Geekier than Geek Estate & Sweeter than Sweet Digs April 3, 2008
Sometimes, you find something in your own back yard that’s an unexpected & pleasant surprise. Like that hole in the wall teriyaki restaurant right by the office, I recently stumbled upon Redfin Developer’s Blog. And since that day of first discovery, I’ve come back often yearning for more.
I just wanted to thank the engineers at Redfin for blogging about their day to day life as web software engineers. As a fellow software engineer, I always like knowing “how they did it that”, “what are they up to now”, or even “WTF were they thinking” (just kidding on that last one guys).
Even though I tend to prefer SQL Server for my RE.net apps (I freely admit that I am biased), I really enjoyed their MySQL to Postgress & Elephant vs Dolphin posts (perhaps I have a database fetish?). I also learned something new & valuable from their CSS Sprites + Firefox Content Preferences = Site Go Boom post. Even the folks without software engineering degrees would probably enjoy their How to search Redfin directly from IE and Firefox & Syndicate Redfin Listings in WordPress posts.
Anyway, if you’re developing a RE.net web site, (or even if you aren’t), I think their developers blog feed belongs in your feed reader. Then again, I’m biased.
PS – I can’t believe you guys don’t have Coding Horror on your blogs you like list yet.
Sphere: Related ContentRedfin on Guy Kawaski’s Blog October 1, 2007
Over on Guy Kawasaki’s Blog “How to Change the World - A Practical Blog for Impractical People”, Glenn Kelman of Redfin posts their Actual Numbers against “The Redfin Model” figures in a post titled “Financial Models for Underachievers - Two Years of the Real Numbers of a Startup”
Seems the model is based on worst case scenario, to increase the odds of repeated rounds of funding. Glenn says: “…we heeded Guy’s advice that ‘the three most powerful words you can utter at a board meeting are, We beat projections’. This convinced us to develop the worst possible financial model that could still be used to raise money.”
Hmmmm. So you set your sights artificially low, so you can say you beat projections when asking for more money. Had the sights not been intentionally low, maybe there wouldn’t be a new round of funding. I guess that’s a strategy. But it sounds a bit deceptive, doesn’t it?
Surely people spending lots of money, aren’t totally awed when someone says “We beat projections!”. One would hope that they would first ascertain if those projections were intentionally placed at worst case scenario, just so they could say “we beat projections!” to get more money. One would think investors on a grand scale are a little smarter than that…or at least we hope they are. But looks like Guy and Glenn know for fact that they are not, and are capitalizing on that fact.
It really is a great article, and Glenn is offering sanitized versions of the model for others to follow. But if people looking for money can read this and use that model, wouldn’t the people handing out venture capital also be reading this? Wouldn’t they in turn learn to scoff when someone says the magic words: “We beat projections!” again and again?
Yup, it’s “A Practical Blog for Impractical People” alright. Sounds like the practical people are the ones asking for money, and the impractical ones are the people giving the money.
Other blog posts commenting on Guy Kawasaki’s post:
Sneak a Peak Inside Redfin by Joel Burslem on FoREM
Nick Bostic on Radiohead and Redfin (not quite related, but cute and noteworthy)
Tim Berry of Up and Running quotes the quote “Plan slow; Run fast”
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From Guy to Glenn August 2, 2007
For those of you interested in something outside of RE, you may find this interesting. Guy Kawasaki (a HERO of mine, even though I AM NOT and will not be a MAC user) wrote a great post last month about how easy it is to make millions of dollars with “user-generated, long-tail, Web 2.0, social-networking, open-source content.”
Yesterday, Glenn Kelman offered a counterpoint about this post:
On the Other Hand: The Flip Side of Entrepreneurship by Glenn Kelman
ENJOY 
The Bus has left Ardell’s: Blog Tour USA July 28, 2007
I’ve been waiting for Ardell to do a follow up post on Blog Tour USA’s stop in Seattle. What was I thinking? Ardell was the host and an incredible one at that. She was far too busy to be snapping photos all day long (like I was). Without further ado, I present to you Blog Tour USA, Seattle.
The day began at 10:00 a.m at Zillow, at least it did for some of us. Ardell was serving Rudy and Joe her breakfast with homefries so they were a little behind schedule. Joe did let Drew and David G. of Zillow know that their arrival time “was a zestimate”. We received a full tour and afterwards (once Blog Tour USA arrived) the guys from Zillow and Sellsius had a friendly debate over ping pong with Ardell jumping in to referee when needed.
