The New York Times recently published an overview of bold initiatives for Silicon Valley to bypass the traditional initial public offering. One idea was to create publicly traded shell companies for buying unicorns. Another was a new stock exchange that favors investors focused on long-term growth. The underlying premise that the public markets are flawed was taken as a given:

It is no secret that the public stock markets… are fundamentally broken. No chief executive wants to live in the glare of the public spotlight and deal with pesky investors who hold stocks in time frames of days and months, not years and decades.

This statement alone is breathtaking. CEOs love to complain about public-company investors and venture investors alike, but none of us would characterize the people funding our companies as “pesky,” even the ones who sell our stock when we fail to perform.

Redfin went public a few months ago, which taught me plenty about the public markets. What I learned is that you get the investors you deserve. You can run the process to take the last penny off the table, and get investors focused on immediate results. Or you can acknowledge the problems with your business, and recruit investors who understand your mission and have the patience to let you pursue it.

We undoubtedly have many ups and downs ahead, so we don’t pretend it will be a cake-walk. It certainly wasn’t when we were private. But the whole idea that we need to give technology companies a break when selling their stock to the public ignores just how much Silicon Valley has already reinvented the IPO process to give itself every possible break.

Tech Companies Already Give Ourselves a Pretty Sweet Deal

This flexibility begins with dual-class voting structures that limit the influence investors have over a company, a practice popularized by Facebook and Google, but taken to new extremes by Snapchat, which sold shares in its IPO that had no voting rights whatsoever. But it also includes classified boards who only come up for re-election on a staggered schedule, so that the board can’t be replaced en masse: 77% of recent IPOs have classified boards, compared to only 11% of the S&P 500.

Perhaps the issue investors should care most about is the ability to limit the number of shares issued by the company for its own benefit. At the time of an IPO, it is now standard to set aside an extremely generous pool of stock for the board to pay employees without future investors’ consent. The result is a company with the latitude to compete for talent, but where the company’s new owners don’t get as much say-so in how the company is run or how much employees are paid.

Who are we to say this is a bad idea? Wall Street’s concerns that such arrangementsleave a company with fewer checks against mismanagement were largely dismissed a year ago, and often for good reason: Facebook and Amazon are run better because the CEO can buy companies or invest in new businesses without worrying much about Wall Street’s reaction. Other high-flying companies have not had such great leaders, and the board was lucky to be able to replace the CEO. The point isn’t that limiting investor rights is wrong, only that such limits are possible, and widely practiced among technology companies.

Don’t Pity the Companies Going Public

The real reason there are fewer IPOs has nothing to do with the IPO process itself, which the story described as “brain-damaging;” for most CEOs, going public involves being courted by bankers, flying around in a private jet, and ringing the stock market’s opening bell. Few CEOs seem to be complaining about that. The issue is that many unicorns in the past couple of years have been overvalued by a small number of investors, many of whom encouraged the companies to grow without regard for profits.

Some investors were sovereign wealth funds eager to buy stock in a hot company at almost any price. Some investors structured the deals to pay a high price per share but with redemption rights or other terms that made the price moot, except in a newspaper headline. Many of those investors are already arranging private sales to one-off buyers at even higher prices. And now that the unicorns are asking Wall Street to top those prices, Wall Street is telling the unicorns to generate profits first.

Here Come the Profits

The good news is that most unicorns in fact have been responding by making money, often lots of it, which will over the next twelve months lead to a bumper crop of IPOs. This is an example of the system working, where Wall Street investors encouraged a financial discipline that was less important to companies when we were backed by venture capitalists. The folks in the Valley who want another way out, where we can get more money without making any projections about profits and without having to explain our company in detail to a retiree buying our stock, can just remain private.

A Prospectus Is Not a “Bogus Narrative”

The criticisms of going public don’t move me much. For example, the argument from Chamath Palpihapitiya that the IPO process involves crafting “a bogus narrative” is ridiculous. A cynic could say that about almost any marketing campaign, but not about the marketing in an IPO prospectus, which includes audited financial statements and discloses risk factors, with every claim validated by a team of lawyers. It’s the integrity of this process that many unicorns want to avoid. It’s the part of the process that I found, when Redfin was going through its IPO, almost awe inspiring.

Guidance is For Companies That Want to Be Valued on Future Earnings

I had similar issues with other proposals, like Eric Ries’s idea of a moratorium on guidance. Already, publicly traded companies do not have to guide investors on future earnings. In fact, one company that recently went through an IPO, Etsy, decided against providing earnings guidance. Naturally, Wall Street responded by valuing Etsy on its current profits, rather than its projected profits; since Etsy had up to that point been valued on its tremendous capacity to make money in the future, its stock stumbled. Soon thereafter, Etsy decided to guide investors on its earnings. This is why the company where I work, Redfin, has also guided analysts and investors on our future earnings. If we made a lot of money now, perhaps we wouldn’t have to talk about the future so much.

There are Fewer IPOs Because, After 20 Years, the Internet is Maturing

The larger issue for Etsy and for more recent IPOs like Blue Apron and Snapchat, is that the prospects of many new Internet companies have dimmed. Blue Apron has to compete with Amazon. Snap has to compete with Facebook.

Unlike the dot-com boom of the ’90s, investments in new Internet companies are hit or miss because the Internet has matured, and the advantages of incumbency are now enormous. As a result, there are more acquisitions of IPO-bound Internet-companies and fewer that can thrive over the long haul on their own. This is why the best possible invention to spur a new set of publicly traded companies won’t be a new way to go public, but a new kind of technology company, a company that can one day beat Amazon, Google or Facebook. Maybe this won’t happen in every market, for every type of customer, right away, but it will happen in pieces over time. Shouldn’t that be what Silicon Valley is focused on?

The Redfin Housing Demand Index remained virtually flat, up slightly from 126 in July to 127 in August. Still, the Demand Index increased 27.7 percent year over year. The Demand Index is adjusted for Redfin’s market share growth.

The Demand Index is based on thousands of Redfin customers requesting home tours and writing offers. A level of 100 represents the historical average for the three-year period from January 2013 to December 2015.

Across the 15 metros covered by the Demand Index, there were 13.9 percent fewer homes for sale in August than there were a year prior, and there was a 2.7 percent decline in new listings. August marked the 27th consecutive month of year-over-year inventory declines in these markets.

“High consumer confidence and low interest rates have powered homebuyer demand, but too-low inventory has constrained home sales all year,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “The Federal Reserve is now setting the stage for a slow, steady increase in mortgage rates in October by beginning to sell its mortgage portfolio. Fall buyers are likely to face slightly higher financing costs in addition to strong price growth.”

The seasonally adjusted number of buyers requesting home tours and writing offers remained flat from July to August, decreasing 0.8 percent and increasing 0.1 percent respectively. Compared to last year, 42.3 percent more buyers requested tours in August and 8.2 percent more wrote offers.

Metro-Level Demand Highlights

Below, we provide a slideshow of local charts for each of the metros tracked by the Redfin Housing Demand Index and highlight noteworthy trends and agent insights from select markets. If you’d like to learn more about a particular market, please email press@redfin.com.

Oakland had the largest Demand Index increase in August, up 29 percent from July and 43 percent year over year. Inventory was down 30 percent year over year and new listings fell 5.3 percent.

“August has traditionally been one of the slowest months in Oakland for homebuyer activity as people go on vacation and finish up their family activities before the kids head back to school,” said Redfin Oakland agent Tom Hendershot. “This year, August demand has really ramped up compared to July, and we expect September to be a very active month as long as more new inventory hits the market.”

Denver saw the largest decrease in homebuyer activity in August, with its Demand Index down 54.2 percent from July. Inventory there was down 9.3 percent and new listings fell 8.8 percent year over year.

“Denver usually sees a drop in homebuyer demand in August, but this year was slower than we’ve seen in recent years,” said Redfin Denver agent Martin Mata. “Homebuyer fatigue has set in and buyers are frustrated because they’re priced out of homes they could afford a couple years ago. We’ve actually had other agents tell us that their clients will back out if there are multiple offers on a listing because people are so fed up with bidding wars.”

For more detail on the Redfin Demand Index methodology, click here.

Redfin is thrilled to announce we’re extending our 1 percent listing fee to home sellers in 18 additional markets. Home sellers in the following markets will pay Redfin just 1 percent of the final sale price, subject to a minimum of between $3,000 to $5,500.

Sellers typically pay their listing agent a commission of 2.5 to 3 percent of the home’s sale price. With a 1 percent listing fee, sellers working with a Redfin agent will save between $7,000 and $10,000 on a $500,000 home sale. The 1 percent listing fee does not include buyer’s agent commission, which is typically paid by the seller.

The lowered listing fee is being offset by a reduction of the Redfin refund for buyers in the new 1 percent listing markets. Buyers can continue to see the amount of the refund, which is based on the price of the home, on the home listing page.  The 18 new markets join Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, San Diego, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia, where Redfin rolled out a trial test of 1 percent listing fees. 1 percent listings are now available to 80 percent of Redfin home sellers. Redfin will continue to charge a 1.5 percent listing fee in the other markets where it operates, which is already a significant value.

“This pricing better reflects how our customers want to pay a real estate agent,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. “Especially in today’s hot market, the most value-conscious customer is the one selling, not buying, a home. We first tried shifting more savings from buyers to sellers nearly three years ago, with 1 percent pricing in Washington, D.C., and then later in four other markets, and our overall share gains in those markets have outpaced other Redfin markets.”

Every seller who works with Redfin receives the following, included in the fee, paid for by Redfin:

• A dedicated listing agent with experience selling homes in the local area, backed by a team of support staff who make the process run smoothly.
• One of the industry’s most thorough pricing analyses, which combines Redfin’s proprietary algorithms for estimating the value of a home and the expertise of a local Redfin agent.
• Professional photography.
• A Redfin 3D Walkthrough tour, letting buyers view a three-dimensional floor plan online, then interact with every aspect of the home from any direction, as if walking from room to room.
• Open houses, hosted by a Redfin agent, with visitors registered by our own iPad application for immediate follow-up.
• Online marketing with the listing featured above others on Redfin.com, the U.S.’s #1 brokerage website. Redfin also runs email and digital advertising campaigns to reach just the right buyers.
• Pre-marketing of Redfin listings, where permitted by local rules, with tools for gathering feedback on the number of interested buyers and what price they would pay for the property.
• Professionally designed and beautifully produced print brochures.
• The Redfin Home Dashboard, letting sellers track online visits to their listing and the latest competitive market conditions in their neighborhood.

“Offering the Redfin home-selling experience for just a 1 percent listing fee builds on Redfin’s mission to make real estate better for consumers,” said Karen Krupsaw, senior vice president of real estate operations. “We are addressing every pain point for sellers– not only the cost of selling a home– but the challenges of setting the right price, getting the property ready to list, making a strong debut on the market and keeping track of logistics and paperwork.”

For three consecutive years, Redfin has sold listings for more money, with a higher rate of success than the industry average. Specifically, homes listed with Redfin sell for an average of $3,000 more and had a higher chance of selling, with 75 percent of listings selling within 90 days, compared to 69 percent among comparable listings across the country.

Redfin publishes comprehensive information about each of its agents, including homes they have sold, areas of expertise and customer reviews, so sellers can choose an agent who has the local knowledge and experience that meets their needs.

Homeowners who are interested in selling can visit www.redfin.com/why-sell to learn more about Redfin’s service and connect with a Redfin agent in their neighborhood.

Everyone loves a good happy hour. #HappyHour posts let people share their good times on social media, and may inspire others to get out there and enjoy themselves too. We wanted to find out where the most people posted about happy hours on Instagram, so we sorted through more than 4 million Instagram posts from 2010 to 2017 with the hashtag #HappyHour to see just where people are getting their drink on.

