{"id":285,"date":"2006-09-04T17:58:51","date_gmt":"2006-09-05T00:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=285"},"modified":"2009-03-08T07:54:17","modified_gmt":"2009-03-08T14:54:17","slug":"remarks-from-redfincom-broker-glenn-kelman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/285\/remarks-from-redfincom-broker-glenn-kelman\/","title":{"rendered":"Remarks from Redfin.com Broker Glenn Kelman . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

Glenn Kelman, chief executive and broker of Redfin.com<\/a>, posted a comment to one of my entries about that company<\/a>. I replied to him there, but I’m posting the exchange here, as well, frankly because I consider it Big News.<\/p>\n

Here is Mr. Kelman’s remark:<\/p>\n

Thanks for this thoughtful comment Greg. Many Redfin customers decide to refund part of the commission to the seller, but this is their choice: the money we refund is theirs, so the choice is theirs. Regards, Glenn<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here is my somewhat lengthier reply:<\/p>\n

There we go! Trulia<\/a>mazing, times two!<\/p>\n

> the money we refund is theirs, so the choice is theirs.<\/p>\n

I agree with this, of course<\/a>, but I wonder if you would be willing to address the larger issues I have raised here<\/a> and here<\/a> (and elsewhere<\/a> for that matter).<\/p>\n

I believe as an Arizona State licensed real estate broker that Redfin.com’s (and BuySideInc.com’s) policy of sending buyers unattended to listed homes is an abandonment of agency, a clear break in the chain of representation. Your company in particular has proved very successful at portraying reluctant listing agents as the bad guys, but, in fact, I believe that cooperative effort is the reason that listing agents recommend that sellers provide compensation for cooperating brokers. You are certainly free to do as you choose with your earned commissions, but my argument would be that you have not earned them by any standard of procuring cause that would be applied to any other real estate brokerage. Can you defend your company’s representation of its clients and therefore defend its having earned the commissions it has disbursed?<\/p>\n

Another way of asking the same queston: How much commission would Redfin.com have earned if it sent a client unattended to a new home subdivision?<\/p>\n

All that having been said, I think you will<\/i> get away with what you are doing. But if you do, it seems very reasonable that listing agents will either stop offering co-broke commissions altogether or will condition those commissions on true cooperative effort. No doubt the New York Times<\/i> will deem this unfair, but in fact the sales price of the home will be lower Read more<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Glenn Kelman, chief executive and broker of Redfin.com, posted a comment to one of my entries about that company. I replied to him there, but I’m posting the exchange here, as well, frankly because I consider it Big News. Here is Mr. Kelman’s remark: Thanks for this thoughtful comment Greg. Many Redfin customers decide to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,6,5,27],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-blogging","7":"category-disintermediation","8":"category-marketing","9":"category-real-estate","10":"category-redfincom","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":290,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/290\/dissecting-glenn-kelman-of-redfincom\/","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":0},"title":"Dissecting Glenn Kelman of Redfin.com . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"From comments at Rain City Guide. I didn't address this weblog entry from Redfin.com CEO and broker Glenn Kelman because I wasn't sure how to strike a balance. But today, Dustin Luther offered this:For those that haven't seen Glenn's comments on his blog, I highly recommend heading over to this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6907,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/6907\/video-clips-of-redfincom-ceo-glenn-kelman-from-the-bloodhoundblog-unchained-preview-event-in-seattle\/","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":1},"title":"Video clips of Redfin.com CEO Glenn Kelman from the BloodhoundBlog Unchained preview event in Seattle","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Marlow Harris of 360Digest.com took these clips of Redfin's Glenn Kelman as he spoke with us Thursday afternoon at Zillow.com headquarters in Seattle: Technorati Tags: BloodhoundBlog Unchained, disintermediation, real estate, real estate marketing, Redfin.com","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3154,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3154\/what-happens-when-a-lion-of-the-industry-sticks-his-head-in-the-lions-own-mouth-glenn-kelman-joins-bloodhoundblog-as-a-contributor\/","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":2},"title":"What happens when a lion of the industry sticks his head in the lion’s own mouth? Glenn Kelman joins BloodhoundBlog as a contributor","author":"Greg Swann","date":"May 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is one of those completely obvious ideas that only takes about a year to bubble up to the surface: We write about the real estate industry. We are not very shy about advocating change in the real estate industry. Redfin.com CEO Glenn Kelman is one of the key exponents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2832,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2832\/redfincom-beats-the-field-again-this-time-in-both-seattle-and-san-francisco-buyers-pay-less-and-reap-commission-rebates-too\/","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":3},"title":"Redfin.com beats the field again, this time in both Seattle and San Francisco: Buyers pay less and reap commission rebates, too","author":"Greg Swann","date":"March 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Redfin.com has news this midnight, but it's the sort of thing I would normally ignore: It's basically the kind of rah-rah-for-us stuff I leave for the vendor cheerleaders and the mainstream media. But: I gave Redfin a lot of grief last year when they made a similar announcement, so today\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":566,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/566\/identifying-mavericks-socrates-jesus-cyrano-and-glenn-kelman-we-dont-have-to-love-the-truth-we-just-have-to-live-with-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":285,"position":4},"title":"Identifying mavericks: Socrates, Jesus, Cyrano and — Glenn Kelman?!? We don’t have to love the truth, we just have to live with it . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This is me in a comment at Mike's Corner. Mike Price is looking for nominations for the most influential mavericks in the real estate industry, individuals and companies. 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