Commissions are high not because real estate salespeople are good, but because they are inefficient and because they operate under a de facto cartel.
Some are pretty good at getting you more. The opposite is a house dumper or bad one(the house dumper is pro, excellent for buying).
I've sold in other industries before....good ones are worth every penny and know how to twist arms.
Granted it is a cartel that hopefully Zillow will destroy. I suspect the agent will still be around for the lazy, elderly, or those who can't sell well.
I used Redfin to sell a house and the realtor helped get the property ready for market (which took a while) and pulled multiple comps to help watch the market trend. Place sold quickly for much more than I thought it would.
Redfin's issue is the selling agent was located 45 minutes away and just ran random comps and said our house was 120k lower then market. She said it would never sell for what I thought it was worth. So we ended up going with a local agent who put it on market for more then we thought and it sold for 1% over asking.