The idea of people coming together, having a great time and enjoying discounted eats and drinks is appealing enough that most restaurants, bars and nightclubs have at least one happy hour to lure in a crowd. Continue reading to discover where the party’s at.

U.S. Dominates #HappyHour Posts (Followed by Hong Kong)

When we examined the most prevalent #HappyHour Instagram posts by country, the U.S. came out on top with 393 Instagram posts per 100,000 residents mentioning #HappyHour. Since the phrase “happy hour” originated with the U.S. Navy (although it referred to onboard entertainment such as wrestling bouts instead of tipping back a cocktail), it’s a decidedly English term, so it’s not outrageous that English-speaking countries ranked so high.

Australia, the next most frequent majority English-speaking country, came in at No. 5, followed by the third and final majority English-speaking country, Canada at No. 6.Hong Kong was No. 2 on the list, and while Chinese is one of its official languages, English is as well (hence the use of the term “happy hour”). Singapore and Italy were No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, and the top 10 concluded with Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, the Dominican Republic and Greece.

Among non-U.S. cities, Wan Chai – a metropolitan area located in Hong Kong known for its nightlife – came out on top with 6,016 #HappyHour Instagram posts per 100,000 residents. Hong Kong also boasts the highest bar in the world, Hong Kong Rooftop, a popular attraction for tourists and locals alike. Visitors can gaze out over the Victoria Harbour while sipping on a famous cocktail named after the bar, a fruity concoction which includes kumquats, strawberries, pears, grapefruit, and a healthy portion of vodka and salted caramel.

Milan, Italy, also boasts a busy nightlife, as its #HappyHour mentions attest – 1,756. If you find yourself participating in a happy hour in Milan, be sure to toast your friends like a local by clinking glasses and saying, “Salute” (pronounced sah-loo-tay).

Dubai, ranking fifth on the list, is the largest city in the United Arab Emirates. As with the other top non-U.S. cities, Dubai has a thriving nightlife with a wide smattering of clubs throughout the city. Interestingly, Dubai is located within the United Arab Emirates, a predominantly Muslim country where alcohol use is tightly regulated. Non-Muslim locals and visitors are allowed to drink alcohol, however (and can purchase it as long as one has a personal liquor license). These regulations, though, haven’t stopped the influx of #HappyHour posts originating from Dubai.

No. 8 on our list was Belo Horizonte, which – while less familiar than other Brazilian cities like Rio de Janeiro – is the third largest city in Brazil. As such, it also has plenty to do after hours, including some drinking specials to wet your whistle.

A Happy Hour State of Mind

Among U.S. states, the top spot for #HappyHour Instagram posts per capita went to Washington, D.C., which is, of course, not actually a state at all. However, after a hard day’s work, D.C. residents like to relax just as much as the next person, at least according to Instagram – they topped out at 3,970 posts per 100,000 residents. D.C. is definitely dedicated to #HappyHour – in fact, you can check out the top spots to get your cheap drinks on at DCHappyHours.com.

New York was the next state on the list. Considering it’s home to NYC, the most populous city in the U.S. and home to many a happy hour, it’s not a huge stretch to think that New Yorkers enjoy their bar time.

Montana was third on the list, with 590 posts per 100,000 residents. Though not a relatively heavily populated state, Montana’s citizens still take advantage of food and drink specials at the duly appointed time. Perhaps it’s due to the large state universities (University of Montana in Missoula and Montana State University in Bozeman) which happily bump up those #HappyHour mentions.

Last on the list was Missouri, which apparently needs to step up its #HappyHour specials – its residents only netted 11 posts per capita , behind such states like Wyoming (12 posts), Utah (27 posts) and Alaska (33 posts).

Socializing Over Social Media

The city with the most #HappyHour Instagram mentions per capita was Hollywood, California – people cranked out nearly 48,000 posts per 100,000 residents.West Hollywood is next, with each over 31,000 posts per capita. Referred to as WeHo residents, those fortunate enough to live in West Hollywood have a plethora of options to choose from. Saint Felix is a favorite of locals, not just for their cheap drinks but also their exceptional mac and cheese dish. For those who like to get a bit more experimental with their libations, The Roger Room offers some of the best mixology in the state.

The next three cities were also in California: Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Glendale. Other per-capita winners were Portland, New Orleans and Las Vegas. While New Orleans is often associated with Mardis Gras, Bourbon Street is one of the top party spots in the entire U.S. year-round. It’s also one of the best places to find the iconic Hurricane cocktail.

When we next looked at the top cities for the total volume of #HappyHour Instagram posts, New York City came out on top, and users there far out-posted the rest of the top 15 cities – including San Francisco, San Diego, Miami and Brooklyn. Because the sheer volume of people posting in these large cities tended to bump up their #HappyHour numbers, looking at this data per capita gives more unique results.

It’s Five O‘Clock Somewhere

As we look at the data through times of day, days of the month and months of the year, we can see when people most often posted about #HappyHour. Happy hour mentions on Instagram peaked at around 10 p.m., which is usually when the night gets busy for popular bars and nightclubs, and when typical happy hour specials are available. #HappyHour posts occurred the least often from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., but there were still between 64,000 and 75,000 posts during that time frame.

Happy hour isn’t always limited to a set day, but because many people have the weekend off, Fridays were the most popular day to #HappyHour garnering over a fifth of all posting activity. Thursday was the second most popular day, with 16.5 percent. Wednesday followed with 14.9 percent, and Saturday at 14.2 percent. It turns out that Sunday (9 percent) and Monday (10.5 percent) were the least popular days to post about #HappyHour on Instagram – go figure.

The hottest months to post about happy hour were May and June, followed by April and March (spring break, anyone?).

The Ultimate #HappyHour of the Year? Spring break, graduation and the beginning of summer could all be contributors to the most popular time of the year to post a #HappyHour photo – a Saturday in May around 10pm!

#Beer and #Wine? #Cheers to That!

Happy hour doesn’t happen all by itself! There is a bevy of additional hashtags that people used in addition to #HappyHour on Instagram. The most common hashtag associated with #HappyHour posts was #Drinks (8.2 percent) , followed by #Cocktails (7.9 percent) and #Beer (7.4 percent). Next was #Bar (5.3 percent) because the best happy hour specials can often be found in a pub setting, followed closely by #Food (5.1 percent) and #Friends (5 percent) –because who better to spend happy hour with? Unless it’s with your #Love (4.5 percent), which comes next on the list. #Wine (4.4 percent), #Instagood (4.2 percent) and #Cheers (3.9 percent) rounded out the list of the most popular additional hashtags.

Methodology

We scraped and analyzed over 4 million Instagram posts with the hashtag #HappyHour. Posts were pulled globally, with a date range from 2010 to 2017. Location was determined by the geotag of the post. We performed a text analysis on the posts to determine the top additional hashtags associated. Analysis of the time of posting was based on the local time. We did not scrape for any translations of the hashtag.

Sources

• https://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/facts.htm
• http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/wanchai-bar-guide/index.html
• http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/portal/tur/en/scoprilacitta/nightlife
• http://www.livingindubai.org/7-best-nightclubs-dubai/
• https://www.lonelyplanet.com/brazil/the-southeast/belo-horizonte

Fair Use Statement

Want to share this study? Don’t worry, be happy! We’d love for you to do so as long as it is for noncommercial purposes. All we ask is that you link back to this page and credit Redfin for the work.

The lack of affordable housing in America’s fast growing cities is reaching epic proportions as more and more families are being priced out of homeownership.  In 2012, a middle class family could afford 44 percent of the homes for sale. By 2016, the share of affordable listings declined 12 percentage points to just 32 percent.

This housing equality gap is amplified by a very popular federal tax policy known as the mortgage interest deduction (MID).  This policy first appeared in 1894, when all forms of interest, including mortgages, were deductible from federal income taxes. This was a time when homeownership rates were low, the 30-year mortgage was nonexistent, and families generally paid cash if they bought a home at all.

Over time the mortgage interest deduction grew in popularity, making it hard for policymakers to cut.  When the housing market tanked in 2007, the extra incentive of the MID helped boost the number of people willing to buy rather than rent and quickened the pace of the housing recovery.

The MID has outlived its usefulness. Only homeowners who itemize their deductions can receive MID’s tax benefit. Under the proposed GOP tax plan, even fewer middle-class households will find it worthwhile to itemize.  

This forms an unintended but impenetrable income divide between homeowners who take the MID and those who don’t. Households that make over $100,000 in annual income benefit the most, receiving 77 percent of the subsidies. Homeowners  earning more than $200,000 receive over a third of the benefit.

This benefit comes at a cost. The Federal government paid an estimated $77 billion to subsidize homeowners in 2016, plus an additional $34.7 billion in subsidies for local property taxes. Shamefully, this is more than double the $47.8 billion HUD spent on rental vouchers, community grants and other housing programs for low-income families last year, even before the $6.2 billion in cuts that the Trump Administration proposed for 2018.

As many economists will readily point out, the MID distorts the housing market, by subsidizing folks who buy one or more homes and then write off the interest. The subsidy also rewards size and sprawl, because the bigger and more expensive the house, the greater the subsidy. In this way, the added demand incentivized by the MID pushes up home prices and soaks up much needed supply.

Since interest rates are on course to rise this year, the cost of the MID to the American taxpayer will only grow larger. Meanwhile much needed housing programs are on the chopping block. Only a quarter of the families that qualify for rental subsidies actually get them even though rents have risen 16 percent since 2000.  

The MID is in dire need of an update. It should be restructured to help working class and middle-income families become homeowners, instead of helping the wealthiest among us. Making a subsidy implicitly available only to high earners that itemize is tone deaf to the realities of the present housing market.  

The single biggest thing the Trump Administration and Congress could do to close that gap is a second wave of lending reform, where the government more aggressively backs middle-class mortgages. This would let working class people move to where the good jobs are, and protect the economic diversity that has been the hallmark of America’s cities since the 18th century.  

Congress should reroute those regressive mortgage interest subsidies from high-income to middle-income families. Among other ideas for reform, it can cap the amount of mortgage that can be written off, limit the number of homes a owner can receive a deduction to one and  impose an income cap on homeowners who receive mortgage interest subsidies, making these caps no more than 75 percent of the area median household income.  

It’s time to renovate the MID to make it work for the middle class. An America-first economic agenda starts at home.  

In case you haven’t noticed, people have a crazy obsession with fall. From partaking in pumpkin-spiced everything to busting out beloved cableknit sweaters, many people believe there’s no better time of year than when the leaves turn rich shades of red and orange and the air becomes crisp.

One of the best reasons to rejoice when autumn graces us with its presence is the arrival of Halloween. If you’re a fan of the frightening, we’ve taken some of the guesswork out for you on the best cities to visit to celebrate this spooktacular season.

Using a collection of dozens of rankings lists from a variety of publishers, we created a Spooky Score scale of 0-13. A city earned points based on the number of times it was mentioned across all of our referenced articles, the number of creeptastic things to do there and the number of haunted locations it has.

Halloween is special because there are a lot of ways to celebrate it: some prefer to enjoy the season with the entire family, while others can’t imagine All Hallows’ Eve without an honest-to-goodness ghost sighting. For that reason, we’ve created two lists for these chilling cities. Our Family-friendly Halloween Activities list offers ideas that adults and children of all ages will love, while our Haunted History and Paranormal Investigation collection will satisfy those just dying to see true creatures of the night.

Here are the top 13 cities for celebrating Halloween. Have fun, and beware!

