What I hear you saying is...

In my last, brief post. I left you hanging with the dilemma that faces Redfin.

If it ain't broke...
In an interview with a Seattle paper, CEO Glenn Kelman mentions that he joined Redfin because he "...had never seen a site that was so freaky addictive."

I agree that Redfin, as well as Zillow and Trulia, are all very addictive to play with even when you're not actively buying or selling a property. This eye-candy does provide plenty of the warm-fuzzy I'd be looking for in building a great product experience. I already love this site -- even if I'm not prepared to jettison my agent in lieu of an online transaction. I would openly recommend Redfin to others as a real estate research tool. So, I don't think I would do much to change the general functionality of the product. However...

Blood in the water
From their positioning, they seem to be looking to attract bargain hunters. They want the folks that are infuriated by the 6% commission, but aren't quite ready for a FSBO transaction. They picked a nice blood-red for their logo to motivate action and bold moves. Though opaque, the name 'Redfin' is no better or worse than any other major disruptors (amazon, google, ebay, expedia) and is probably an asset in an already-crowded field...

But what's with the milquetoast logo design? Who's this wimpy feel-good dude plucking houses out of a tree? If you're going to go with that, then go all green, and change your name to "EcoReal" or some other nonsense. I say, capitalize on that red and give the bargain hunters a greater affinity for the feeding frenzy they are looking for. When I first heard the name Redfin, I thought of a shark -- both because of "fin" in the name (as well as the exisiting "propertyshark" site that focuses on foreclosure sales). So let's see some blood in the water! Let's see a logo that targets those scoundrel agents that are making off with my hard-earned lucre!

Take my money
Also, I want a smaller, more atomic transaction than the sale of my home. I want to build up a history with Redfin before I trust them with one of the most valuable investments I own. The site does a nice job of building allegiance, but it doesn't involve any money changing hands. Figure out a way to take some of my money, Redfin, please. And then when it comes time for the big kahuna, I'll feel like we've had... relations.

Promote the love
Finally, kudos to the whoever was able to land the 60 minutes interview, because as they say, you just can't buy that kind of coverage. I would milk the testimonials from that young Seattle couple to the ends of the earth. I might not know these two, but I know 50 couples like them, and can readily identify with their fears and triumphs. Why are they not on your homepage? I don't want to see your agent's pics... that just makes you like every other site. Show me the happy, shiny customers that will allay my fears.

Ultimately, I think Redfin stands a reasonable chance of making it, because there is cetainly a market of folks that would rather not have to pay 6%. But they're going to need a really looooonggg runway to get people used to the idea. In the worst case (for consumers anyway) they seem to have enough traction to shake things up, and make conumers more demanding of their agents. In the meantime, I'll keep using their site to look at the million dollar houses that they can hopefully one day save me $60k on :-)