Online real estate broker Redfin today released a new online mapping tool and reported its first real estate closings using the company’s online home-purchase offer program.
Redfin’s new MapStats takes property and community analytics and overlays them on a home-search map so that as home shoppers pan across the Redfin.com map, it continuously calculates average and media home prices, price per square foot and average numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms for the listings enclosed by the map. This enables home shoppers to compare a listing to the rest of the neighborhood.
The Seattle-based company has applied for a patent on the technology.
“When home-shoppers shift as little as a few hundred yards in any direction, numbers change radically and in real time,” said Redfin founder David Eraker. “Panning only a mile further from the airport or a block closer to Lake Washington can increase average prices by as much as 50 percent. You can see exactly how where you buy affects what you pay.”
“As more information is associated with location coordinates,” Eraker said, “Redfin’s map can be the basis for enriching listings with contextual information from both the Internet and listing databases: shifting education, income and crime demographics; average time on market; even neighborhood Web feeds.”
Redfin users can turn on MapStats by checking the “Statistics” checkbox at bottom left. Users can also choose to see statistic for an area within the map.
In addition to the new MapStats technology, the company also reported today the first seven closings using the Redfin Direct service that allows home buyers to make offers on homes via Redfin’s Web site and receive a refund on commissions.
Under the Redfin Direct program, buyers find a home and draft an offer online. Redfin’s agents negotiate the deal with the listing agent, handle the inspection and coordinate closing.
Also, Redfin has released a newsletter to provide daily e-mail updates on the most clicked-on Redfin properties.
