Redfin reviews

3.5

59% would recommend to a friend

(1,770 total reviews)
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Glenn Kelman

74% approve of CEO

46% positive business outlook

Redfin has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 1,770 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Redfin employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Real Estate industry (3.8 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
2.0
Jun 3, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Overall nice people - 3 lunches/week - Lots of snacks and soda - Easy, 30-35 hours a week and you are golden - Excellent benefits - Lots of women engineers

Cons

- Pretends to be a startup but has a ton of process and red tape - Pay is below market and the stock isn't worth anything - Engineering org uses QA as a crutch to not take ownership of code - Tenure is important, toxic people are allowed to stay based on how many years they have with the company - Technophobia is the best way to describe the engineering org. All java all the time, and only a spring mvc monolith. - People are literally treated like cogs, you will be told are suppose to be a drop in replacement on any other team. - While there are some good ones, engineering talent is generally mediocre. - There is currently an exodus of senior talent and hiring is super painful - Hiring process is so much about product that people who fail all their technical interviews will still get hired do to product passion. On the flip side acing your technical but not answering their magic questions right won't get you an offer. - Entire management chain starting at the senior managers needs to be replaced. Not only are they dishonest they have no clue how to run a company the size of Redfin. - Vast majority of engineers this is their first and only job. If it isn't what they already know or what Google and Facebook are doing they will simply shut you down with any alternative ideas.

3.0
Oct 4, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You will gain wide exposure to your market in a very short amount of time. In the SF Bay, you can expect to tour hundreds of homes and write 6-8 offers per client before that client gets an accepted offer. Even though it seems like a lot of work, how would a brand-new agent ever gain that much trust with someone? Redfin hands brand-new agents a fully functioning real estate business and that agent must learn how to manage the business. It's the opposite of the "traditional" world, where the brand-new agent must develop their business. I learned an insane amount about SF real estate in a short amount of time. The caveat is that you don't have 5, or 10, or 15 clients that are running you around. You have 30-40. And they all have the power to determine your paycheck. The SF office has catered meals 2x a week (best ones are on Wednesdays) and an odd, steady supply of junk food, pre-boiled eggs and irradiated nuts, and cold La Croix and beers . If you are a real estate agent, this means nothing since you'll avoid the SF office at all costs unless attendance is mandatory. Can't speak to the Pleasanton office, because who cares or goes to Pleasanton? Benefit package is wonderful. Employees pay a small amount towards insurance, but in my experience it was excellent when I used it. If you anticipate using your benefits package, Redfin is a great place for full coverage. Our State Broker -- he came in 3-4x yearly to discuss forms updates and best practices. His trainings were the most useful part of my time ever spent in an office at Redfin.

Cons

In order: 1. 30-40 clients who are all discount shoppers, who all have the ability to downgrade your pay. 2. Nepotism. 3. Executive management (Seattle) has no real estate experience, employs no Realtors as executives, has no Realtor review board, told Realtors at the mandatory nationwide conference to "go elsewhere if they are here for the money". Hello? We are salespeople. 4. No local market training. In fact, no communication whatsoever from local management. This lack of local understanding is probably why the company promotion/management policy relies so heavily on nepotism. 5. Work-Life balance is frowned upon, a shameful need of only those who "can't take the heat". Dogged acceptance of 24 hours a day/7 days a week by most agents. 6. Commission averages .0025% of purchase price, and I worked in a market with higher bonuses "to compensate for higher cost of living". And don't forget -- the client can always lower that percentage.

2.0
Feb 21, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Leads generated by website; health benefits & expenses reimbursed. Some really good people trying to make this a great place to work. Too bad they're in the minority.

Cons

No work life balance. Work 70-80 hrs/wk to earn less than $100k/yr. Too many managers promoted without the knowledge and experience to be successful leaders. People at top too narcissistic and condescending. Company culture was very good early on but disappeared as company grew and people were promoted without the experience necessary for their new roles.

Viewing 22 - 24 of 1,770 Reviews

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