In Northern Virginia unrepresented homebuyers can now use our Redfin Direct service to make offers and buy Redfin-listed homes using a step-by-step online offer tool. With Redfin Direct, homebuyers can potentially make their offer more competitive by saving the seller thousands of dollars in buyer’s agent commission fees. This is the second market for Redfin Direct, which launched in Boston in March. We expect to expand to more markets this year.
Saving sellers money
For years, we’ve worked to lower the listing fees sellers pay in Northern Virginia to 1 percent, but the seller still remained responsible for paying a buyer’s agent commission. Our listing agents can now tout Redfin as the one brokerage with a strategy to help sellers save even more money on commissions. A Redfin seller who accepts an unrepresented offer will pay a total commission of 2 percent, while the total commission paid by sellers working with traditional agents is often 5 or 6 percent. These savings, combined with our full-service agents as well as professional photography, interactive 3D scan, premium placement on Redfin.com and targeted digital marketing campaigns makes Redfin’s service for selling homes hard to beat.
How it works
On Redfin-listed homes in Northern Virginia, we give consumers two options: buy with an agent or make an offer without an agent using Redfin software. It’s all about providing consumer choice and letting people decide what is right for them.
To support these unrepresented buyers, we’ve built a step-by-step tool for preparing the offer. The software defines the contract terms and simplifies the process, and arms buyers with data that only we have, collected from all the successful offers that Redfin agents have recently written for buyers in the area. We can, for example, tell a buyer that 92 percent of recent successful Northern Virginia-area Redfin client offers included an inspection contingency. Buyers handle all of the negotiations on their own and are responsible for managing their financing, appraisal and closing themselves.
What about the buyers who need and want an agent’s help?
We know that making an offer unrepresented is not for everyone. The majority of buyers today want to work with an agent who will advocate for them and expertly guide them through the transaction. Our Redfin agents in Virginia will continue to help buyers navigate the homebuying process from start to finish. We’ll continue to market our listings via the MLS and work with agents at other brokerages whose buyers are interested in one of our listings.
This new option opens our listings up to a population of buyers who prefer to buy without an agent. For these buyers, Redfin Direct makes it easier to make an offer that can save our seller money, and in turn, make the buyer’s offer more competitive.
Redfin agents serve buyers and sellers throughout the region, including: Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Woodbridge and Reston. Start browsing Redfin’s homes for sale in Northern Virginia.
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