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Did you know that the agent’s commission is the most expensive cost for home sellers? That’s why sellers are increasingly selling home FSBO. By saving money on commission you can save thousands of dollars that could have gone to a real estate agent. If you put 5% to 6% agent commission in dollars, you’d know. If we consider a median home with a price of USD 358,000, the commission costs come close to USD 20,000 and that’s a huge amount!
Another way to save money is to hire a discount real estate agent. If you are looking for low-commission real estate agents or discount agents to sell your home, Ideal Agent can help you out. The company claims that its real estate agents will do a really good job even after accepting a lower commission. But then how does Ideal Agent make money?
Redfin is another big discount real estate brokerage. But you can’t just choose any agent matching service to find discount real estate agents. You have to look inside different parts of the home-selling engine to consider an agent apt for you. You can start by looking for and comparing their reviews!
Both Ideal Agent and Redfin promise to match you with top agents who would work for you at a lower commission while still giving you full service. How good are both the companies? Can they really help you save your money? Let us understand first the companies and then their reviews to get our answers.
Understanding Ideal Agent
Ideal Agent finds you, as its name says, ideal agents. The company researches national real estate sales data to hunt down the top 1% of the agents in your locality for you. These agents normally do not work as discount agents and work on a full agent commission. But Ideal Agent negotiates on your behalf and fixes a lower commission percentage with the agents in their network to save you money.
As per Ideal Agent, their typical network agents:
- Have at least a 4.9-star rating on real estate websites from a minimum of 25 reviews
- Are mostly ranked in the top 1% in their local market
- Have a broker’s or agents license in good reputation
- Are full-time agents
- Have closed at least 50 transactions in the past year for small markets
- Have closed at least 100 transactions in the past year for large markets
- Has over 5 years of experience as a licensed agent
While their typical agent meets the above criteria, it is not necessary that the agent they’ll match you with would meet these criteria.
Ideal Agent works in a simple manner. You get started with Ideal Agent by telling them your home selling goals. After all, making money on home sales may not be your only goal alternatively, you might want to sell quickly or are looking to get a rent-back period. After you answer the questions, you are matched with a qualified Ideal Agent.
Understanding Redfin
Redfin is a company that connects you with local agents and searches local real estate listings for you. Redfin agents are fine to work with you to sell your home at a discounted rate of 1.5%, instead of the normal 2.5% to 3%. If you also buy a home with Redfin, you only need to pay a 1% fee.
Redfin is one of the biggest discount real estate brokerages in the US. The agent’s Redfin matches with you and would work for you for a discounted listing fee whether you are buying or selling with them. Redfin also offers other real estate services like arranging for upgrades and repairs and helping you find a mortgage lender. Redfin also offers an iBuyer service RedfinNow, which will make a cash offer for your home.
You can connect with local agents that charge only a 1% listing fee with the help of the Redfin Full Service option. Your home listing gets a premium placement on the Redfin site when you list with one of their agents. The listing fees of Redfin are also one of the minimum fees in a particular market. You can look at their minimum listing charges in your area to get a better idea.
The concierge service from Redfin is only available in a few select cities. You can use the service to fix your home, manage local vendors, or even make high-value improvements in your home. Redfin also covers cleaning and staging of homes, and you only have to pay for the improvements after your home sells along with a 2% listing fee. Their managing repairs and upgrades so that your home can list for top dollar reduces your work by a lot. You must use their concierge service if your property is inherited and at a faraway location. You can even connect with local contractors, handymen, stagers, and cleaning services with Redfin’s open book service.
Redfin is known to update its MLS listing every few minutes, unlike other service providers that may take days to put up new listings. When working with a Redfin agent to buy a home, you can demand home tours either in-person or with a video chat.
Ideal Agent vs Redfin reviews
Below is the culmination of comprehensive Ideal Agent vs Redfin reviews 2022 on different review platforms:
On Trustpilot
RedfinNow has 2.5 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot. As per the Redfin reviews 2022 on Trustpilot, the sales call from Redfin may be high pressure. Also, users didn’t appreciate their having to schedule a video call before getting any offer from a buyer. Again, users were not happy with the range of offers and complained that Redfin causes a delay in releasing funds.
On the other hand, Ideal Agent has 4.9 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, which is quite a good number. Reviewers were mostly happy with the experience and termed it as being easy and painless with a few complaints about communication from certain agents. As per one review, the commission the reviewer received was higher than promised.
On Better Business Bureau
Redfin has 1.17 out of 5 stars, which is quite poor. One of the reviewers on the platform mentioned that Redfin declined their cash offer as the company was not able to charge a high repair fee from her as her home was new construction.
Ideal Agent has 5 out of 5 stars on BBB. The overwhelmingly positive reviews on BBB puts Ideal Agent in a good light. Reviewers here as well termed their experience as great, professional, and stress-free.
Overall Ideal Agent vs Redfin reviews 2022
While both services offer discounted real estate commissions, Redfin has greater name recognition than Ideal Agent. You can save more with Redfin if you have a lower-priced home but note that you’d require to pay a lot more than what is advertised to you as you also have to pay the buyer’s agent commission.
Redfin’s agents are on a salary roll with limited commission incentives and you do not get to pick your first agent while working with Redfin. Redfin also offers a home buying service called Redfin Now.
Alternatively, Ideal Agent has a small network of qualified real estate agents and you get matched with one in your area after speaking with a concierge over the phone. The real estate agent from Ideal Agent would work for a reduced listing fee of 2% and you may also profit from a slightly-reduced buyer’s agent commission. So, how does Ideal Agent make money? Well, a portion of the company’s profits come from taking a percentage of the agent’s commission. Also, the service is simple and fast to use.
Also, Ideal Agent is the real estate agent matching service that refers you to only one realtor. You can get a second one if you find the first agent unsatisfactory. You might want to interview multiple agents right at the start.
In summary
Overall, Ideal Agent is a good platform to find a good real estate agent. But you can definitely try other services as well or do some search on your own. Happy agent hunting!
