<story><title>Redfin shares surge more than 30% in $138.5M real estate tech IPO</title><url>http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/28/redfin-ipo-rdfn-stock-opening-trade.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jasondc</author><text>Looks like they&amp;#x27;re being valued like a tech firm, and not a traditional brokerage.&lt;p&gt;What makes Redfin a tech company? Why couldn&amp;#x27;t prudential (or another brokerage) build the same thing?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mlinsenbardt</author><text>As a past customer, I would say they&amp;#x27;re somewhere in between; perhaps leaning towards software. The process is highly automated, with 90% of the transaction handled via the apps&amp;#x2F;web and most hand holding in the beginning and the end of the transaction. While you are assigned an &amp;quot;agent&amp;quot;, you will also work with other random agents as you make requests and your requests are sent through some kind of queue workflow. Further, their staff is paid a salary, not commission as the traditional agent&amp;#x2F;broker. As a result, Redfin splits the traditional buyers commission with you and you may use those funds towards your closings, etc. I am a happy customer and would use them again.</text></comment>
<story><title>Redfin shares surge more than 30% in $138.5M real estate tech IPO</title><url>http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/28/redfin-ipo-rdfn-stock-opening-trade.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jasondc</author><text>Looks like they&amp;#x27;re being valued like a tech firm, and not a traditional brokerage.&lt;p&gt;What makes Redfin a tech company? Why couldn&amp;#x27;t prudential (or another brokerage) build the same thing?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>zippergz</author><text>The reason I use Redfin is because of their technology. Their site, apps, and (probably most importantly) alerts are massively better than what I&amp;#x27;ve seen from any other brokerage. Sure, someone else could build the same thing, but thus far they haven&amp;#x27;t even come close. There must be a reason. My guess is that it&amp;#x27;s because it&amp;#x27;s actually &lt;i&gt;hard&lt;/i&gt;.</text></comment>