After Zillow, we hoofed it over to Redfin’s office. There was quite a contrast between Zillow and Redfin’s offices. For starters, Redfin is 
getting ready to move to a new location and they had a big party the night before (umm…and we were still running on our zestimated time…fashionably late). There is a different atmosphere between Zillow and Redfin. When we jokingly asked, “Where’s your ping pong table?” The Redfin reply was “We’re too busy to play games here”.
I had the opportunity to meet with Redfin’s mortgage department. It’s a one man show…literally. He is the sole originator and processes his own loans. He touted that the advantage to working with him is that he charges a flat fee verses other lenders who charge 1%. (Note: not all lenders charge a 1% origination).
Next, we loaded onto the Blog Tour USA bus and drove to Pike Place Market. The bus is almost like it’s own character (similar to the bus in ”Little Miss Sunshine“). When Joe and Rudy emerge fully loaded witih cameras and a microphone to interview people on the street, the star reaction is amplified. When they asked one lady what a blog was, she answered, “a dance” and of course she gave us an example…she was being filmed!
Dinner at Ardell’s was fantastic. Kim had been working on ribs since 3 in the afternoon and they were to die for. We also devoured a pasta dish and Ardell’s famous Wedding Meatball Soup. In addition to great food, it was really nice to 
meet some other fellow bloggers including Larry Cragun from Real Estate Undressed and Tim of The Seattle Bubble. I also had the opportunity to meet fellow RCG contributors for the first time. It’s always great to put the face to the blog!
I am so glad that Rudy and Joe are adventurous. I cannot imagine leaving my family and driving around the USofA to meet real estate bloggers…but I’m glad they did! Ardell was was masterful with her itinerary and homey dinner. In my opinion, the day could not have been better.
Have a safe journey, Guys! For more photos from Blog Tour USA-Seattle, click here.
Sphere: Related ContentThere goes the neighborhood. A Redfin sign is on my street! July 21, 2007
Redfin got another $12 million in spending money from its venture capital masters this week. A lot of noise, speculation and jokes have been made in the old RE.net blogosphere about the old Redfiners this week.
Frankly, Redfin getting more spending money doesn’t really matter in the long run. Granted, I think we’d all like a couple million to grow our respective businesses, but hey, what can you do? They did a better job schmoozing a VC than we did. As the ever insightful, FoREM pointed out, Redfin is pursuing the classic “go big or go home” strategy. Many startups intentionally lose money during the first couple years of their existence in order to fund fast growth. I remember folks saying the same thing about Amazon.com 7-10 years ago, and despite the river of red ink that company had, they are still around and selling a lot of Harry Potter 7 books from what I hear. So, I don’t think it’s an unreasonable business tactic, especially since it’s not my money paying for it.
Having a cool website, offering discounted service, appearing on 60 Minutes and being constant blog fodder is a great way to get and stay in the public eye. However, in the end, it all boils down to how well they sell & buy homes for their clients. Ultimately, the level of service they provide and the value their clients felt they received will determine the ultimate success of the company.
From where I sit, it looks like folks in the neighborhood are giving Redfin a shot to earn their business. For example, Redfin is listing this fine home a block away from me and just listed my neighbor’s house down the street from me. Unfortunately, it also appears they recently lost a listing down the street, a couple blocks away from me to Coldwell Banker Bain “super agent” Christine Kipp. (Personally, I think the owner is asking for too much, but that’s just my unprofessional & untrained opinion).
The fact is, Redfin is growing locally (or getting lucky depending on your point of view) and has enough cash to annoy a lot of people for a few more years at least. I think the real test will be if their customers like them enough to give them repeat business and referrals. In terms of technology, I think it’s going to be a real battle between Redfin & John L Scott, so a great web site won’t be enough for them to get ahead locally. In the rest of the country (where the cool web site contest is less competitive), Redfin’s web site might be a big competitive advantage.
So, how well is Redfin serving their clients? Well, I really have no data and no idea (other than seeing more Redfin signs in the neighborhood than I used to). I do know they are trying to keep their customers happy and they do offer a 100% Customer Satisfaction. A few months ago, I didn’t see any signs. Today, I see two or three. In a few months, perhaps I’ll see more? Anyway, time will tell if the red in Redfin is from the sea of red ink or the blood of ineffective traditional realtors. So, if you’re worried about the red finned shark, just become a better piranha. It’s a big ocean, and there’s plenty of bait & anchovies for everybody.
