Compare Xome and Redfin
For Sellers
For Sellers
For Sellers
For Buyers
For Buyers
For Buyers
Answer: Xome is a referral fee network that enables broker-to-broker collusion with use of blanket referral agreements while Redfin is a full-service real estate agent and a referral fee network
Buying and Selling with Xome
WARNING: Unlawful Kickbacks, Broker-to-Broker Collusion, False Marketing, Wire Fraud, Price Fixing.
Xome) is a broker-to-broker collusion scheme, where "partner agents" unlawfully agree to pay massive kickbacks to receive your information and engage in market allocation, consumer allocation, false advertising, unlawful kickbacks, wire fraud, and price-fixing practices in violation of, inter alia, 18 U.S.C. § 1346, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, 15 U.S.C. § 1, 15 U.S.C. § 45, 12 U.S.C. § 2607, 12 C.F.R. § 1024.14. As a consumer, you will always significantly overpay for Realtor commissions subject to hidden kickbacks and pay-to-play steering promoted in this scheme.
United States federal antitrust laws prohibit consumer allocation and blanket referral agreements between real estate companies.
Be smart; do not allow your information to be "sold as a lead" to a double-dealing Realtor in exchange for massive commission kickbacks paid from your future home sale, or your future home purchase.
Xome is a referral fee network designed to collect fees by matching consumers with local real estate agents willing to participate.
Xome operates as a licensed real estate brokerage in California under BRE License #001932600, but it does not produce any services that are typically offered by real estate agents and does not represent consumers when buying or selling real estate in any State.
When consumers submit information to Xome, this information is simply sold to real estate agents who are willing to pay for it with 25%-40% share of their commission.
Xome Pricing
Xome revenue comes from referral fees and sale of user data.
Listing Services
- This Service Does Not Represent Sellers
Buyer's Agent Services
- This Service Does Not Represent Buyers
Xome Editor's Review:
Xome is a licensed real estate broker that collects a 25%-40% referral fee from all real estate agents that participate. Agents are accepted into the referral program at no upfront cost, instead, all fees are back-loaded into the agent’s commission and result in a much higher cost to consumers.
All agents in Xome Agent Network must pay Xome a referral fee for each closed deal and report on the progress with private transaction details using Xome portal. Xome itself does not create an agency relationship with consumers and has no financial obligation for the actions of Referred Agents.
Consumers work with these agents through separate written agreements. The terms of any agreement between consumers and real estate agent in the network are not endorsed or recommended by Xome.
All real estate agents using Xome pay a referral fee depending on the final cost of a house. On a $250,000 house, the agent could pay around $2,800 in fees to Xome. This amount could be easily offered as a refund or commission savings to consumers, but instead, it becomes a deterrent for real estate agents to offer competitive terms.
Xome Agent Network plays fees down to consumers, but it rigidly locks every participating real estate agent into a referral fee attached to the back-end of every contract. As a licensed real estate agent that doesn’t perform any real estate services or takes any responsibility for the transaction, it is not entirely clear how this process works under the Business and Professions Code and RESPA.
Clearly, real estate agents only sign-up with Xome because the price of the referral fee can be easily incorporated into their client’s agreement with excessive commissions.
Xome receives the second lowest score because this service is clearly biased and it claims to provide the complete opposite of what it actually does. Xome must be well aware of this issue but continues to operate on pay-to-play methodology in order to collect fees that needlessly make home buying and selling more expensive. In the end,
Xome is a referral fee network that operates a limited pool of real estate agents willing to pay 25%-40% of their commission for each lead.
Where does Xome operate?
Buying and Selling with Redfin
WARNING: Unlawful Kickbacks, Broker-to-Broker Collusion, False Marketing, Wire Fraud, Price Fixing.
Redfin) is a broker-to-broker collusion scheme, where "partner agents" unlawfully agree to pay massive kickbacks to receive your information and engage in market allocation, consumer allocation, false advertising, unlawful kickbacks, wire fraud, and price-fixing practices in violation of, inter alia, 18 U.S.C. § 1346, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, 15 U.S.C. § 1, 15 U.S.C. § 45, 12 U.S.C. § 2607, 12 C.F.R. § 1024.14. As a consumer, you will always significantly overpay for Realtor commissions subject to hidden kickbacks and pay-to-play steering promoted in this scheme.
United States federal antitrust laws prohibit consumer allocation and blanket referral agreements between real estate companies.
Be smart; do not allow your information to be "sold as a lead" to a double-dealing Realtor in exchange for massive commission kickbacks paid from your future home sale, or your future home purchase.
