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Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Real estate |
Founded | 2004 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
Founders |
|
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Area served | 100+ markets in the United States and Canada |
Key people | Glenn Kelman (CEO) Bridget Frey (CTO) Chris Nielsen (CFO) |
Services | Real estate agent Broker Mortgage origination |
Parent | Rocket Companies |
Subsidiaries | Rent Group |
Website | redfin |

Redfin, a subsidiary of Rocket Companies, is a real estate brokerage and technology company that operates an online platform and provides brokerage services for buying, selling, and renting homes.
History
Redfin was founded in 2004 by David Eraker, Michael Dougherty, and David Selinger. Eraker had dropped out of medical school at the University of Washington for a career in software design and Dougherty received degrees in electrical engineering and international studies from Yale University.[1][2] David Selinger, an alumnus of Stanford University who had previously led the research and development arm of Amazon's data mining and personalization team, joined Redfin as the third founder and CTO. Selinger helped build Redfin's mapping and real estate data analytics engine.[3]
Redfin launched a map-based real estate search site in Seattle in 2004.[4][5]
In September 2005, Redfin named Glenn Kelman as CEO.[6]
Redfin launched home-buying and selling services in Seattle and the Bay Area in 2006. The following year, Redfin expanded to Southern California, Boston, Baltimore and Washington, DC. Redfin's early brokerage service offered flat fee pricing for sellers and significant commission refund for buyers.[7][8][9]
In 2011, Redfin launched a tool to allow consumers to see a real estate agent's sales history.[10] After it drew criticism for using inaccurate data, the system was discontinued.[11]
In 2015, Redfin launched the Redfin Estimate, an automated valuation tool, and Book it Now, and on-demand service for home tours.[12][13]
In June 2017, the company began Redfin Now, a home flipping division.[14]
On July 28, 2017, Redfin became a public company via an initial public offering, raising $138 million.[15]
In June 2019, Redfin began allowing buyers to submit offers on homes listed by Redfin's selling agents without using a buyer's agent.[16] A month later, the company partnered with Opendoor, whereby visitors to the Redfin website can request an offer to buy their houses from Opendoor.[17]
Redfin entered the rental market with acquisition of RentPath in 2021.[18]
In June 2022, the company announced layoffs of 8% of its staff.[19]
In November 2022, the company announced additional layoffs of 862 people, or 13% of its staff, and the wind down of its Redfin Now home flipping unit.[20]
In July 2025, the company was acquired by Rocket Companies, and began marketing itself the with the tagline "Redfin Powered by Rocket".[21][22][23]
Acquisitions
Date | Acquired | Description | Cost | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
October 2014 | Walk Score | Analysis and apartment search tool | N/A | [24][25] |
April 2021 | RentPath (now Rent Group) | Owner of Apartment Guide, Rent.com, Lovely, and Rentals.com | $608 million | [26] |
April 2022 | Bay Equity Home Loans | Mortgage lender | $137.8 million | [27] |
Fines and litigation
In May 2007, Redfin was fined $50,000 by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, and was forced to shut down reviews of homes on the market on its website, prohibited under multiple listing service rules.[28]
In November 2020, a lawsuit by several fair housing organizations accused Redfin of violating the Fair Housing Act by offering fewer services to homebuyers and sellers in minority communities and not offering to sell lower-priced homes because of the lower profits on such sales.[29][30][31] In 2022, the company paid $4 million to settle the lawsuit, changed its policies, and implemented a new internal monitoring system.[32][33]
Awards
In July 2006, Inman News awarded Redfin the Innovator Award for the Most Innovative Business Model.[34]
In May 2010, Redfin won the Seattle 2.0 award for "Best Startup".[35]
In October 2012, Redfin was named one of The DIGITAL 100: World's Most Valuable Private Tech Companies by Business Insider.[36]
In July 2013, Inman News awarded Redfin an award for "Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise".[37]
In June 2014, Seattle Business magazine recognized Redfin as the best company to work for in Seattle in the Large Companies category.[38]
In December 2019, Redfin was named one of the top tech companies to work for in Seattle by Hired.com.[39]
See also
References
- ^ Rhodes, Elizabeth (September 26, 2004). "A sit-down, flyby real-estate overview". The Seattle Times.
- ^ Stone, Brad (March 7, 2013). "Why Redfin, Zillow and Trulia Haven't Killed Off Real Estate Brokers". Bloomberg News.
- ^ "David Selinger". Entrepreneur.
- ^ Stone, Brad (March 8, 2013). "Why Redfin, Zillow, and Trulia Haven't Killed Off Real Estate Brokers". Bloomberg.
- ^ Peterson, Samantha (October 25, 2004). "Real Estate Shopping Goes Sky-High". Inman.
- ^ Brandt, Libertina (October 4, 2021). "3 Moments That Shaped the Career of Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman". Inman.