1. New Orleans, LA

Spooky Score: 12.4 out of 13
City Walk Score: 58

It’s no wonder that New Orleans topped our list — the Big Easy embraces its reputation as being one of the most haunted cities in America, and doesn’t disappoint with its seasonal and year-round ghostly activities. The city offers something for every age group so the entire family can delight in fright all day and into the night: begin with the Krewe of Boo parade (complete with eerie floats and music), head over to voodoo priestess Marie Laveau’s tomb at St. Louis Cemetery #1 and finish the night with a haunted history and paranormal tour — if you dare.

Things to Do / Places to See: Voodoo Music + Arts Experience, Krewe of Boo Halloween Parade, New Orleans Vampire Ball, Ghost City Tours, Halloween in New Orleans Festival, Boo at the Zoo, Tomb of Marie Laveau, Mortuary Haunted Mansion, Voodoo Witchcraft Festival, Crawloween at the Audubon Nature Center, NOLA Halloween Pub Crawl, Halloween New Orleans, LaLaurie House, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, Hotel Monteleone, Sultan’s Palace, St. Louis Cemetery, Gardette-LaPrete House, Lafitte Guest House Bar, FrenchQuarter Phantoms Ghost Tours

2. Salem, MA

Spooky Score: 10 out of 13
City Walk Score: 66

If you’re visiting this historic town — whether it’s Halloween or not — it’s borderline criminal not to drop in on one of their Salem Witch Trial Reenactments. After crossing this item off of your to-do list, head over to Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery Monster Museum, which brings movie monsters to life all year long and features a haunted house each October. Fuel up with dinner and a show at the Haunted Dinner Theatre, then end the night at the Witches’ Halloween Ball, where you’re sure to be the envy of every mortal who is stuck in the realm of the living.

Things to Do / Places to See: Gallows Hill Park, Old Burying Point, Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, Festival of the Dead, Salem Witches’ Halloween Ball, Haunted Happenings, Psychic Fair and Witchcraft Expo, Salem Witch Trial Reenactments, Chambers of Terror, Ghosts and Legends Trolley Tour, Haunted Dinner Theatre, Nightmare Gallery Monster Museum, Great Pumpkin Carving Contest, Haunted Biz Baz Street Fair, Salem Witch Museum, Witch House, Gallows Hill Museum/Theatre

3. Chicago, IL

Spooky Score: 9 out of 13
City Walk Score: 78

Chicagoans love when autumn rolls in over Lake Michigan and relieves the city of the summer heat, and it celebrates by throwing a weeks-long Halloween celebration with all kinds of events. Chicagoween at Franken Plaza — known as Daley Plaza the rest of the year — hosts movie nights, live performances and costume contests, and parks across the city are home to pumpkin patches and haunted houses. Land lovers should check out the Northalsted Halloween Parade, and those who aren’t afraid of a haunted sea voyage will love one of Navy Pier’s haunted cruise options.

Things to Do / Places to See: Oriental Theatre, Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery and Pond, 2122 North Clark Street (location of the Valentine’s Day Massacre), Drake Hotel, Congress Plaza Hotel, Old Town Tatu, Halloween Parade on North Halsted, House of Torment, Six Flags Fright Fest, Chicago Hauntings Tour Company, Wateriders Ghosts and Gangsters Kayak Tour, Race of the Dead, Franken Plaza/Chicagoween, Pumpkin Patches and More

4. Philadelphia, PA

Spooky Score: 8 out of 13
City Walk Score: 79

The Founding Fathers would be proud of how all-out Philadelphia goes during the year’s most bewitching season. Those who think they’d be a survivor in a scary movie should make their way over to the Bates Motel or the Fright Factory for a haunted house experience with special effects straight out of a horror film. For a milder dose of fright, the Zombie Prom or Henri David’s Annual Party invites guests to dress up and dance the night away — the perfect way to fade into the darkness of night.

Things to Do / Places to See: Eastern State Penitentiary, Fort Mifflin, Bates Motel, Philly Zombie Prom, Fright Factory, Henri David’s Annual Party

5. Portland, OR

Spooky Score: 7.8 out of 13
City Walk Score: 65

Portland is a lush city by day, and a spooky one by night. After seeing the sights, grab a slice at Old Town Pizza, where you might spot Nina, the joint’s resident ghost, who loves dining with visitors. You can start the night off at FrightTown, which haunts an entire city block with attractions like Grimthorne Manor and Buried Alive. If you’re in the mood for a fright-nightcap, Lovecraft, a horror-themed bar, will thrill you with its themed evenings like Black Mass and Bones.

Things to Do / Places to See: Shanghai Tunnels, Old Town Pizza, McMenimans White Eagle Saloon and Hotel, Hobo’s Restaurant, Benson Hotel, Pittock Mansion, Portland Walking Tours, Lovecraft, FrightTown

6. Los Angeles, CA

Spooky Score: 7.6 out of 13
City Walk Score: 67

It may be called the City of Angels, but come fall wicked spirits also come out to play. LA is home to Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags, all of which turn into horror fests each October. To get a true taste of the city at Halloween, take a stroll through the West Hollywood Carnaval, or hitch a ride in Griffith Park’s Haunted Hayride, which offers stunning city views to help take the edge off of being chased by zombies.

Things to Do / Places to See: Queen Mary, West Hollywood Carnaval, Griffith Park Haunted Hayride, Dia de los Muertos, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, Knott’s Scary Farm, Magic Mountain Fright Fest

7. San Francisco, CA

Spooky Score: 7.2 out of 13
City Walk Score: 86

The City by the Bay has entertainment for every age group by land and by water. Pier 39 offers kid-friendly festivals and pumpkin carving throughout the season. If you want to make a preemptive strike against all of the Halloween candy you plan on indulging in, run or walk in Run with the Zombies, a festive but family-friendly 5K. If you’re brave enough to set sail with ghouls, goblins and monsters, hop aboard San Fran’s Ghost Ship, where you’ll enjoy live music, dancing and carnival-style rides.

Things to Do / Places to See: Queen Anne Hotel, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, Winchester Mystery House, Presidio, San Francisco Zombie Walk, Chinatown Ghost Tour, Dia de los Muertos, Haunted Pirate Ship Tours

8. New York, NY

Spooky Score: 7 out of 13
City Walk Score: 89

NYC is the city that never sleeps — and when Halloween nears, that probably has something to do with all of the goblins and ghouls roaming the streets of the Big Apple. The Village Halloween Parade completely takes over lower Manhattan with its display of intricate costumes and paper-mâché puppets, and there are haunted houses all over the city all season long. If you’re looking for something slightly more chilling, venture into the crypts below the Cathedral of St. John the Divine — you’ll never look at a chapel the same way again.

Things to Do / Places to See: New Amsterdam Theatre, Village Halloween Parade, Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade, Blackout, Crypt Crawl Under the Cathedral of St. John, Webster Hall Halloween Party, Blood Manor

9. Estes Park, CO

Spooky Score: 6.8 out of 13
City Walk Score: 62

You probably know Estes Park’s most famous site, the Stanley Hotel, of book and movie fame: it served as the inspiration for Stephen King’s classic The Shining after his own eerie experience of staying there. For those who aren’t quite ready to meet an evil specter face-to-(ghostly) face, it’s still easy to enjoy the splendor of the season at the hotel’s Shining Ball, Halloween Masquerade Party or Murder Mystery Dinner. Just don’t be too surprised if any otherworldly guests show up.

Things to Do / Places to See: Stanley Hotel, Baldpate Inn, Elkhorn Lodge

10. Savannah, GA

Spooky Score: 6.6 out of 13
City Walk Score: 43

Savannah is a near-perfect place for ghost hunting, but there are plenty of fun activities for those who aren’t eager to have a paranormal experience. To show the kiddos a good time, check out Tybee Island Pirate Fest, which salutes those who sailed the Seven Seas, or the Halloween Hike, where children can explore nature and create festive crafts. For a more grown-up celebration, check out the local Oktoberfest, Lot 13 Haunted House or Crawl-O-Ween, the creepiest way to enjoy a local cocktail or craft beer as the witching hour approaches.

Things to Do / Places to See: Sorrel-Weed House, Moon River Brewing Company, William Kehoe House, Marshall House, Mercer House, Gribble House, Forsyth Park, Bonaventure Cemetery, Calhoun Square Ghost City Tours, Colonial Park Cemetery Ghost Tours, Crawl-O-Ween, Haunted Forest, Annual Halloween Parade

11. San Diego, CA

Spooky Score: 5.6 out of 13
City Walk Score: 51

San Diego is a destination that never disappoints, and harvest season is no exception. Film aficionados can be the stars of their own horror movies at McKamey Manor, while more traditional Halloween revelers can visit the Haunted Hotel Haunted House. For an immersive experience that is guaranteed to haunt you until next October, take a mile-long stroll through the Haunted Trail at Balboa Park, where you’ll be greeted — and stalked — by creatures straight out of your nightmares.

Things to Do / Places to See: Whaley House, Hotel Del Coronado, El Campo Santo Cemetery, Horton Grand Hotel, Haunted Hotel Haunted House, Haunted Trail

12. Louisville, KY

Spooky Score: 4.6 out of 13
City Walk Score: 33

Louisville is home to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium, which is reportedly seeping with plagued spirits of the hospital’s distressed past. You don’t have to be a ghost hunter to enjoy the infamous site, however: the landmark hosts a haunted house that runs from September to Halloween every year. Just be warned that not every ghoul you see will be a planned part of the event.

Things to Do / Places to See: Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Louisville Zoo Halloween Party, Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular, Otter Creek Nightmare Forest, Dead End Hotel, Louisville Zombie Attack

13. Sleepy Hollow, NY

Spooky Score: 4.4 out of 13
City Walk Score: 80

New York is home to Sleepy Hollow, one of the most famous haunted settings of literature, and you can even see the formidable Headless Horseman at a live performance of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. For a wider array of terrifying creatures of the night, head over to Philipsburg Manor, a 300-year-old structure that becomes home to all manner of demons, vampires and witches on Halloween.

Things to Do / Places to See: Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Old Dutch Burying Ground, Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, Horseman’s Hollow, Lyndhurst Castle, Philipsburg Manor, Jay Ghoul’s House of Curiosities

Honorable Mentions

14. Gettysburg, PA

Spooky Score: 4.2 out of 13
City Walk Score: 85

Things to Do / Places to See: Gettysburg Battlefield, Lightner Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast, Devil’s Den, Farnsworth House, After Dark Investigations

15. Detroit, MI

Spooky Score: 3.8 out of 13
City Walk Score: 55

Things to Do / Places to See: Masonic Temple, Erebus Haunted Attraction, Zombie Walk Detroit, Creepy Cheapy, DAMNED Show, Theatre Bizarre

16. St. Augustine, FL (tied)

Spooky Score: 3.6 out of 13
City Walk Score: 57

Things to Do / Places to See: St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, Spanish Military Hospital Museum, Old Jail, Castillo de San Marcos, Creatures of the Night

16. San Antonio, TX (tied)

Spooky Score: 3.6 out of 13
City Walk Score: 38

Things to Do / Places to See: Alamo, Emily Morgan Hotel, Menger Hotel, San Fernando Cathedral, Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours, 13th Floor

Methodology

Using a collection of dozens of rankings lists from a variety of publishers, we created a Spooky Score scale of 0-13. A city earned points based on:

• The number of times it was mentioned across all of our referenced articles
• The number of creeptastic things to do there
• The number of haunted locations it has

In order to get the highest Spooky Score possible, first and foremost, a city had to be mentioned multiple times across the articles we referenced. Then, a city earned bonus points based on the different activities, sites and events the city offers; some of these are seasonal, some are year-round, but they’re all guaranteed to send shivers down your spine. Cities with the highest scores have a rich mix of a haunted history and a welcoming spirit for those seeking out bumps in the night.

