Here's a great piece by Ben Thompson discussing the economics and markets of such services:
Both limit growth: regular agents with a stake in the
current system steer home buyers away from Redfin
properties, and hiring and training agents who aren’t
interested in the upside from commission takes a lot of
time and money.
Why the flat-fee brokerage Allre had to close shop:
All of these internet companies that profess to want to
disintermediate the real estate business – just as they
did with the travel agency business (everyone even uses
the same analogy) – forget one major fact: buying and/or
selling a home is often the largest, most complicated
transaction a person may undertake.
>Here's a great piece by Ben Thompson discussing the economics and markets of such services:
Most of the article is about OpenDoor. I don't think that quote about Redfin describes the situation very well.
I don't think there is evidence that agents with buyers steer them away from Redfin and it wouldn't work very well since almost all buyers will go to a site with MLS listings and see what is on the market. Redfin takes a lowered commission on their business, they don't lower the commission to the buying agent.
In terms of hiring, they allow agents to get away from the continual cold calling/door knocking and self promotion they need to do to attract the next customer and they offer a stable salary and a support staff to take care of the mundane stuff like arranging inspections, etc. I don't think they have a problem getting job applicants. (Not associated with Redfin, but a happy customer.)
Why the flat-fee brokerage Allre had to close shop:
https://therealdaily.com/editorials/allre-startup-thinks-imm...