Redfin

Redfin’s predecessor, Appliance Computing Inc., was incorporated in Washington in October 2002, reincorporated in Delaware in February 2005 and renamed Redfin Corporation in May 2006.⁠[1][1]

In September 2004 the Redfin website launched in Seattle, combining satellite maps with listing and tax-assessor data so users could search for homes from a bird’s-eye view of neighborhoods. The site was conceived by founder and president David Eraker, who found real estate technologically underdeveloped when buying and selling his own home; co-founder Michael Dougherty served as chief operating officer. Developed over two years with money from friends and family, the site launched covering houses and condominiums in King County, Washington.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2][2]

Glenn Kelman held executive roles at Redfin from 2005 and became president, chief executive officer and a director in March 2006; he had previously co-founded the enterprise portal software company Plumtree Software. Eraker left the company in August 2006.⁠[1][1][1]

In May 2007 the Northwest Multiple Listing Service fined Redfin $50,000 under its rule against advertising another broker’s listings without permission and asked it to stop publishing reviews of Seattle-area homes on its “Sweet Digs” blog. Redfin appealed but took down the reviews; Kelman said access to listing data was the company’s lifeblood and it had no choice. At the time Redfin operated in six markets, refunded two-thirds of its commission to buyers and charged sellers a flat $3,000 listing fee; days earlier, Kelman had called real estate the “most screwed-up industry in America” on CBSCBSCBS is an American commercial broadcast television network. It was founded in 1927 as United Independent Broadcasters, renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1928, and grew from a radio network into a television network under William S. Paley. With ABC and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks; it has been owned in turn by Westinghouse, Viacom, ViacomCBS and Paramount Global, has been owned by Paramount Skydance Corporation since 2025, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry’s 60 Minutes.⁠[3][3][3][3][3][3][3]

In 2014 Redfin acquired the neighborhood walkability tool Walk Score for $4.1 million and earns revenue by licensing its data and analytics.⁠[1][1]

On July 27, 2017, Redfin priced its initial public offering of 9,231,000 shares at $15 each and listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol RDFN. The company had never been profitable on an annual basis since its founding and had an accumulated deficit of $613.3 million as of March 31, 2017.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

By 2020 Redfin had expanded beyond brokerage: Redfin Mortgage originated loans in 56 markets, Title Forward provided title and settlement services in 27 markets, and RedfinNow bought homes directly from owners for resale in 16 markets. The company had 4,185 employees at the end of 2020.⁠[4][4][4][4][4]

On April 2, 2021, Redfin completed its $608 million cash acquisition of RentPath, operator of the rental sites ApartmentGuide.com, Rent.com and Rentals.com with 16 million monthly visitors; RentPath kept its Atlanta headquarters and later operated under the Rent. brand. At the time Redfin served more than 95 markets in the United States and Canada, employed more than 4,100 people and said it had saved customers nearly $1 billion in commissions since launching in 2006.⁠[5][5][5][5][6][5][5]

On April 1, 2022, Redfin acquired the mortgage lender Bay Equity and on June 30 dissolved Redfin Mortgage, after which Bay Equity handled its mortgage business. As the market cooled that year, Redfin laid off 442 employees (about 8 percent) in June and another 862 (13 percent) in November; in November it also decided to wind down RedfinNow, its direct home-buying business, expecting to sell off the inventory by the second quarter of 2023.⁠[6][6][7][7][7]

In 2024 Redfin was among the defendants in antitrust class actions over real estate commission rules. The National Association of Realtors settled the claims against it on March 15, 2024, for $418 million and changes to its rules; Redfin agreed to a settlement term sheet on May 3 and signed a settlement agreement on June 26, resolving the Gibson and Umpa cases in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri and similar sellers’ claims nationwide without admitting liability, and paid about $9.3 million into a settlement fund on August 26. As of early 2025 the order approving the settlement was on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.⁠[6][6][6][6][6][6]

Unlike traditional brokerages that treat agents as independent contractors, Redfin employs its lead agents and provides them with health insurance and other benefits. It had 4,778 employees at the end of 2024 and an average of 1,765 lead agents that year.⁠[6][6]

On February 6, 2025, Redfin signed a content license agreement under which Zillow became the exclusive provider of listings for multifamily rental properties with more than 25 units on Redfin, Rent.com and ApartmentGuide.com, paying Redfin per lead delivered, along with a separate partnership agreement. Redfin also announced a restructuring of its rentals business expected to affect about 450 employees.⁠[6][6][6][6][6]

On November 15, 2024, Rocket Companies CEO Varun Krishna met Kelman and expressed interest in acquiring Redfin. On March 9, 2025, the companies signed a merger agreement under which each Redfin share would be exchanged for 0.7926 shares of Rocket Class A common stock, an implied value of $9.15 to $12.50 per share based on prices from March 7 to April 30. Redfin held a virtual special stockholder meeting on June 4, 2025.⁠[8][8][8][9][8][8]

On July 1, 2025, Detroit-based Rocket Companies completed its roughly $1.75 billion acquisition of Redfin, which became a wholly owned Rocket subsidiary; its shares were suspended from Nasdaq before the open that day and delisted, its directors stepped down and Rocket’s Brian Brown and Varun Krishna became directors. Rocket said the deal brought together the most-visited real estate brokerage website and America’s largest mortgage lender; Redfin adopted the “Redfin Powered by Rocket” brand, and the companies launched Rocket Preferred Pricing, giving clients who finance through Rocket Mortgage and buy with a Redfin agent a one-percentage-point rate reduction for the first year or a lender credit of up to $6,000. Kelman said the companies combined to bridge the gap between the American dream of homeownership and reality.⁠[9][10][9][9][11][11][11][11]

On August 31, 2026, Rocket Companies named Alessio Sanfilippo, formerly vice president of insights for Meta’s Reality Labs, as Redfin’s chief executive officer, effective immediately; he had led data and analytics at Intuit, where he worked with Krishna. Redfin and Rocket Mortgage had recently introduced Super Savings, offering buyers and sellers who use both up to $20,000 in combined lender credits and commission savings.⁠[12][12][12][12][12]

As of October 2026 Redfin is one of Rocket Companies’ businesses alongside Rocket Mortgage, Mr. Cooper and Rocket Homes; it is one of the largest U.S. real estate brokerages and operates the country’s most-visited brokerage website, charging a 1 percent listing fee to clients who both buy and sell with Redfin.⁠[12][12][13]

Redfin: Official website: https://www.redfin.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

Rocket Companies: Official website: https://www.rocketcompanies.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[12]

X: Public account: https://x.com/Redfin (opens in a new window)⁠[14]