Is your city a Halloween haven? Tell us about it in the comments!

Even though millions of Americans buy a home each year, there’s no exact science to it. Each person has a different set of variables to consider, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. Fortunately, you don’t have to navigate the process completely in the dark. Here are 9 things every LGBTQ+ homebuyer should know, along with resources to help you find and settle into the home of your dreams.

1. You have rights against discrimination

In another win for equality, a federal judge recently ruled that the LGBTQ+ community is protected against housing discrimination. That means that no matter where you live in the country, no seller can refuse to sell you a home based on your sexual orientation or gender identity. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world, and there is no guarantee that you won’t run into prejudice at any point.

Discrimination can take various forms: a house you’ve shown interest in may disappear off the market, a seller may raise their asking price without warning or cause, or a bank may assign you extra piles of paperwork in order to apply for a loan. Keep a close eye on the process to ensure you’re receiving the same fair treatment as anyone else. Consult friends, family, and neighbors who have recently bought property, and compare your experience to theirs — sometimes, it could be that a process only seems over-complicated, but other times, you may discover you’re taking unnecessary additional steps.

If you believe you’ve faced discrimination on your journey to buy a home, the following resources can help:

• The Fair Housing Act
• Fair Housing — It’s Your Right
• Before You File a Fair Housing Complaint or Claim
• Filing a Housing Discrimination Complaint
• Find Your Local ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)

2. Just because you aren’t married doesn’t mean you should be at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, federal law now protects the right of members of the LGBTQ+ community to marry and receive equal access to joint loans, mortgages, and tax benefits. Still, buying property as an unmarried couple isn’t uncommon. In fact, one study found that 25 percent of couples between the ages of 18 and 34 bought a house before they were married.

The good news is that your marital status won’t hinder your chances of getting a loan, because banks look at each applicant individually no matter what. It can, however, add a few additional steps to the process, and sometimes that can cause delays. If you can find ways to simplify any aspect — for instance, some couples opt to set up a joint account to dedicate to mortgage payments, insurance, maintenance and repairs, property taxes, and other home-related costs — go for it. But don’t feel pressured to sign on to anything you aren’t completely comfortable with. Weigh all of your options carefully, keep the lines of communication open with your partner, and most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Your real estate agent and banking professional are excellent resources, so reach out to them as needed.

3. Location, location location: don’t underestimate it.

There are LGBTQ+ communities across the country, but you shouldn’t feel discouraged if your new town doesn’t make any top 10 lists. There are inclusive, welcoming neighborhoods out there — but if you’re shopping from a distance or unsure where to even begin your search, it’s important to communicate with your real estate agent. You can even look at state maps of laws and policies that impact the LGBTQ community and see where the states stand on certain issues.

Some agents even specialize in helping LGBTQ+ families find their dream homes. Make sure you have an agent who truly understands your needs, and let him or her know if you feel like you’re veering away from your goal.

4. All of your finances need to be 100% in order.

Not everyone is great with numbers, and when you’re renting, a budget isn’t as essential. When you decide to buy a house, however, it’s time to seriously buckle down on your finances. You’re going to need to sit down and lay out all of the numbers:

• Income
• Active loans
• Taxes
• Bills
• Grocery and living expenses
• Recreational costs

You need to know flat-out how much you’re bringing in each month versus how much you’re spending. You might discover that you’re in an excellent spot to buy a house, but it’s still important to know exactly how that’s going to impact your current budget. Chances are that you’ll find plenty of ways to start trimming the fat (eating at home rather than out at restaurants and limiting unnecessary spending are great places to start), and with a little time and careful spending, you might even be able to work your buying budget to your favor.

If you have any existing loans, it’s worth finding out what your balance is and looking into refinancing your payments. You might be able to pay something off sooner than you thought and be able to start fresh with a mortgage. For some, even holding off for a few months can make an important impact on planning for your future home. Keep in mind that there are many factors to consider for each individual case, so you should talk to a finance professional before making any major decisions.

5. Buying together is great, but you’ll need to make a lot of decisions upfront.

When you’re purchasing a new home solo, you only have to worry about your own credit, financial, and employment considerations. When someone else comes into the picture, it’s not necessarily as simple as cutting everything down the middle.

If there’s a significant salary difference between you and your home buying partner, for instance, you’ll have some budgeting questions to ask:

• Do you each want to spend the same amount on a monthly mortgage payment, or is the person with a higher salary prepared to pay more in the interest of a larger or nicer house?
• Would the loan and/or deed be in both names?
• Do you each have strong credit?
• Are you both in stable employment situations that aren’t likely to change?
• If the home needs repairs, will you both be able to help cover the costs?

If you’re purchasing property with a friend and will split the time spent there, you’ll want to establish caretaking costs in advance. For example, if the dishwasher breaks while tenant A is living there, are both parties responsible for the cost of repairs? What if tenant B recently replaced the television out-of-pocket? These kinds of details probably sound finicky now, but it’s important that you each understand and feel comfortable with the terms of your joint purchase.

Talk through all the details, get everything in writing, and if you prefer, bring in a lawyer to help mediate. Whether you’re friends or partners, it can help to have an impartial third party to keep the process moving and conversations productive. Buying a home isn’t something you want to do with uncertainties, so get all of your bases covered.

6. There are benefits for veterans.

If you and/or your partner is a veteran, you may qualify for a VA home loan — and for most military families, that means no down payment. Credit guidelines are much more flexible to create better access, and both interest rates and closing costs tend to be much lower. The VA Funding Fee replaces mortgage insurance, and some families will be exempt from the fee altogether.

For more information, check out the following resources:

• VA Home Loans — Eligibility
• American Veterans for Equal Rights
• What is a VA Guaranteed Home Loan?
• 10 Things Many Borrowers Don’t Know About VA Loans

7. Trust your instincts.

Many homebuyers will tell you that when they found the right house, they “just knew” or “had a feeling.” That isn’t to say that if you find a great home but don’t feel warm and fuzzy that it’s a bad choice, but often, you know your dream house when you see it.

It’s important to trust any negative feelings you might get about a house or neighborhood. While the country continues to make progress in terms of equal access for the LGBTQ+ community, some remain resistant. If you visit a home that’s perfect on paper but the neighbors are cordial yet not-so-subtle with their beliefs, don’t rule out other neighborhoods or properties just yet. It’s entirely possible to catch people on a bad or “off” day, but if you consistently get the impression that you wouldn’t exactly be received warmly, it might be worth looking elsewhere completely. Keep your options open to see if you can find the perfect house

8. Be prepared for an adjustment period.

Homebuying is stressful whether you’re doing it single, with a friend, as a couple, or with children in tow. Even once you’ve moved in to your new home, there’s going to be an adjustment period for everyone. You and your partner might bicker over little things you normally wouldn’t, and in some cases, money will become a daily argument. Each relationship and situation is unique but bear in mind that these kinds of moving pains are usually normal and pass with time. Still, some couples will benefit from counseling — and even better if you find a therapist who specializes in LGBTQ+ issues. Under this kind of enormous stress, it can make all the difference to have someone help you refocus on the positives of your relationship and the exciting new path ahead of you, so don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed to reach out.

If you have children, they’ll likely have their own woes about the move. Help them see the light in the situation, but don’t discount their mixed or negative feelings. It’s normal for them to feel sad over “losing” their previous home and to feel displaced if they’ve moved across the city, state, or country. Do what you can to help them adjust by getting them involved in extracurriculars and providing ample opportunity for them to make new friends. Bear in mind that while you should never feel that you have to hide your identity or orientation, your kids may face bullying over it; worse, they may not know how to talk to you about it. Make sure you’re talking to your kids each and every day, and consider counseling if problems persist.

You can check out these resources for more help:

• Moving in Together: Keeping the Peace in Your New Love Nest
• Helping Kids Cope With Moving
• Bullying of LGBT Youth and Those Perceived to Have Different Sexual Orientations
• Prevent Bullying — StopBullying.gov

Buying a home is one of life’s great achievements, so congratulations on becoming a part of the American dream. The paperwork, endless house viewings, number-crunching, and emotional investment will all be well worth it, so hang in there and go find your dream home and a positive, inclusive community.

9. The entire process can take time.

Whether you’re moving across the country and shopping from afar or the bank delays approval on your loan, the home buying process can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months. Establish what your priorities are: what you absolutely must have, and what you’re willing to compromise on. Create a budget, including an absolute maximum you’d be willing to spend, and commit to it. Make sure you have a strict mindset about your financial realities from the beginning, because the moment you start shopping, you’ll be tempted to inflate your numbers. It’s not really your dream home if it’s beyond your means, so be willing to give it time.

In the first half of 2017, more people moved from blue (Democratic) counties to red (Republican) counties than from red to blue counties, according to data on Redfin.com user searches. Counties were classified as “blue” if the Democratic candidate for 2016 won by more than 20 percentage points and vice versa for “red” counties.¹

Overall, 7.4 percent more people moved out of blue counties than to them. Compare that with red counties, which saw about 1 percent more people moving in than moving out. Purple counties, where there’s a more balanced share of Democrats and Republicans, saw 3.9 percent more migrants moving in than out.

Just looking at swing states—the most populous being Florida—the trend is even more pronounced. In these states, counties with more Democratic voters lost 9.2 percent more people than they gained while Republican counties gained 2.3 percent more than they lost. Swing counties in swing states saw 1.8 percent more people move in than out.

“As blue counties are becoming increasingly less affordable, we see a great number of residents moving to red counties where they can afford the lifestyle they want,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “At Redfin, we see this as a sign of hope for a less divided country, where people with differing views gain better understanding and tolerance of each other through sheer proximity.”

Redfin’s user data covers more than 72 percent of the voting age population and is concentrated in urban metropolises, which gives us a specific and recent look at where residents of blue counties are looking to move. While our analysis looked only at metro areas Redfin serves, its results are right in line with the latest county-to-county migration data published by the Census, which revealed that from 2011 to 2015, over 50 percent more migrants moved from blue to red counties than the other way around.

The advantage is that Redfin’s user data is forward looking and predictive of moves happening this year. Redfin’s unique data shows that two years later—as housing prices have appreciated by more than 14 percent—this trend has accelerated.

The trend is most pronounced in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, where respectively, blue counties saw more than 12.7 percent, 12.1 percent and 10.3 percent more people leave than come. Exceptions to the trend were in Louisiana, New Mexico and Indiana—each of which experienced growth in the bluest counties.

In Search of Affordability

This is happening for two major reasons. The first is economic. Housing is becoming less available and less affordable in America’s largest urban counties (almost all of which are blue). The second is a longer trend of the self-sorting of Americans by lifestyle and political partisanship resulting in political polarization.

High housing costs in blue counties have pushed people further out into nearby purple suburbs. Nationwide, the average home in a blue county costs around $360,000—more than 62 percent more than that of homes in red counties ($223,000). Sure blue-county incomes are usually higher, but their residents spend on average 32 percent of their household income on rent, nearly 5 percentage points higher than residents of red counties (purple counties fall in between at 30.9 percent), according to the Census.

Affordable housing for families is paramount. For example, in August, the typical home in Denver County sold for $400,000, whereas in Douglas County homes sold for only about three-fifths of that, after controlling for size. Additionally, in 2015, the typical resident spent a full 3 percent more of their income on rent in Denver County as well—29.5 percent compared with 26.4 in Douglas County.

As a result, one in 10 Redfin users looking to move out of Denver County, Colorado—where nearly three in four votes last November were for Hillary Clinton—were looking to nearby Douglas County—where Trump won 54.7 percent of the vote.