A multi-state broker, a full-service company rebates buyer's part of the commission it receives, where allowed, and provides listing savings to sellers. In some cases, this company acts as an Internet referral fee network where it is unable to provide real estate services.
Redfin Pricing
Redfin offers listing savings to sellers (1% to 1.5% listing fee) and commission refunds to buyers where allowed by State law (21% rebate approximate.). Redfin works with about 3,100 Partner Agents in regions where it has no direct representation in exchange for a 30% referral fees.
Listing Services
- MLS Listing
- Zillow, Trulia, etc. Listing
- Accept and Deliver All Offers and Counteroffers
- Hold Open Houses
- Professional Photography
- Professional Floor Plans
- Yard Signage Installation
- Spare Key Lock-box Installation
- Schedule Inspection Services
- Schedule Private Showings
- Closing Duties
- Home Cleaning (Optional)
- Home Painting (Optional)
- Home Staging (Optional)
- Landscaping (Optional)
Buyer's Agent Services
- Find the Property
- Accept and Deliver All Offers and Counteroffers
- Recommend Other Professionals
- Attend Inspection Services
- Schedule Private Showings
- Negotiate Needed Repairs
- Closing Duties
Redfin Editor's Review:
Redfin is one of the largest real estate agents in the United States that offers service of a traditional agent with a competitive commission. It is important to separate Redfin services into three distinct categories: a real estate agent, a referral network and a direct cash buyer.
This review is focused on its operations as a real estate agent and a referral network. RedfinNow is further segregated into its own category because it operates as an investor and not a professional agent service model built to represent consumers.
Redfin went public in 2017 with an IPO that has raised $138 million and have thus saved consumers millions in commissions over typical rates offered by traditional real estate brokers. However, Redfin’s operations as a referral network result in an inefficiency known as reverse competition and possible price fixing. Such practice may result in lower quality of service and higher commissions due to added fees.
Agent Listings
Redfin Agents are salaried employees who are also paid bonuses based on client feedback and are not motivated by commissions. Redfin Agent Listing includes posting home on the MLS and MLS Aggregator services, professional photos, 3D tour and all typical services offered by a traditional real estate agent.
Redfin gives sellers access to a well-designed dashboard to track buyers viewing your home and other communication features.
Where Redfin cannot directly serve consumers, the company relies on a referral network of approximately 3,100 independent agents at other brokerages. Approximately 40% of all real estate transactions originated by Redfin are executed by this referral network.
Referral agents pay 30% of their commission back to Redfin when they close a transaction. Once Redfin refers a customer to a Partner Agent, that agent, not Redfin, represents the customer from the initial meeting through closing. In the past, Redfin had actively dictated that Partner Agent commission listing rates are set at 1.5%, or that Partner Agents issue rebates set at 15% to buyers (15% went to Redfin as a kickback.) Redfin has since revised this policy because it violates antitrust law.
In the United States, all independent brokerage fees are always negotiable and each real estate agent establishes its own policy for a fee structure, amount of commissions, and the sharing of any listing commissions.
Price fixing is prohibited by antitrust legislation. To fix, control, recommend, suggest or maintain commission rates or fees for other agents' services is an improper practice. Redfin Corporation has recently stopped such blatant price fixing strategy, where a statement on the company’s website now reads: "Since Partner Agents aren't employed by Redfin, we can't guarantee our 1%–1.5% listing fee or offer a Redfin Refund for customers who work with a Partner Agent." This statement means not only that Redfin "can't guarantee" these savings, but also that consumers shouldn't expect to receive savings from a Partner Agent.
Redfin still heavily engages in market-allocation and consumer brokering practices in their efforts to earn referral fees, instead of actually providing representation services. In 2019 Redfin has made a massive move by allowing with RE/MAX brokerage to participate as Partner Agents, where consumers are "sold as leads" to RE/MAX brokers for 25% cut of their commission.
Consumers a highly likely to overpay for listing commissions and receive little or no refund using Redfin Partner Program, when buying or selling a home, because the added 30% referral fee makes it impossible for Partner Agents to negotiate a fair market rate.
By utilizing Partner Agents, consumers are not just getting nothing, but are being subjected to thousands and sometimes tens of thousands in useless fees paid for the privilege of getting connected to a random agent.
Redfin Partner Program is one of the worst consumer brokering programs in the market because it implies that consumers will get a lower listing rate, or a refund from the Partner Agent shown on the Redfin website, but due to price fixing antitrust law this is not true.
Consumers should absolutely avoid using Redfin Partner Program agents.
Concierge Service
In November 2017 Redfin has launched a program called Concierge Service in select areas that offer home sellers added benefits of coordinating, supervising and paying for services such as deep cleaning, painting, staging, and landscaping in exchange for a 2% listing fee.