Dear PoP – Anyone Use Redfin Real Estate Agents?

Photo by PoPville flickr user sciascia

“Dear PoP,

I’d like to ask your readers about what they thought of Redfin, not the website which I think is pretty great, but actual experiences with their agents. I’ve had 2 underwhelming experiences so far, the first with a field agent in Virginia, and the second with the actual “top rated” agent in DC. I will probably just go with a real agent now, but I was wondering if I was just unlucky? I mean, all of their agents have such great reviews!

The field agent in Virginia insisted that since my budget is so low ($400k), I shouldn’t be looking in Old Town and I should look in Fairfax, Burke, and other areas I wasn’t interested in. Then he proceeded to tell me that he’ll send me listings from MLS of those areas, which I also wasn’t interested in. I mean, isn’t that what the Redfin website is for? So you can look for yourself? His pushiness was just very off putting.

The field agent in DC was actually really great, and told me that someone submitted an offer on a foreclosure we were going to look at, and said if we wanted to make an offer at above asking there’s a possibility that the bank would accept. Anyway, we emailed the agent immediately after the tour and said we can make a cash offer, and asked him a few questions about the place. I kind of expected an agent would respond immediately if his client is interested in making an offer, but it wasn’t until the afternoon when he responded to our questions and then the next day he said he can write a backup offer. He was very professional in his replies, but I took his lack of urgency as a sign of disinterest. This is an investment property that me and my mom are purchasing, and neither of us are first time homebuyers, so I don’t think we’ve set unrealistic expectations.”

Anyone have similar experiences or is this just bad luck on the part of the reader?