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Nearly two months after beta testing, Seattle-based brokerage Redfin has launched its artificial intelligence-powered home search assistant, Ask Redfin, nationwide. Homebuyers using Redfin’s Apple iOS app will automatically see Ask Redfin on a home’s listing page after completing a quick update.
Homebuyers can question Ask Redfin about listing details, zoning limitations, homeowners association or condo fees, upcoming open houses, one-on-one touring availability, local market conditions and trends, nearby amenities, and a host of other questions related to homebuying. If the question requires a more nuanced answer than what Ask Redfin can provide, the assistant can immediately connect buyers with a licensed real estate agent.
Redfin said it has trained Ask Redfin to reject questions that violate fair housing guidelines.
“In developing Ask Redfin, we created a detailed set of instructions so it would answer questions in line with fair housing guidelines,” the company said. “We’ve been closely monitoring Ask Redfin on this front, and it’s performing well. When asked a question that touches on a potential fair housing issue, Ask Redfin appropriately says that it can’t answer the question.”
The press release said beta testing, which covered Redfin app users in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Phoenix, Sacramento, Tampa and Washington, D.C., was successful.
More than 90 percent of homebuyers who used Ask Redfin came back to the Redfin iOS app within a week, using it almost daily. The majority of homebuyers used Ask Redfin to get additional listing details, such as the square footage, renovation history, amenities and potential HOA fees (59 percent). Ten percent of Ask Redfin users got further help from a licensed real estate agent, and 8 percent went on to request a home tour.
“We include an enormous amount of data on every listing you find on Redfin because homebuyers deserve as much insight into a home as possible,” Redfin SVP of Product and Design Ariel Dos Santos said of the tool in a previous Inman article. “Ask Redfin makes it easy and effortless for customers to find the information they want to know.”
The nationwide release of Ask Redfin comes a week before Redfin’s first-quarter earnings call.
The company shared its Q4 and FY 2023 earnings results in February, which saw slowing revenue losses and slimming net losses as the company focused on cost-cutting amid market headwinds. Redfin’s stock (NASDAQ: RDFN) has been on the uptick over the past six months, rising 0.32 percent to the $6 range.
With CoStar’s acquisition of 3D scanning company Matterport and Zillow’s investment in Listing Showcase and Real-Time Showings, analysts have a keen eye on what Redfin has up its sleeves and whether it’s enough to break the company out of its earnings and stock market slump.
