Some may not like her traditional hands-on, downhome approach to real estate sales or think her postcard campaigns and PT Cruiser are corny, however her success in the business is impressive.

I emailed Deborah after the airing to let her know I’d happily give her a place to voice her opinion of the 60 minutes segment, but she never got back to me. It’s too bad… I’d be interested in hearing her reaction as well.

Glenn gave them my name also, and I gave them Marlow Sounds like they got tossed around a bit before landing.

The 60 Minutes producers interviewed me for upwards of 6 hours and I went back and forth with the 60 Minutes producers on several topics, including if commissions were negotiable (they are), and they chose to just leave that kind of information out of their story. In fact, if anything, it was a lesson in real estate 101 business models for the producers. It was during these conversations that it crystallized for the lead producer to choose someone that was a “prototypical” agent who drove a flashy car, who did the traditional model of advertising, and who would look a certain way on television. They were looking for mediocre although I would say that Deborah Arends has my respect in having garnered excellent market share in the area where she focuses. Having had to wait a couple of days after the airing of the show I hadn’t blogged about it but I’ve been interested to see what everyone else has had to say.

I do believe that Redfin is going to run into some issues down the road and I would be very interested to know what they pay for E&O Insurance premiums and what their deductibles are. If they’re listing for $3k (up from $2k) and they give 2/3 of a buyer’s agent commission back, I’m curious how they’ll cover those costs when a big lawsuit comes their way, and how they’ll continue to pay the stock options, health care, benefits, and other perks they offer to their staff, including agents. Self-employed agents, which is the majority of us out in the real estate world, don’t have VC funds backing us up this way. That was part of my discussion with 60M, of course you can throw a huge discount back when it’s not really your money. Profitability is something that any company should be concerned with and tech companies I worked for in the past had profit margins of upwards of 80-90% depending on the product. Agents have to try and run a successful and thriving business based on a roughly 1-3% range of profit margin in an industry with numerous competitors. I could do 8 deals a day too if I had the staff that Redfin employs and has someone else (VC $) pay for. They’ll also likely stick to larger, more profitable markets and avoid places like small towns in Kansas where they couldn’t possibly afford all of the benefits they offer their staff because the prices of homes can’t sustain them.

Marlow, I’m with you to a point. Although I don’t mind the alternative business model as much and it just provides me with a good point of comparison for my own services. As I told 60M, if I wasn’t an agent and was back in my tech selling days, I would certainly consider Redfin as an option for myself in buying or selling – but I would do that with the knowledge that it would be a calculated risk. I’d have to take on a lot more and if I didn’t know enough to know how to read a title report, order the right inspections, or how to read a Form 17 properly, then I get what I paid for. Although I realize a lot of people are a bit more litigious than I am and somewhere along the way one or more of these folks is going to sue Redfin when they feel screwed, even if they did it to themselves.

God bless you Kate. THAT sums up my thoughts completely. And I’m a Realtor. My own blog post on the Redfin/60Minutes thing was titled “Redfin, 60 Minutes, Whatever” and that’s exactly what I think about it.

Kate, well said.

LOL!! I am a Realtor now. I do not get upset when someone calls me a Realtor. They do. But you don’t have to watch you Ps and Q anymore. I made it easier and re-upped.

Redfin isn’t that special. They just have their clients do more work and charge less. Why all the drama?