On the Other Hand: The Big Sort

It is not all about economics, however. Politics can be a major reason people decide where to move—there is even a business built on this premise that helps conservatives move to staunchly Republican neighborhoods.

A Redfin survey found that, 41 percent of recent homebuyers reported hesitations about moving to a place where most people have political views different from their own. In contrast, less than one in 10 respondents were enthusiastic about moving to a different political climate, while the remaining half were neutral. Millennials—the largest group forming new households—were even more likely to be hesitant, consistent with sociological research showing an increased political tolerance as people age.

This trend of sorting by political beliefs has been dubbed the “Big Sort” by researcher Bill Bishop and has been underway since the early 1970s. Increasingly, the politics of our neighbors are not any different from our own. By this way of thinking, it’s less likely that all this cross-county migration will result in any different of a political landscape at the state-level. As people continue to self-sort into areas that represent their lifestyle and demographics—and thus politics—those who lean Republican are the most likely to leave the bluest counties.

It Might Be Different this Time

While the evidence that people will continue to self-sort by political beliefs is strong, we would contend that the housing affordability crisis in the bluest counties is unprecedented. With no sign of a drastic drop in prices anytime soon, there’s an argument that many more people, regardless of politics, will move to where they can buy a comfortable home.  

We will continue to look at these migration patterns into the next election cycle to track how this trend evolves in the next year leading up to the midterm elections.

Methodology

Redfin analyzed a sample of more than one million Redfin.com users searching for homes from January through June of 2017. Users must have viewed at least 10 listings during the year. We also excluded locations that in aggregate represented less than 20 percent of a user’s searches. We determined the home metro by mapping the user’s IP address of the most common location they searched from. If a user was searching in more than one county, we accounted for the share of searches in each county. The county-level election results were downloaded from here.

<sup>1. Counties that won with only a 10 percentage point margin “lean” blue or red and the remaining counties are purple.↩
2. This is computed by comparing the national median sale price growth from September 2015 to 2017 using the Redfin Data Center.↩
3. The breakdown of median sale prices and price growth is as follows: Blue counties: $360k (6.9%), Leans Blue: $280k (5.7%), Purple: $278k (6.5%), Leans Red $237k (6.5%), and Red counties $223k (7.5%).↩
4. Average Gross Rent as Percent of Household Income by county: Blue counties: 32%, Leans Blue: 31.1%, Purple: 30.9%, Leans Red: 29.4%, Red counties: 27.5%.↩</sup>

Tom Baumgartner is a San Francisco listing agent who has a genuine heart for service and lives the Redfin values. Tom has worked in marketing, nonprofits, traditional real estate and now Redfin real estate in California. We got to sit down and talk with Tom about what led him to Redfin.

How did you first hear about Redfin, and what brought you here?

I happened to be holding a listing of my own open, and people came through the door one after another, saying, “I saw your listing on Redfin.” I thought that was interesting. Coming from the traditional agent side of real estate, I hadn’t had any direct experience with Redfin. I only knew my clients were doing most of their searching on the Redfin website.

Then one of the Redfin listing agents from San Francisco happened to come in and gave me her card. The more I talked to her, the more I became interested in what was going on. She was doing great business at all price points, and she was excited about her job. It happened that a Redfin ad came up on Craigslist, just about the same time that Redfin was on my radar, and I think that’s what prompted my first call to this agent. I was impressed with everything she had to say.

I spoke to the recruiter and market manager and was terrifically impressed with everyone I met and connected with. They were all excited about their jobs and had interesting backgrounds, so I decided to throw my hat in the ring. I’ve been on board since October, and it’s been a very interesting past few months.

Have you always worked in real estate?

I’m originally from New York; my professional background for 10 to 15 years was in luxury retail marketing and public relations. I worked for Tiffany & Co. for almost 10 years, and then for another high-end jewelry firm.

For two years I did nonprofit fundraising in San Francisco. I ended up working on a lot of projects where I was soliciting donations from real estate agents, and they were universally generous in giving and easy to approach. I was learning more and more about how the real estate industry worked from that point of view, and I decided to get my license.

I worked with Zephyr Real Estate in San Francisco for 13 years before leaving to come to Redfin. I worked with both buyers and sellers, and since San Francisco is kind of a small “big town” split into all price ranges, I did a bit of everything.

How was the transition for you coming from a background in traditional real estate?

I’m a very traditional agent, having started 14 years ago, so it’s been an interesting challenge to get up and running with all the powerful technology that Redfin offers. Ultimately their systems have enabled me to do great work and increase volume. I’m definitely serving the customer’s interests a lot better.

The interface between the support agents and the associate agents has taken a bit of getting used to, but I’ve come to rely on a great local team to do the business I’m doing.

What’s it like working on a team? How does it differ from your previous agent role?

Most frequently I work with a transaction coordinator and listing concierge, so those are my primary contacts. As a traditional agent, I was working alone, so the burden of the work fell on me. I managed my own files. Now my transaction coordinator does a lot of the administrative tasks, which frees me up for more customer-centric work.

I’ve also had to learn to give up some control and trust in the process, and I have not been disappointed.

Is there anything else you’d like to add, or other experiences you’d like to share?

My experience has been so positive. I’ve been very inclined to refer former colleagues to the company. One of them recently came on board. It’s easy for me to go out and talk up Redfin amongst my industry peers.

I’m also finding the conversation on the client side very interesting. There are a lot of misconceptions about what we do, the biggest one being that most people don’t understand that we have agents in the field, especially on the listing side. On the buying side I think people have a better understanding of how we support the process, but I’ve heard many sellers say they didn’t even know we had agents. I use our marketing materials to explain what we offer and demonstrate through my actions that we’re doing fantastic work on their behalf.

I’ve had great success converting my listing consults into clients, so the proof is in the pudding.

To learn more about becoming a Lead Agent and available opportunities, click here. 

Christy Cottle may be new to Seattle, but she’s no stranger to real estate. Now eight months into her career at Redfin, Christy continues to exude excitement about her role as a North Seattle listing agent. She’s closed nearly 45 deals and shows no sign of slowing down. Christy’s desire to help others is so genuine, and that’s a quality that Redfin values deeply. She shares with us what brought her to Redfin and how the experience has impacted her career.

How did you first hear about Redfin, and what brought you here?

I’ve been working in real estate for 15 years and have had my license for about six. I worked in new construction for a few years in Idaho, and met a real estate agent who later came to work for Redfin in Seattle. I kept in touch with him, and he always had such good things to say about the company. Then a family tragedy struck and turned my life upside down, and I found myself thinking about a career change. Redfin seemed like the wave of the future. It’s where real estate is going, I thought; starting over might be a fun adventure.

I interviewed with Redfin and got the job in December. I sold almost all my belongings, moved out of my beautiful 2,700-square-foot home in Idaho, and drove to Seattle with my significant other in the middle of the worst winter storm in decades. I was trying to get here in time for my first training day, and every major road was closed. The drive took 16 hours instead of the usual eight. But now I’m here, working for Redfin, and I absolutely love it. It’s been one of the best decisions of my life.

Tell me about that transition. Did it seem natural? Was it challenging in some ways?

Real estate is very different here compared with Idaho. The contracts and laws are different, so I’ve had a big learning curve. It took about a month and a half to get up and running, but everybody has been incredibly welcoming. From management down to other agents, I have a huge, supportive network. Whenever I’ve had a question or needed anything, which was definitely the case starting out, I’ve always been able to get help and feel supported.

I work out of the Everett office, and there’s a sense of collaboration and camaraderie there that I’ve never felt with a company before. Everyone’s working really hard; there’s enough business for everyone. There’s no competition, other than healthy competition. It’s nothing like the dog-eat-dog type of atmosphere you find in other places. I love it. Every day I’m happy to work alongside an incredible group of people who really care about each other and their clients.

It’s been really cool to be able to carry the workload I have while having that team to lean on. I like to call Redfin the “plug and play.” I just plugged in, and I got to start playing right away. All the systems were in place for me to do that.

Tell me a little more about the experience of working on a team day-to-day at Redfin

It’s absolutely amazing. In traditional real estate you’re spread so thin as an individual, trying to be everything to everyone. You’re wearing so many different hats. Here I get to do what I’m best at: work individually with clients and help them accomplish their goals in selling their homes. On top of that, I work with amazing people who have specialized knowledge. It’s empowering to know that I’ve got this whole team of people supporting me. They’ve been such a huge help, getting me further ahead and making sure nothing falls through the cracks.

I also work with incredible individuals at the Chicago hub who help with contracts and setting up appointments. They have such a can-do attitude. Anytime we ask them for something, they’re like, “Yep! Got it. All taken care of.”

What keeps you at Redfin?

I stay at Redfin because there’s incredible community and opportunity here. I’ve experienced levels of success in my career previously, but here they really do have everything in place for you to be successful if you want to be. You have to put in a lot of hard work, long hours and dedication, and you have to be ready to learn, but all the systems are in place. In the last six months I’ve closed 30 deals. I’ve been able to stay really busy and increase my business in a short amount of time.

I want to continue being a part of this new wave of real estate as technology changes things in different ways. But I think the biggest motivation for me to stay is the team environment. I’ve seen other agents and brokerages try to facilitate that, but they don’t necessarily take care of their teams. The team members don’t get a salary or health insurance benefits. They work and make a small percentage, then call it good, but they still can’t quite take care of their families.

Redfin has created an environment where you have to work really hard to make the money, but you’ve got a salary and health insurance. I know that my kids are taken care of, and I can just go to work and get the job done. I can be as successful and as busy as I want to be, and I love that balance.

Do you have any closing thoughts or words of wisdom you’d like to share?

The biggest thing that I feel toward Redfin right now is gratitude. I have an immense sense of appreciation for the ways they support agents and help us be successful. The quality of life is amazing when you’re in an environment where you feel supported and even the smallest of needs are taken care of.

There seems to be sincerity in the leadership about the employees and who we are. We’re not just numbers, even though the company’s growing and getting larger. I’ve never found that in a company before. To find it in real estate has been a dream come true.

To learn more about becoming a Lead Agent and available opportunities, click here. 

Sales fell 8.1 percent compared to last year, the largest decline posted since July 2016, and the third month in a row with declining sales. Meanwhile price-growth is strong, up 7.6 percent in September to a national median sale price of $288,000 across all markets Redfin serves. The median value of off-market homes in September was $251,000, as measured by the Redfin Estimate, up 0.7 percent from August.

Nationally, the number of homes for sale plunged 10.9 percent, continuing the 24-month streak of declining inventory. The number of new listings in September fell 7.7 percent from a year ago, leaving 3.3 months of supply. Less than six months of supply signals the market is tilted in favor of sellers.

The median days on market ticked up to 42 in September from 39 in August. The market was still five days faster than last September. The average sale-to-list price ratio was 98.4 percent and 23.6 percent of homes sold above their list price in September.

Weather took its toll in several markets, with Hurricane Irma in Florida and Harvey in Houston.  Real estate activity was put on hold as communities dealt with the storm and its aftermath. As a result of hurricane-related disruptions, we expect real estate activity to be more volatile than normal in these markets.

Home sales in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa all declined by more than 15 percent compared to last September. Miami sales took the biggest hit with a year-over-year decline of 38.4 percent. In Houston, home sales tumbled more than 25 percent in August, but recovered in September, and were essentially flat (0.2%) compared to a year ago.

“The housing market is running on fumes due to low inventory,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “September marks the first time since 2014 that we’ve seen three consecutive months of year-over-year sales declines. The inventory shortage is most severe for affordable homes. There has not been an increase in homes priced under $260,000 in two years.”

