The technology-powered real estate company Redfin announced Thursday, the launch of its iBuyer program RedfinNow in Florida among the hottest real estate markets in the country.
The iBuyer is operational in the Orlando and Tampa areas as of this week and will launch in the Palm Beach and Miami areas later this month, according to a news release. Florida marks the 16th state the iBuyer has launched in, totaling 34 markets including Washington, D.C.
“The real estate market in Florida is dynamic thanks to a surge of migration into the state and a wide array of buyers and sellers, including full-time residents, retirees, vacation-home owners, and investors,” said Regional Manager for RedfinNow Jennie Hoffer. “As the housing market cools, the convenience and certainty of a cash offer will be especially attractive to the homeowners who need to sell quickly or are selling from afar and don’t want to deal with negotiations or the prospect of a buyer backing out. The cash offer isn’t for every seller, but for certain ones, it’s the best choice.”
The expansion will allow homesellers in Florida to receive cash offers from the iBuyer, enabling them to choose their closing dates to allow for more flexibility in their moving timelines.
Homesellers also have the option to list on the open market with a Redfin agent, part of Redfin’s efforts to build a real estate platform that offers homesellers multiple ways to sell their homes.
Jason Aleem | Redfin
“The most unique part of Redfin’s iBuying model is that we offer customers a transparent choice and help them understand the tradeoffs between our cash offer or listing with a Redfin agent,” Jason Aleem, the leader of Redfin’s real estate brokerage said in a statement. “Not only do our customers want this choice, having a cash offer option helps us grow our existing brokerage business. For every homeowner who takes the RedfinNow cash offer, two other homeowners will opt to list their home with a Redfin agent instead.”
RedfinNow was recently revealed to be among the sections of the company most affected by the ongoing market downturn, with Redfin expecting to sell the houses it bought in April and May at a loss. Nonetheless, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said during an earnings call, that he expects the iBuying arm to remain an important part of the brokerage’s business.
“That won’t be enough to sink our battleship,” he said. “Our forecast assumes home prices keep declining moderately through the rest of 2022, but we still expect our properties division to earn a significant gross profit for the full year.”
RedfinNow wasn’t the only arm of the business to feel some pain during the second quarter, with its mortgage business Bay Equity cutting its gross profit per loan in half and the company at large falling short of its revenue projections for the first time in five years as a publicly-traded company.