PS – I got my new monitor this weekend. Thanks again everybody, for your monitor insights in your remarks to my last Redfin post.
Sphere: Related ContentRedpin and Leslie Stool on 16 Minutes May 28, 2007
Robbie is that you? Ummm…we GET the listings…and then we uh USE them… Seriously,that sounds like your voice.
Seller Privacy vs. the Connected Web May 20, 2007
There has been much discussion on RCG and other blogs regarding property blogs and seller’s right to privacy from bloggers who post “sometimes accurate/sometimes not” opinions about a listed home. As was recently shown by NWMLS’ fine against Redfin, an MLS may have legitimate rule authority to prevent a member from engaging in such activity. If, however, the property blogger is not an MLS member and is getting the information from open houses, the MLS rules would be of no consequence to the blogger.
Sellers and listing agents claim foul. How can someone have the right to post negative comments about the listed home for everyone in the world to see? There must be some legal consequence for such acts, right?
Since there is no reported case in Washington state where a private blogger was held liable for making comments about a listed home, we need to look at legal precedent to understand whether a seller could make such a case.
First, in Washington, a defamation case involves damage to the “character” of a person. Historically, it has not been applied to things because things have no “character”. So we shouldn’t use defamation as the legal basis that would support such a claim.
There is, however, a rarely used tort called “injurious falsehood” that may provide an answer. Under the Restatement (Second) of Torts, “one who publishes a false statement harmful to the interests of another is subject to liability for pecuniary loss resulting to the other if: (a) he intends for publication of the statement to result in harm to interests of the other having a pecuniary value, or either recognizes or should recognize that it is likely to do so, and (b) he knows that the statement is false or acts in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity.”
Let’s analyze this law in the context of a property blogger. First, is the blog post a published statement? Sure. Should the blogger recognize that published false information could cause economic harm to the seller? I would think so. Does the blogger know the statement is false or published with reckless disregard of its truth or falsity? Ah, the crux of the issue.
If the statement is true. There is no claim, period. So, if the blogger attends an open house and states, for example, that the kitchen has “old formica” counters which in fact is true, the seller is out of luck.
If the statement is provably false (same example as above but the kitchen really has granite counters), then the seller would have a claim but would have to prove some monetary damages caused by the blog post. While I am sure you could develop a theory to prove these damages, I can also see all sorts of defenses.
The bigger issue, I think, is if the blogger provides a negative opinion based on fact. For example, let’s say the blogger says “the ‘large’ garage is really better suited for your Prius instead of your Suburban.” And let’s say the garage could fit a Suburban but just barely. Is the statement false? Not really. But it does cast a negative light on the garage. Might a prospective buyer with a big SUV choose not to visit the home because of this post. Certainly. Does the seller have a claim for damages? Maybe, but I would think a very difficult one.
This issue is complicated even further if the comments are by an anonymous poster and not the person or company that hosts the blog. According to a recent court decision, a blogger is not liable for the defamatory conduct of contributors under the Communications Decency Act. Likely, the same would hold true in a claim for Injurious Falsehood. The hard road just got harder.
But is this really the issue here? I don’t think so. I think the real issue goes back to control. Enter the Connected Web. Sellers take advantage of property specific web sites and blogs and viral marketing of property specific email (BTW, please stop sending these to me) and even YouTube-esq video sharing. Yet, from many comments on RCG, sellers (or really their Listing Agents) deserve the right to completely control how such information is conveyed and more importantly, what the Connected Web thinks about it.
One can make a cogent argument that the moment a seller opens their home to the public in the context of a listed home on the Web, that seller gives up something. They are now in public view. In days past, the public view was the neighborhood where Lookey-Lous would visit the open house and engage in neighborhood gossip about the home. Today, it is bloggers who open that home to the world and engage in that same gossip.
The Connected Web has fueled the RE.net and many real estate professionals have latched on to this powerful dynamic as a means to gain public recognition and in some cases, make money. We live in a world of public opinion, now connected over the Globe. Sellers are not immune, nor should they be.
-Russ
Sphere: Related ContentFrom stirring to digging in one day… May 17, 2007
Another day, another Redfin story:
The Northwest Multiple Listing Service has fined Redfin $50,000 and asked the company to stop publishing a popular blog in which the online real estate brokerage posted reviews of Seattle-area homes.
(”Asked” is probably a bit kind since the consequence of non-compliance was for Redfin to loose their ability to display NWMLS listings on their website…)
This time I’ll highlight Greg’s view that the Sweet Digs blog was clearly not advertising as traditionally defined:
This is absurd. Where any thoughtful person would understand advertising to mean that stuff that newspapers and broadcast outlets used to be able to sell before the internet came along, NWMLS seems to be arguing that any public mention of a listed property by a member is advertising.