In September, new listings from homes priced in the lowest tercile of the market (under $260,000) were down 14.9 percent year over year. Inventory for the middle tercile of new listings, priced between $260,000 and $470,000, was down 4.7 percent year over year. The only inventory increase was for listings above $470,000, up 2.3 percent from a year ago.  

“The good news is that so far markets affected by Hurricane Harvey, like Houston, are rebounding in terms of sales quickly,” said Richardson. “That bodes well for Floridian markets.”

Consistent with August, 43 percent of homes listed for sale in September were priced higher than their concurrent Redfin Estimate, a measure of a home’s value and prediction of its eventual sale price. The median list price-to-Redfin Estimate ratio was 100.2 percent, which means the typical home for sale last month was priced in line with its estimated value.

Other September Highlights

Competition

• Seattle, WA was the fastest market, with nearly half of all homes pending sale in just 10 days, down from 12 days from a year earlier. San Jose, CA, Boston, MA, and Portland, OR were the next fastest markets at 14 median days on market, followed by Oakland, CA (15).
• The most competitive market in September was San Francisco, CA where 71.7% of homes sold above list price, followed by 71.6% in San Jose, CA, 64.6% in Oakland, CA, 47.7% in Seattle, WA and 42.7% in Tacoma, WA.

Prices

• San Jose, CA had the nation’s highest price growth, rising 16.3% since last year to a median of $1 million. Tucson, AZ had the second highest growth at 15.8% year-over-year price growth, followed by Tacoma, WA (14.5%), Las Vegas, NV (14%) and Seattle, WA (13.3%).
• Just 3 metros saw price declines in September: Camden, NJ (-6.4%), Baltimore, MD (-3.1%) and Newark, NJ (-2.7%).

Sales

• Home sales in Miami, FL and Fort Lauderdale, FL declined by 38.4% and 32.4%, respectively, as Hurricane Irma ground the market to a halt.
• 12 of 74 metros saw sales increase from last year. Camden, NJ led the nation in year-over-year sales growth, up 8.8%, followed by Honolulu, HI, up 7.8%. Detroit, MI rounded out the top three with sales up 4.8% from a year ago.

Inventory

• San Jose, CA had the largest decrease in overall inventory, falling 51.7% since last September. Rochester, NY (-27.3%), Buffalo, NY (-26.9%) and Oakland, CA (-26.5%) also saw far fewer homes available on the market than a year ago.
• Salt Lake City, UT had the highest increase in the number of homes for sale, up 39.6% year over year, followed by Baton Rouge, LA (34.0%) and Tulsa, OK (13.8%).

Methodology:
The Redfin Real-Time Housing Market Tracker is a monthly analysis of home prices, competition, sales volumes and inventory levels across the markets that Redfin serves nationwide. The analysis is based on data from the Multiple Listing Services of which Redfin is a member. The monthly data may change after publishing as additional real estate transactions are recorded.

Below are market-by-market breakdowns for prices, inventory, new listings and sales for markets with populations of 750,000 or more. For downloadable data on all of the markets Redfin tracks, visit the Redfin Data Center.

Median Sale Price

Homes Sold

New Listings

All Homes for Sale

Median Off-Market Redfin Estimate

Today’s new construction homes become tomorrow’s housing market. Without affordable new construction, we find ourselves in a housing market marked by low inventory, high prices and bidding wars—and one where first-time homebuyers are often priced out.

The average price of a new construction home that sold in the three months through September¹ was $374,000. Compared with existing homes, new construction homes sold at an average premium in September of $87,000.²

However, new home price growth has slowed throughout this year. New home prices are up 3.3 percent year over year, which is down from a growth rate of 5.3 percent in January. In contrast, existing home prices grew by 7.9 percent in September compared with 6.6 percent price growth in January.

The national average cost to a builder constructing a new home—which includes the estimated cost of labor plus materials—surpassed $200,000, or $240,000 for single-family units, in August this year, which is the highest since the Census began reporting it in 1988.³

Construction costs are rising in part because the availability of construction workers is still 25 percent below the peak in 2006 and there is also less competition among homebuilders.

“After almost a decade of underproduction, we are finally seeing a slow steady increase in single-family housing starts, up 9 percent from a year ago,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “But high building costs are limiting the construction of homes that today’s buyers can afford. This is why even in the midst of extreme inventory shortages for existing homes, new homes are sitting on the market instead of selling.”

The labor shortage has been made worse by the recent hurricanes, though builders’ confidence has rebounded after a small dip in September. Renters in the rental market have suffered though as potential first-time buyers are priced out and continue to rent—rental vacancy rates hit a 31-year low last year.

Housing material costs have also been rising, with lumber prices recently hitting their highest level on record since January 2003. Prices will likely rise further as a new tax on Canadian lumber of up to 24 percent has been imposed by the Trump Administration.

If You Build It They Will Come

New homes represent a growing share of the market over the past five years—rising from one in 13 homes for sale in September 2012 to one in eight homes in September 2017. With high prices though, the growing share of new construction homes is worsening the housing affordability crisis as starter homes have disappeared.

“We would love to build more affordable starter homes, but when high-end homes cost the same to build and are far more profitable, we lose the incentive to build smaller units,” said Isaac Stocks of Azure Northwest Homes, a Seattle-area home builder.

California—the state most emblematic of the nation’s housing affordability crisis—has built the fewest number of apartments and for-sale units per new resident of all states between 2010 and 2016, with just one unit for every four new residents.⁴ This has resulted in a large number of California residents moving to other states.

Other states, by contrast, average more than double that at one new unit for every 1.8 new residents during this period, which is still lower than the 1.6 average of the 1990s (the housing boom of the 2000s averaged one new unit for every 1.4 new residents).

Housing starts—the number of new residential homes that have begun construction—are still 22 percent below their long-term average (see chart). Single-family building permits, which offer a look at what is in the pipeline for new home construction,⁵ were up 9.7 percent year-to-date through September, while multi-family units⁶ are 3.6 percent lower year-to-date. More than three-fourths of the nearly 100 metro areas Redfin tracks had positive growth in the first eight months of the year in single-family permits compared to last year. Therefore, single-family housing starts are expected to continue to grow into next year, and new single-family homes will add to inventory in 2018.

Metro-Level Highlights for New Construction in the Third Quarter:⁷

• Nashville, TN had the highest portion of new home sales over the last three months, with 24 percent of all homes sold being new construction. Raleigh, NC and Austin, TX each followed closely behind at 23.2 percent and 18.9 percent, respectively.
• The four metro areas with the lowest shares of new construction sales were all in New York and New Jersey led by Buffalo, NY at just 0.8 percent of home sales followed by Camden, NJ (1.5%), Hudson Valley, NY (1.6%) and Rochester, NY (1.6%). Six of the following seven lowest-ranked metro areas were in California—each with under one in 40 home sales being new construction.
• The metro areas with the highest year-over-year price growth per square foot for new construction sales last quarter were Birmingham, AL (21.9%), Hudson Valley, NY (21.0%) and Long Island, NY (17.4%). The California Bay Area metros of San Francisco and San Jose each posted negative price growth per square foot for new construction homes—falling 6.2 percent and 4.2 percent year-over-year.
• The estimated cost of constructing a new unit during the months of June, July and August this year was the highest in Long Island, NY at an average of $451,000 per home. Honolulu, HI ($451,000), Tucson, AZ ($272,000), and San Francisco ($269,000) rounded out the top four for the average cost per unit permitted.
• Austin, TX, Raleigh, NC and Nashville, TN are building the most homes per capita at 29, 28 and 27 units per 10,000 residents, respectively. In contrast, Allentown, PA and Long Island, NY had far fewer new homes in the pipeline at only 0.5 and 1.1 units permitted per ten thousand residents respectively.
• A look at the total volume of building permits reveals that the metro areas poised to build the most new homes in the coming months are Houston, TX (10,000), Dallas, TX (9,400), Phoenix, AZ (7,800), and Atlanta, GA (7,700).
• Those with the largest year-over-year increase in units permitted include Oakland, CA (142%), Riverside-San Bernardino, CA (96.7%) and Tacoma, WA (76.9%).

In conjunction with its inaugural quarterly report on new residential construction, Redfin is making available on its Data Center a downloadable set of monthly data on new construction prices, sales, inventory and other new residential market statistics. Redfin is also releasing building permit data—provided by the Census—allowing users to analyze average construction costs and compare the number of units built per capita across regions. Both datasets are available for download at the National, Metro, and County Levels since 2012.

<sup>1. September throughout this report is a rolling three-month measure and includes July, August, and September for all new construction data.↩
2. This is up 17 percent from four years prior. The price premium varies considerably when accounting for size and location however. New homes are being built larger than existing as the price per square foot premium was about 2 percent lower for new construction homes, but they also tend to be further away from the urban core; in the Nashville metro area, for example, new construction homes bought in 2017 were typically 22.9 percent further from the city-center than existing homes.↩
3. The average permit valuation for constructing each single-family home varies widely from just $88,000 in Norwich, CT to more than one million dollars in San Francisco in August.↩
4. Four states (Connecticut, Illinois, Vermont, and West Virginia) experienced a decline in population from 2010 to 2016, yet still built tens of thousands of units each during this time period.↩
5. The average length of time between authorization (i.e. a permits) and a housing start is about 1 month and most starts are completed within a six months for single-family or about one year for multi-family properties.↩
6. Multi-family units include buildings containing 5 or more units and are largely apartments, but may include condo towers. The complete breakdown of the data is available here.↩
7. Only metropolitan divisions with populations greater than 750,000 people were included in this highlights section.↩</sup>

Luxury home prices rose 4.9 percent in the third quarter of 2017 compared to last year, to an average of $1.71 million. The analysis tracks home sales in more than 1,000 cities across the country and defines the luxury market as the top 5 percent most expensive homes sold in the city in each quarter. The average price for non-luxury homes was $336,000, up 5.3 percent compared to a year earlier.

A sharp decline in the number of luxury homes on the market likely contributed to the price increase. The number of homes for sale priced at or above $1 million fell 18.1 percent compared to the same period last year, marking two consecutive quarters of a decline in the number of high-end homes for sale.  

The number of homes priced at or above $5 million saw a similar decline at 19 percent. This marked the first quarter in which luxury inventory fell year over year since Redfin began reporting on the luxury market in 2014.

“There is still strong buyer demand for high-end homes,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “Despite declining inventory, luxury sales soared in the third quarter. Sales of homes priced at or above $1 million were up 11 percent from a year ago, while sales of homes priced at or above $5 million were up almost as much at 10 percent.”

Luxury homes are also moving off the market faster, with the typical luxury home finding a buyer in 70 days, four days sooner than last year.

Biggest Winners

Two cities in Colorado saw strong year-over-year price growth in the third quarter; luxury home prices were up 34.7 percent in Longmont and 15.1 percent in Littleton. In general, the Denver and Boulder metro areas have seen rapidly escalating prices across all price bands, due to rising homebuyer interest and low inventory.

The number of homes for sale in the Denver metro in September was down 11 percent year over year. This tight inventory is pushing up prices from starter homes through luxury homes across the region.

In addition to Colorado, a number of Florida beach communities also saw big luxury price gains. Luxury home prices in Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach, Pompano Beach and Sarasota were up over 15 percent from a year ago.

Biggest Losers

On the other side of the spectrum, the average price for a luxury home fell furthest in Delray Beach, Florida, down 27 percent from a year ago to $2.18 million. This marks the third quarter in a row in which Delray Beach saw sharp price declines in the luxury segment.  Prices for homes in the bottom of the market also fell 4.4 percent year over year in Delray Beach to an average sale price of $241,000.

