Redfin "Leaving" NAR

[Steve K.]

In a letter which was published on their website this morning, Redfin announced that they are moving to end their support of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Redfin will begin "requiring our brokers and agents to leave NAR everywhere we can." The letter listed two main reasons for the brokerage's decision: NAR policies requiring a fee for the buyer's agent and "a pattern of alleged sexual harassment". Since joining NAR in 2017, Redfin said that it has paid "more than $13 million in dues, in an effort to influence NAR to advocate for an open, technology-driven marketplace that would benefit consumers." In leaving NAR, the brokerage said it will explore other ways to achieve those goals.

Redfin doesn't have a lot of market share in my area as a brokerage. We very rarely ever see their signs in yards here and I don't know a single agent working for them personally. I've never done a transaction with them and the only time I've actually come across them "in the wild" was when a few buyers I've known used them to see properties at their convenience (but not to buy those properties). I know a lot of people like to use their website and app to look at MLS listings or reference their home value estimator to see what their home might be worth (hopefully realizing it's a very approximate estimate). I don't think Redfin can actually leave the local board of Realtors in my area or else they would lose their access (or have degraded access for more money) to our MLS that NAR controls. They wouldn't be able to do business in the same way they have been without access to the MLS as their website and app wouldn't be able to populate listings, and their agents wouldn't have access to the showing service we use to open doors. So maybe the announcement is just lip-service/ negotiating bluster and they're not really "leaving" NAR in most places?

Thoughts on how this will effect the industry? Will this create a domino effect with other large brokerages "leaving" NAR? Redfin stock prices looked really dire throughout 2022, at one point crashing 96% from their all time high, then rebounding somewhat in the first half of 2023 until plunging 36% again in August. Their stock price is slightly down today as of this writing. Is this just a cost-savings measure related to that $13M in dues that they mention in the letter, or are you convinced that the real reason is what they say it is? Any other insights from people "in the know"?

[Russell Brazil]

Sounds like a big deal.....but in reality it is not. Most individual Redfin brokers and their agents will remain members so as to be able to access Realtor Association forms and to be able to access Realtor Association owned MLS systems. As Glen Kelman their CEO said....."where ever possible." And realistically for most of there agents, especially in a discount model, they are not floating the cost of induvial contracts at $2k a transaction, when a couple hundred dollars a year gets them contracts for every transaction.