…
Amazingly enough, ordinary citizens have the right to free speech in America, provided they are not so foolish as to have joined the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
(If I’m refraining from too many opinions on this article, it is because my biases are so numerous I should probably not hit publish… (1) In the past I was “asked” by the NWMLS to take down RCG’s home search because we were not an “agent” site, but rather a marketing vehicle for multiple real estate professionals (It now sites at “http://www.annaluther.com” in order to comply). (2) My employer is having their own set of issues with the NWMLS. (3) Yesterday’s article and comments were probably not well received by the staff at Redfin…)
Sphere: Related ContentStirring up the Redfin dust… May 16, 2007
In some ways it is sad that both Ardell and Marlow declined to take part in the 60 minutes episode, but at least they can both blog about it afterwards… I find Marlow’s analysis of Redfin to be particularly fascinating for two reasons…
First, she debunks the idea that just because they can close 8 deals a week, that is not reality:
As of today 5/15/07, Redfin has 25 real estate agents listed with licenses in their office. Total sales in their service areas of King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties of all single family homes, condos, multi-family and vacant land is 150 closed sales.
That’s one hundred and fifty closed sales. By 25 agents. In the first 18 weeks of 2007. Please check my math, but isn’t that about 8 closed sales a week, by 25 agents? So did each agent make about 0.33 sales a week?
And second, she makes an interesting point that seems self-evident in retrospect:
When Redfin fails, they won’t blame themselves, the business model, lack of planning, poor management skills or bad judgment. They will blame the NAR, the “real estate industrial complex”, and the “real estate monopoly”.
While Redfin is right to do a lot of backslapping after the segment aired, Marlow makes a persuasive argument that they’ve still got a lot of work ahead of them…
Sphere: Related ContentRedfin on 60 Minutes – Something to Monitor May 14, 2007
As many of you know, Redfin was featured on 60 Minutes last night. Although, I read Inman’s copy of the NAR head’s up prior to watching the report, so it was interesting to read their spin prior to watching it. At any rate, I didn’t see Redfin’s blog post until after I watched it. I don’t know if that colored my opinion of the report, but I thought I’d throw it out there and let know you know. Anyway, here are my thoughts on the 60 Minutes segment.
- I thought Kelly Engel’s comments will strike a chord with many people who are young and tech savvy. Of course, not every transaction takes only 5 hours, but if yours did, you’re not going to feel good about paying that traditional 6% commission.
- I didn’t think Ms. Arends did the best of jobs defending the “traditional agent”. Although, to her credit, when challenged by Ms. Lesley Stahl, who asked “You don’t do enough for the 6%”, she responded “I am not the agent for you”. However, most of the “traditional” agents I associate with are “non-traditional” (perhaps hybrid is a better choice of words). I personally think traditional agents should better market their staging skills. Since IMHO, that’s a high touch skill that brings a lot value to the home selling process.
- I thought 60 minutes kind of glossed over the whole eRealty.com, NAR, DOJ thing. However, they have to leave time for Andy Rooney’s weekly segment (Yeah Andy, I agree with you, I think I peaked around 21 too).
- I thought the end of the piece where they listed 8 states that have minimum service laws and 11 states that prohibit rebates was very powerful. Perhaps Redfin could actually cite those statutes on the respective state legislature law books / web sites so fans or potential customers of Redfin could more effectively lobby for changes in their favor.
- I noticed most of the agents have two monitors on their computers and I really need to get a second monitor for my computer at home. Which size / model Dell LCD monitors are the Redfin employees using? Do they like them? How well does it handle graphics work or software development duties? I keep waiting for the new Samsungs (2 months late and counting) and the more I think about it, the more likely I’ll probably “go with the internet discount vendor” and get the Dells. Anyway, any feedback on your monitor choices would be welcome. (I already know what Redfin thinks about the real estate industry, but I really want to know more about what they think about the monitors).
Overall, I thought Redfin came off looking like amicable revolutionaries (I felt it had a Dell of Internet Real Estate vibe to me). It’ll be interesting to see how this plays outside the relatively friendly confines of Seattle.
Anyway, what are your thoughts about the piece? How did Redfin come off looking? How did the “traditional” industry look? Was 60 Minutes fair? And of course, are the new Dell LCD monitors any good?
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