Redfin

Redfin is really the best way to buy a home. I read somewhere that it was «home buying for millenials» and I couldn’t possibly agree more. Redfin has an amazing trifecta of resources: website/​UX, realtors, & staff.
Redfin Website/​UX:
PROS:
–has the most up-​to-​date listings & statuses of homes
–mobile app is amazing! I actually prefer it to the desktop version.
–easy to schedule tours online with a quick response time.
–ability to customize searches down to drawing your own search area on a map.
–frequent notifications regarding new listings which is key when you’re buying in the fast-​paced Bay Area real estate market
CONS:
–they just updated their «Redfin Estimate» feature and it still needs some work. But if you’re looking to put an offer in, you’ll work with your agent and they can tell you realistic comparable homes (comps) that sold.
Redfin Agent: We worked with Jennifer Cord and she is simply amazing! She is super knowledgable about the East Bay and provided us so much insight and honesty into the properties that we were interested in. We mostly communicated through e-​mail during the search process and she has a quick response time. She would go visit homes we were interested in to tell us her opinion and would even suggest other homes in the area we may have overlooked. She was available to meet with us on the homes we wanted to look at more closely and gave her honest opinions. During escrow, we felt like we were always her first priority even though she had 4 (!!) offers that got accepted at the same time as ours. She made it a point to be at our home inspections and guided us through the whole process.
Redfin Staff: Jennifer works with an awesome staff of people! We mostly went on tours with Ena and she was great! She was punctual and gave us some great insight into the homes we saw on tour! Our transaction coordinator was Anna and she was super helpful in coordinating everything we needed. She gave us recommendations for various inspectors, scheduled them, and corralled all of the paperwork! Any questions we asked got quick and super clear responses. Redfin also uses Docusign which is SUPER helpful for signing all the contract, disclosure, and inspection paperwork needed.
Overall, I couldn’t recommend Redfin more for the home buying experience. If it’s your first experience with home buying, go to a Redfin Home Buying class. There are classes specific to the area and it’s an opportunity to meet the agents, learn more about the home buying process, and learn more about the real estate climate in your area.
Even if you choose to go through a traditional real estate firm, use the website to simplify your home search. Zillow & Trulia just can’t compare with Redfin!

Redfin Agent Martin Hendren was amazing. We worked him for over a year before we managed to buy something in this ridiculous market, and Martin was with us every step of the way. The house we settled on had quite a few issues, and it ended up being a very complex transaction, but Martin patiently helped us resolve them one-​by-​one so we could close. It took over 5 months from finding the house to getting the keys, and Martin patiently took care of us the entire time. Martin is a superb agent and has become a great friend. We couldn’t possibly recommend him enough if you’re looking to buy in the Contra Costa County area.

Interesting. didn’t know you could review Redfin! But their online service and the ease of using their app is phenomenal. Really glad I started using them, their agents are easy to work with and nice and the process is fluid with them and the app’s knowledge of open houses and having the most updated/​accurate data posted as well. Wish it had the «Draw» feature like Trulia and Zillow since they only have ease to move the map around and zip codes. that’s the only downside, but overall accuracy vs. GUI means I would rather have accuracy over a fun way to search.

Buying a home is SCARY. It’s a huge purchase (no matter what size or type of home you might be considering), and trying to wrap your head around the process is daunting, to say the least.
When we decided we wanted to buy a home, we didn’t quite know where to start in terms of actually working with a real estate company, so we asked around. Redfin was recommended, so we checked it out.
What we loved from the beginning was the following:
a) The super easy-​to-​use search tool and website. The map interface is particularly helpful. You can also save searches and set it up so that you receive emails whenever new homes come on the market in your area of choice, which is a fantastic time-​saver.
b) The ability to schedule tours with available agents. You can do one at a time, or group a whole bunch together. We toured with Noah Manning twice, and he was super helpful and nice. He even gave us a ride between houses and then to the BART station when we met him for tours right after work. We also toured with our real estate agent for another set of houses. Tours can be a preferable experience to open houses, as you can see the homes on your own schedule and without other people looking through the homes at the same time.
c) The very helpful Redfin team! Everyone we talked to was very helpful and responsive.
Which brings me to our agent, Jennifer Cord, who was fantastic. We had a ton of questions at any given point during the process, and she answered every single one quickly and easily. Her answers were always pragmatic and easy to understand. In the end, she guided us though three offers, two that were not accepted and one that was — the home we live in now!
In sum: We bought a house using Redfin, and the whole experience was great! Definitely recommended.

Our Redfin agent Sherie Corsello and her team were amazing! We never expected that finding our dream home would be such a wonderful journey and we have Sherie and all that Redfin has to offer to thank for that. I would definitely recommend Sherie to all my family and friends. She has made our home-​buying experience so worry-​free. She always stayed on top of things and kept us informed throughout the entire process. What I loved most about purchasing with Redfin was that I never once felt pressured. Sherie and her team were always professional and approachable at the same time. I really appreciated Sherie’s genuine concern for our satisfaction and that she always made sure that our needs and concerns were being met. She even made it possible to for us to close escrow so much sooner than expected. Our family is truly blessed to have been guided by Sherie in finding our dream home! We love it!

Martin Hendren helped guide me through the process from start to finish: showing me what to watch out for in the homes we toured (multiple times each week), holding my hand when we lost bids due to ridiculous cash overoffers, navigating the offer and counteroffer process, inspections, negotiations over fixing things, everything until it was OUR first home. I am so thankful for his patient disposition to my endless questions and possible «the one» homes and making himself available to me through very extended hours to get those critical responses in. I trusted him implicitly the whole time and am so thankful into lucked into such a trusted advisor. He even made recommendations on local contractors he personally uses for things and they have all turned out to be equally awesome. I don’t know what we would have done without him.