Online real estate broker Redfin today announced it has expanded its service to Boston, marking the fourth market area for the company. Separately, the company launched a new version of its Web site and a new company logo.
Boston is the first East Coast market for Redfin, which offers to rebate a portion of the sales commission to buyers who do much of the home-search work themselves. For sellers, Redfin charges a flat fee of $3,000 to broker the sale.
The company launches in Boston with one agent working from his home, according to company spokeswoman Cynthia Pang, who added that it can take a couple of months for a market to ramp up. She said the company also has a licensed Massachusetts agent in its Washington office to support the Boston agent as needed.
“We’re working on hiring more people for Boston,” she said.
Redfin also operates in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. The company’s Web site indicates that Chicago and Washington, D.C., are “coming soon.”
Redfin separately announced the launch of its new Web site and company logo. The new site includes a larger map, larger property photos and simpler navigation between properties and neighborhood aerial views.
Refin said it changed its logo to avoid litigation threatened by Move Inc., which holds a registered trademark over a symbol that, similar to the original Redfin logo, includes a house within a circle.
Hornall Anderson Design Works developed the new Redfin logo, which combines an image of a person, a house and a fruit tree.
