As the luxury market heats up, Redfin is aiming to give its sellers a competitive edge with the launch of Redfin Premier, a new service for properties priced at $1 million or more.
Glenn Kelman | Photo credit: Redfin
“Redfin Premier is the culmination of a long-term effort to reach luxury customers,” Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said in a prepared statement. “Already, Redfin is a top-15 brokerage for U.S. luxury listings, and one of the only market-leaders gaining luxury share over the past five years.”
“In that time, we’ve increased agent bonuses for high-end sales, introduced concierge service for staging and sprucing up listings, and increased the number of Redfin agents with luxury experience,” Kelman added.
“Luxury customers love our one-on-one personal service, our sophisticated digital campaigns to target local and international luxury buyers and the accountability to track how those investments lead to online viewings, tours, and ultimately offers.”
Available to sellers in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Hawaii, Maryland, Orange County, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, and Virginia starting Feb. 20, Redfin will provide professional drone footage, twilight photography, premium brochures and printed marketing materials, high-end, burgundy-and-rose-gold yard signs, and far-reaching social media and print campaigns to reach local and international buyers.
A Redfin Premier home with an updated yard sign. (Photo credit: Redfin)
Redfin Premier clients in Orange County and San Diego will also have access to the brokerage’s concierge service, where Redfin outlines and funds a ‘ready-to-list’ plan that includes painting, staging, landscaping, and minor repairs to bolster a home’s value. Although Premier sellers must reimburse Redfin from the sale proceeds, the brokerage is waiving the 0.5 percent fee.
Similar to Redfin’s flagship service, sellers using Redfin Premier will initially pay a 1.5 percent listing fee, plus the buyer’s agent commission for a total of at least 3.5 percent. In a transaction where the buyer doesn’t have an agent, the listing fee will be bumped up to 2.5 percent of the sale price.
However, if the seller purchases a home with Redfin within a year of closing, they’ll receive a 0.5 percent rebate, ultimately bringing the fee down to 1 or 2 percent.
Redfin estimates sellers with million-dollar homes will save anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000, which Kelman said is “enough money in listing fees to buy a new car.”