- ^ Roberts Jr., Glenn (February 6, 2006). "Redfin:Click Here to Buy A Home". Inman.
- ^ Burslem, Joel (April 25, 2007). "Redfin Gets a Facelift and Expands Eastward". Inman.
- ^ "Redfin Snags Another $12 Million in Funding". Inman. July 18, 2007.
- ^ Carter, Matt (September 29, 2011). "Redfin Makes Agent Performance Data Available in 14 Markets". Inman.
- ^ Carrns, Ann (May 1, 2012). "New Battle on Providing Real Estate Agent Performance Data". The New York Times.
- ^ Harney, Kenneth R. (December 9, 2015). "Redfin Launches a Service to Compete with Zillow's Valuation Estimator". Washington Post.
- ^ Cook, John (July 7, 2015). "Redfin Unveils 'Book it Now' Service, Giving Home Shoppers Flexibility to Schedule On-Demand Tours on Their Schedules". GeekWire.
- ^ SOPER, TAYLOR (June 30, 2017). "Redfin testing 'Redfin Now' service that lets it buy and resell homes directly with customers". GeekWire.
- ^ Olick, Diana; Balakrishnan, Anita (July 28, 2017). "Real estate start-up Redfin surges over 44% in IPO: 'We are the Apple of real estate,' CEO says". CNBC.
- ^ Zafar, Nina (June 4, 2019). "Redfin's newest online tool cuts out the buyer's agent". The Washington Post.
- ^ Clark, Patrick (July 11, 2019). "Opendoor Partners With Redfin to Expand Home-Flipping Reach". Bloomberg News.
- ^ Cook, John (February 19, 2021). "Redfin Will Pay $690M to Acquire RentPath, Owner of Rentals.com, Rent.com and ApartmentGuide". GeekWire.
- ^ Saric, Ivana (June 14, 2022). "Redfin laying off 8% of its staff". Axios.
- ^ BEK, NATE (November 9, 2022). "Redfin to cut 13% of workforce and shut down home-flipping business RedfinNow". GeekWire.
- ^ "Rocket Companies Completes Acquisition of Redfin" (Press release). PR Newswire. July 1, 2025.
- ^ "Rocket completes purchase of real estate site Redfin". Detroit Free Press. July 1, 2025.
- ^ Williams, Candice (July 2, 2025). "Rocket Companies completes purchase of Redfin". The Columbian. The Detroit News.
- ^ "Redfin Acquires Walk Score" (Press release). Business Wire. October 22, 2014.
- ^ COOK, JOHN (October 22, 2014). "Redfin buys Walk Score, marking first acquisition in company history". GeekWire.
- ^ "Redfin Completes Acquisition of RentPath for $608 Million" (Press release). PR Newswire. April 5, 2021.
- ^ Page, Doug (April 4, 2022). "Redfin Vertically Integrates with Bay Equity Home Loans Purchase". National Mortgage Professional.
- ^ Cook, John (May 17, 2007). "Redfin fined $50,000, shuts down home reviews". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
- ^ Johnson, Gene (October 31, 2020). "Fair housing groups sue Redfin with allegations of 'redlining' minority communities". USA Today. Associated Press.
- ^ Lerner, Michele (November 2, 2020). "Housing groups sue Redfin, alleging federal discrimination violations". The Washington Post.
- ^ "A Progressive Real Estate Firm Faces Accusations of Discrimination". Bloomberg News. January 18, 2022.
- ^ BISHOP, TODD (May 2, 2022). "Redfin will implement internal fair housing monitoring system in $4M legal settlement". GeekWire.
- ^ "Redfin settles lawsuit alleging housing discrimination". Daily Record. Associated Press. April 29, 2022.
- ^ "Redfin Wins Innovator of the Year Award From Inman News at Real Estate Connect" (Press release). PR Web. July 30, 2006. Archived from the original on August 10, 2006.
- ^ Huang, Gregory T. (May 20, 2010). "Redfin, Bonanzle, TisBest Win Seattle 2.0 Awards". Xconomy.
- ^ Shontell, Alyson (October 3, 2012). "The 2012 Digital 100: The Complete List 1-100". Business Insider.
- ^ "Announcing: 2013 Innovator Awards winners". Bradley Inman. July 12, 2013.
- ^ Horton, Nick (July 2014). "100 Best Companies to Work For 2014: Large Companies". Seattle Business Magazine.
- ^ Pratini, Napala (December 13, 2019). "5 Top Employers in Seattle According to Tech Workers". Hired.com.
External links
- 2004 establishments in Washington (state)
- 2017 initial public offerings
- 2025 mergers and acquisitions
- American companies established in 2004
- Companies based in Seattle
- Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq
- Online real estate databases
- Real estate companies established in 2004
- Real estate services companies of the United States