Aaron Drucker, Redfin market manager in South Florida, attributes the decline to the mix of homes listed for sale and sold, rather than a shift in demand for Delray Beach’s luxury properties. Several $10M+ home sales in 2016 inflated the average luxury home price last year, making this year’s prices look low by comparison.

“There were only five homes for sale in Delray Beach in the third quarter that were listed above $5 million, compared to 13 during the same period last year,” said Drucker. “Delray Beach continues to be a popular market for luxury homes in the $1.8 to $3.5 million range, but there are only so many ultra-luxury properties in the city and a limited number of people with the means to buy them.”

Interestingly, luxury home prices fell year over year in San Francisco, Boston, Portland, Ore., and Seattle, some of the most competitive housing markets in the country. While luxury prices fell in those cities, prices for homes in the rest of the market continued to climb in the third quarter.

Most Expensive Sales

Curious about the most expensive homes sold last quarter? Take a peek at the top-five most expensive sales and live vicariously through these new luxury owners:

1. This 90210 home is located next to the Beverly Hills Hotel and sold for $25.5 million.
2. This Napa ranch that sold for $25 million offers more than a stunning home and mountain views, the listing noted the property includes a caretaker’s residence, stone barn, party barn, pool and cabana.
3. At $24.9 million this modern Beverly Hills home was the second most expensive home  to be sold in the 90210 zip code in the third quarter.  
4. The behemoth California estate of real estate mogul Don Abbey sold for $24.4 million, an unfathomable sum for the average American, but a steal compared to the initial asking price of $78 million.
5. On a clear day this stately $23.4 million home on the shoreline of Lake Washington offers views of Mount Rainier. The new owners are neighbors to Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, who also own shorefront properties in the ritzy enclave of Medina.

Visit the Redfin Data Center to find more housing market data for metro areas around the country.

Methodology: Redfin tracks the most expensive 5 percent of homes sold in more than 1,000 U.S. cities and compares price changes to the bottom 95 percent of homes in those cities. Analysis is based on multiple-listing and county recorder sales data in markets served by Redfin. To determine luxury market winners and losers, we looked at cities with at least 40 luxury sales in the quarter and an average luxury sale price of $1 million or higher.

Zane Jacobs is a Redfin listing specialist in the windy city of Chicago, IL. Originally from Eastern Europe, Zane brings a love for the outdoors and an ingrained work ethic to Redfin. A true Redfinnian at heart, Zane embodies the Redfin values to a T. She sat down to chat with us about her role at Redfin. 

First, can you tell me a little about your background?

I’m originally from Latvia in Eastern Europe, and sometimes when I go about my day as a real estate agent, I still shake my head. I grew up on a small farm in the middle of nowhere, and my parents raised cows, chickens, pigs and rabbits. We had three dogs and a multitude of cats. I went from living on a farm to selling real estate in Chicago, which is an odd trajectory in some ways. I studied linguistics, and I’m a trained simultaneous interpreter. I speak Latvian, Russian, German and a little Spanish. I have a seven-year-old son and live in Lakeview.

How did you first hear about Redfin, and what brought you here?

I started off in real estate in New York City in 2008. I was a project manager in the translation industry and didn’t like that I was tied to my desk all day. My compensation also didn’t change whether I did well or didn’t do well, so that’s when I realized I needed to make a change.

I decided to try real estate, and once I did, I never looked back. I did leasing in New York and then moved to Chicago in 2009. For my first real estate gig here, I spent two years negotiating short sales. I probably know more about short sales than most people, which is not really a bragging point, because it’s not pleasant.

Next I worked in new construction, single-family homes and gut rehab as part of a small team. We did 80-100 transactions a year, so I got used to doing high-volume work.

That’s when I first became aware of Redfin. I would encounter Redfin buyer’s agents who came to look at the houses we were selling. One of those was Greg Whelan, and I was impressed with his professionalism and his breadth of knowledge.

I also heard about Redfin from unrepresented buyers. As I was engaging with them, I’d ask, “How’d you learn about this house?”

Often they’d say, “Oh, I saw it on Redfin.”

And I’d think, “Oh, of course you saw it on Redfin. Where else would you see it?”

It sort of became running joke. Regardless of who the buyers were working with, they’d say, “I saw it on Redfin.” That’s when it dawned on me just how big and popular the Redfin website was.

I became curious and spoke with Redfin Agents to learn about the setup. That’s when I knew that if I ever left my current position, I wouldn’t go to a traditional brokerage. All my eggs were in one basket — it was Redfin or bust.

What’s unique about Redfin that you don’t see at other brokerages?

I like that there’s more stability with Redfin when it comes to leads. One of the parts of being a real estate agent that I’ve never enjoyed is the idea that I have to harass friends and family to refer me. That feels a little uncomfortable. Plus, I’m not originally from Chicago, so I don’t have decades of friends and family to lean on for leads. So I love that my leads come through this amazing website and internal referrals. At least half of my leads, if not more, come to me through Redfin buyer’s agents or other referrals.

How would you say that Redfin has enabled you to be a better agent?

It’s remarkable to me how working at Redfin has allowed me to marry two things: my extensive experience as a traditional broker and the Redfin marketing muscle. I don’t really see how that combination can be beat.

Every traditional broker I know personally in Chicago does wonderful work, and if the Redfin model didn’t work for a certain customer, I wouldn’t hesitate to send a customer their way. But they all offer the same thing. They can put your property on the MLS, and it’s going to be on major real estate sites, and they’ll do open houses — but Redfin can do all of that and so much more.

The fact that we have the most popular brokerage website in the whole country and can capture the data of buyers who are using that website, then use that data to our sellers’ advantage — that blows my mind.

I can go to my sellers and tell them, “Not only do you get all of my experience and effective marketing of your home, but we can also target buyers who are specifically looking for places just like yours.” To me, that’s huge. I feel like I’ve become a better agent, simply because I’m able to offer more.

I didn’t think much about this before I joined Redfin, but if you’re working as a traditional agent, you’re probably going to take every viable lead — which can stretch you over different types of properties and over a large geographical area. What I really like with Redfin is that we truly specialize in one area, so we can become the experts in that area. I know my territory inside and out by now, and I can stand up to any traditional broker there — and that’s pretty awesome.

Tell me a little bit more about your role as a listing agent. What does that entail?

Selling a home is such a big deal for people, and it can be so stressful. I’m a listing specialist, so I only work with sellers. I know the buyer’s agents get the happy-go-lucky clients who are excited because they’re buying their dream home, but I don’t get that. I get really anxious and stressed-out people, because they’re worried about the decisions they’re making.

One of my favorite things about this job is that I have the skills and experience to relieve as much of that stress as possible. I can be a reassuring presence through a time that’s uncertain and sometimes even scary. The Redfin specialization really helps me to be that for them.

Is there anything else you’d like to add about your experience with Redfin?

As I was thinking about this talk, I began making a list of all the things I love about Redfin, and I realized, wow, there’s a lot.

I really enjoy the Redfin culture. I’m friends with a lot of Redfinnians, and we go out together. In some ways it still feels like this giant startup where everyone is ready to chip in when needed. But what I especially love is that Redfin is always ready to experiment and try new things. They’re not embarrassed to fold if the idea doesn’t work.

To me, a company that’s willing to try and fail and then try again is really exciting. I love being a part of it.

To learn more about becoming a Lead Agent and available opportunities, click here.

The winter months can be cruel on your home no matter where you live. Gusting winds can batter plants. A snowstorm could stress an older home’s roof. Even a few days of heavy January rain could wreak havoc on clogged gutters and downspouts.

Whether you’re looking to sell your home or you just want to keep your house intact this winter, there are simple steps you can take to protect your home from whatever wintry forces of nature come your way.

1. Inspect Your Roof

Winter weather can hurt your home’s roof in many ways. High winds, heavy rain or snowfall can cause strain, and excess leaves or debris could clog gutters and create build-up on the roof. A damaged roof will significantly impact your home’s value, and it’s easier (and cheaper) to take precautionary steps now before any trouble strikes in the colder months.

Schedule a roof inspection before the winter weather hits so a professional can thoroughly inspect your roof’s condition and make recommendations. Ask the inspector to check for missing or loose shingles, blocked gutters or potential sources of mold and decay.

2. Check for Air Leaks

Leaks in your windows, doorways or walls can drastically increase your monthly utilities bill, and if you live in a colder climate, it can make your home uncomfortable, too! Luckily, it’s easy to perform your own home check and seal any leaks. Check all the window frames and doors in your home for cracks where cold air could come through. You should check any vents and phone lines as well – really, any potential opening from your home to the exterior. 

The Department of Energy recommends performing a visual inspection as well as a simple pressurization test to discover where external air is entering your home. If you find a leak, use caulk and weather stripping to seal out the cooler air, or consider installing storm windows for the winter months.

3. Clear the Gutters

Falling leaves are a hallmark of the autumn months, but they can be trouble for a home’s gutters. Clogged gutters leave rain with nowhere to go, and it can cause damage to a home’s walls, soffits and fascias, as well as siding and basements.

You can grab a ladder and clear the debris yourself, or you can hire local professionals to safely take care of the job. Clean gutters now will spare you a headache later this winter!

4. Clean the Chimney

You should have your chimney checked once a year at least, particularly if you plan to use the fireplace to stay warm this winter. A blocked or damaged chimney could heat your home unevenly and boost your utility bill, but its biggest risk is as a potential fire hazard.

You can try to clean the chimney yourself if you want to get your hands dirty. But it’s far easier and safer to hire a chimney cleaning company to inspect and clear your chimney and fireplace, so you can curl up by the fire all winter long.

5. Clear the Yard

While many flowers need the chill of a winter season in order to bloom in the spring, it’s important to prepare your full yard for cooler weather. Changing seasons will impact your garden no matter where you live.

Consider bringing your more fragile plants indoors if you live in a colder climate, and remove any annuals you have planted. Put away any outdoor furniture you have, and clear out any fallen leaves so they don’t suffocate the lawn. Finally, store all your gardening tools for the season so they don’t rust or wear down before the spring.

6. Prepare the Pipes

If you live in an area that gets very cold in the winter, you’ll have to take extra measures to prepare your home for the winter. Before the frost hits, make sure to store garden hoses and close any inside valves that supply water to outdoor faucets. Don’t use antifreeze in any of these lines – it’s not good for the environment and could be harmful to pets, wildlife and people.

Insulate indoor pipes in parts of the home that are typically unheated, like the attic, garage or crawl spaces. The Red Cross recommends keeping the thermostat at the same temperature throughout the day and night so the pipes aren’t subject to drastic temperature changes, and check all the faucets regularly throughout the winter season.

We’ve heard and written a lot about the hot real estate market in Austin, Texas. Prices have been on the rise, up 5.3 percent in September compared to last year, to a median sale price of $290,000. Homes in Austin are staying on the market for a median of 35 days, but hot homes are finding buyers much faster than that.

This week, we decided to dig into the most popular homes in Austin right now. Here’s a roundup of the ten homes listed between Oct. 23 and 29 in the Austin metro area that received the most favorites by Redfin users.

What is a favorite? Homebuyers searching on the Redfin.com site or mobile app can “favorite” a home by clicking the heart on the listing. This feature lets homebuyers keep track of the homes they are interested in and easily share those homes with their spouse, partner or cobuyer.

Looking at the most favorited homes is one way to gauge which neighborhoods, home styles and price points are trending now. Plus, it’s a fun excuse for real estate obsessives like me to ogle new properties on the market.

I’m loving the beautiful trees gracing several of the front yards. My personal favorites are #6 and #7. A stunning newly built home, #6 offers warmth and thoughtful architectural details (that arched iron door!) with modern amenities. At $3.295 million, this property offers a luxurious pool and well-manicured garden.

