Redfin: Buy, Sell & Rent Homes

Redfin Review: Fast MLS Data and a 1.5% Fee, Let Down by Buggy Filters

Free Search, 40+ Filters and Tours Booked Through an Agent

Searching costs nothing because the brokerage earns on transactions. Full MLS listings need a free account with your name and email, a condition of its MLS licenses. Search pairs more than 40 filters with a hand-drawn boundary, school districts and commute time, and the company says half of the MLS updates it receives post within two minutes. A Hot Home tag, recalculated daily from over 500 attributes, flags listings likely to go under contract quickly. Booking a tour starts a sales relationship: since August 2024 you sign a one-click fee agreement before the first visit, which caps the buyer's agent fee without committing you. Hot Home tour requests outside the service area or below its minimum price go to a partner agent.

Redfin Estimate: 1.88% Median Error for Listings, 7.37% Off-Market

The company reports a median error of 1.88% for homes on the market and 7.37% for off-market homes, meaning half of sales land within that margin and half outside it. On a $400,000 house, that is $7,520 for a listed home but $29,480 for one not for sale. The model weighs over 500 data points across 92 million US homes, refreshing daily for listings and weekly otherwise. It covers only single-family homes, townhouses and condos with comparable sales in the past year, and a listing agent can hide it by unticking Allow Automated Valuations in the MLS. Owners can post an Owner Estimate built from comps they pick.

The 1.5% Listing Fee and Rocket Mortgage Credits of Up to $6,000

The brokerage is part of Rocket Companies, and the app pushes Rocket Mortgage preapproval. Selling costs a 1.5% listing fee, cut to 1% if you buy your next home with the same brokerage within 365 days and raised by 1% if the buyer has no agent. Minimums apply, and any fee offered to a buyer's agent is extra. A buyer agency agreement signed before the second tour trims the buyer-side fee by 0.25% of the price. A Rocket loan plus an in-house agent can earn a lender credit of 0.75% of the loan, capped at $6,000, with a matching commission discount for buying and selling if the second deal closes by December 31, 2026. Rocket is optional; confirm current terms with the agent and lender.

Rentals From Zillow and Rental Tools, and the Data Apple Says Tracks You

Rental listings come from Redfin Rental Tools, Zillow rentals and select MLSs, and every building with 25 or more units arrives from Zillow. Redfin agents do not tour rentals: a request goes to the property manager, who should reply within 2–3 business days. Play reviews also describe scam emails after rental inquiries. Apple's privacy label lists location, search history, identifiers and usage data as used to track you across other companies' apps, and Google Play's Data safety form says device IDs and installed apps may be shared for advertising. The privacy policy, updated November 13, 2025, says geolocation may have been sold or shared with ad networks in the prior 12 months.