#7 is a smartly-updated older home that offers loads of character and charm. It has a great deck and patio space for entertaining. Redfin superstar listing agent, Yvette Evans, is selling this home and the lovely property that ranks #2 on the list. Reach out to Yvette if you have any question about those homes.

The most affordable home on the list is a $210,000 property in Round Rock offering vaulted ceilings and a large deck.  

Without further ado, here’s the full round-up:

Jeremy is a San Diego Redfin Agent with 15 years of real estate experience. Driven to play a part in improving the traditional real estate model, Jeremy brings fire and “wow” to his work as a Redfin Agent. Jeremy sat down to chat with us about how he found himself at Redfin and what keeps him here.

How did you first hear about Redfin, and what brought you here?

I started with Redfin about two and a half years ago. Funny enough, I found Redfin through its website, as a lot of agents have done because it’s easier to navigate the Redfin website than their local MLS. I was one of those traditional agents using Redfin.com as a tool.

I moved from Los Angeles to San Diego when my wife got pregnant. I didn’t have a Rolodex of clients like I did in Los Angeles and didn’t know where to start. I read up on Redfin, dug what they were all about and thought, okay, let’s give it a shot! Obviously I ended up falling in love with it.

How was that transition for you, coming from L.A. to San Diego and from traditional real estate to Redfin’s model?

It was a pretty natural transition. The markets aren’t that much different. They’re pretty hectic in both cities, very fast-paced, with multiple counter offers. Going from the traditional life to the Redfin family was a lot easier than I thought.

When I first joined Redfin, they threw all these things at me, and I wondered, am I going to be able to swim here, or will I sink? But with all the support we get, it was a lot easier than I expected to handle the volume that we do.

It was also a refreshing way to do what I do. I’ve been in real estate for almost 15 years, and the old traditional way has been broken for a long time, even before the market crash. The perception is that we’re like used car salesmen, and after the crash, I got an earful from more than one person. Seeing how Redfin is reinventing the whole process was definitely a breath of fresh air.

I say this pretty often, but I think the traditional route will come to an end at some point. There are people out there who are trying to copy what we’re doing. It’s just the way of the future. So for me, it was a no-brainer. I only knew the tip of the iceberg when I first went for the interview, but once I joined, I thought, “Wow, there’s just no other way to do this.”

I always tell people that I’m lucky I stumbled on Redfin two and a half years ago. Otherwise I’d be in that same old rut of traditional work.

How do you feel Redfin has enabled you to be a better agent?

Redfin advocates for being transparent and doing the right thing all the time. Those values have bettered me as a real estate agent. It’s just a completely different way of looking at how you’re selling yourself. The way Redfin has taught me to take on more volume, and how to do it right, has changed my approach and my entire perspective of real estate.

What sets Redfin apart from other brokerages you’ve seen or worked with?

When you’re a traditional agent, you’re trained by other traditional agents who have been doing this a certain way for a long time. The traditional brokerages I’ve worked for have all used the same gimmicks, and personally I don’t find that way of doing business very attractive.

I know I’m repeating myself, but at Redfin, we think outside the box in everything we do. It’s all in the consumer’s favor. For me, it’s a no-brainer. I’d never go back to the traditional model of real estate.

What keeps you at Redfin?

I’ve always done real estate. I started right out of college, and it’s what I plan on doing pretty much until the day I retire. And I want to do it in a way that makes a difference. If I kept on going down the road I was on, I wasn’t going to be a part of changing the industry in any significant way.

You don’t see many companies out there that are trying to create change. They’re trying to turn a profit, whether they’re doing it right or wrong. Redfin needs to turn a profit too, but they’re also trying to fix a broken system. To me, that’s huge! I want to be a part of something bigger than just selling someone a house and making a paycheck.  

Redfin also just went public, and that’s a big deal. It’s a milestone in your career that you can be proud of, and I’m rooting for an industry that I’ll be a part of for a very long time.

To learn more about becoming a Lead Agent and available opportunities, click here.

This morning, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman sent the below email to Redfin real estate agents to help them address customer questions about the tax-reform plan Congress unveiled today, which would lower the mortgage-interest deduction cap from $1 million to $500,000. The proposed change won’t affect any customers borrowing less than $500,000.

It’s Just a Plan. Plans Change.

Anyone borrowing more than that should first understand that the plan released today may not become law, or the plan may change to keep the current mortgage-interest deduction, which is popular.

But If Passed Later in the Year, the Plan Would Take Effect Tonight

But in its current form, the new proposed cap would apply to a customer who has not entered into “a binding contract” to buy a home by today, November 2. A purchase agreement with inspection and appraisal contingencies is still likely to be considered binding.

Eliminating the Tax Break Could Cost Affected Customers a Few Thousand Dollars a Year

Under the proposed change, if a customer enters into a contract to buy a home after November 2, and borrows $750,000 to buy that home, for tax purposes she will only be able to deduct from her taxable income interest on the first $500,000 of that loan.

If a customer is in a binding contract by the end of today, she will be able to deduct from her taxable income all $750,000; even if the plan passes as-is, the current law’s $1-million cap would remain in effect for sales under contract by today. Depending on the interest rate of the loan and other factors, this difference could amount to a few thousand dollars in higher taxes per year for the customer in contract after November 2.

The Plan May Lower Other Taxes

Of course other parts of the plan, if passed, could lower a customer’s taxes in other ways, unrelated to the timing of her home purchase. This note isn’t to agree or disagree with the proposed plan, but only to explain its potential impact on our customers.

The Redfin Scholarship is a way for Redfin to help students on their journey through higher education. The scholarship application period occurs twice yearly with awards given to a student in both the spring and fall. Here is the student essay that won the 2017 fall scholarship. Congrats Emma Derstine!

Essay Prompt: The place (or places) where we were raised often have a profound effect on who we become as adults. What effect has the community that you were raised in had on who you are today?

Okay, maybe it isn’t true that each Tucson native is carved from the rib of the saguaro and raised on pico de gallo and pure sunshine. But there is something special about those of us that hail from the Old Pueblo. I feel it in the little things, the quirks. It’s the double-dutch songs always sung in Spanglish, the beer and homemade tamales left out for Santa in lieu of milk and cookies, the way we never really stop smelling like sunscreen or mooning over exposed adobe. It’s how the desert sighs in relief, in release, and we all sigh with her—like the “om” at the end of a yoga class —when the rain finally comes.

There are the bigger things too, but those are harder to recognize. I feel it in the lessons that never took words, the ones that never become a mantra to memorize and regurgitate but are instead a felt experience. They are the deeply personal truths that I am still growing into, growing alongside. It’s learning from the sky to give and receive warmth, without forgetting how to monsoon. It’s learning from the cacti that there is a way to nurture and protect other living beings while still sprouting spines—because not all deserve your fruit. It’s the beauty, but not without the venom. It’s every other car having a “Be Kind” bumper sticker, or one that reads, “Share the street! Give a bike five feet!” It’s growing up in a community where inclusivity is the first ingredient, a community where you can not only cultivate your inner-weird, but let it bloom.

When it comes time to leave, don’t be surprised if they stop you at the airport for the suitcase full of Mexican candy. Be sure to harvest her sunshine in your bones like rainwater, and never, ever count how many sunsets you’ve spent away from home. Most importantly, don’t forget her storms or her street names, and she won’t forget yours. Your roots are here, after all, and like most things in the desert, they don’t rust easy. I know that Tucson is part of me; her mountain ranges are my constant compass. Come August, they wax green and I wax poetic. To be in tune with Tucson is a peace I feel lucky to know. Being a Tucsonan has paved the road for me (potholes and all) to pursue true self-expression, to fight for diversity and sustainability, and to always roll fresh fruit in chili powder.

Student Biography

Emma Derstine is a Tucson-native and University High School graduate. She moved to Gambier, Ohio where she is currently a sophomore English major and soccer player at Kenyon College. This past summer, she returned to Tucson for an internship with Mayor Rothschild where she realized just how deep her Tucson roots go. 

The spring application period is from November 1 – January 31. Click here for more information.

Sarah D’Avignon is a Portland Redfin listing agent with a passion for people. Sarah is a true team player with a great attitude and excitement for the client-focused model of real estate. Her enthusiasm for technology has given her a leg up over traditional agents and made her transition to Redfin a very natural one. We sat down to chat with Sarah about her experience at Redfin and which Redfin values speak most to her.

How did you first hear about Redfin, and what brought you here?

I think the biggest push for me to come to Redfin was my general frustration with being a traditional agent. I was a pretty hard-core lead generator, which led me to feel kind of burned out. It was also cutting into the energy I needed to give my current clients. That traditional approach is kind of a broken model, in a way. It’s not entirely client-first, which bothered me.

How has the transition been for you, coming from a traditional brokerage to Redfin’s client-first model?

I generally lean heavily on technology. I was told that Redfin’s internal system, Agent Tools, would be hardest thing for me to learn, but once I did, it would all be fine. I felt like I was immediately comfortable with Agent Tools, and it made my job easier to have checklists and systems.

When I started at Redfin, I took over an agent’s entire pipeline and listings when she left the company. So after bootcamp I had 20 listings immediately, and there’s no way I could have done that without the system to help me check things off. Everything was systemized, and my assistants were on point at the drop of a hat and could answer my calls when I was still learning the process.

Currently I have about 10 listings at different stages. Having everything so systemized frees me up to say, “Okay, the basics are taken care of. Now I can go the extra mile to wow my clients.” I love that. It allows me to meet my clients where they are. Some people are very knowledgeable about the process, and others are totally new to it.

Sometimes when people hire a real estate agent, they’re not entirely certain that they made the best decision. But at Redfin, having this magnificent team taking care of them, staying on top of things and scheduling events and appointments, instills a sense of trust and makes the transactions better.

Is there anything else that’s unique about Redfin to you?

I think there are a couple things. Number one is our expectation to wow our clients and put customer service at the forefront of every action we take, which is refreshing. At previous brokerages, it seemed like the focus was on the bottom line and making sure you cap. If my focus is on my bottom line, then it isn’t on a sustainable part of this business. The customer service is where you earn your repeat and referral business, so if your focus is on the paycheck, you’re missing it.

At Redfin, it’s liberating to be able to give of yourself and know that your company is taking care of you, so you can take care of your clients.

What’s it like working on a team at Redfin?

When I was a traditional agent, I did have a transaction coordinator for a while, but she was more of a marketing coordinator. She was awesome, but at Redfin, having one person who helps with marketing and a whole other team that helps with the rest — I just couldn’t do this without my team, literally.

My marketing assistant is now on maternity leave, so the team at the Chicago hub bends over backward, not just trying to make me happy, but ultimately trying to make our clients happy. They’re there for me when I’m driving around and have to ask them, “Hey, can you pop into the MLS and change this thing? Because I don’t have time, and I won’t have time until I’m back at my computer tonight at nine o’clock.” Having these people who are always ready to go above and beyond is so awesome. The photos are fantastic and the listings are sold. Everybody does their job, and everybody sweeps the floors.

I love my team, and I would never want to be without them. They make my job super enjoyable. You build up trust with your team, and it makes it so relational. I’ve never even met these people in person, but we’re actually a cohesive team, caring about each other. They’re a huge reason why I love my job.

Even with management, if I run into bumps along the way and call my manager, he’s completely supportive, on my side, covering my back and coaching me through difficult situations. Up and down I feel totally supported, and it’s so refreshing.

Is there a Redfin value that really stands out to you?

For me, they’re all individually so important. I couldn’t choose just one, because given the individual challenges of each day, you tend to lean into one or another. Last week I had some challenges where we were really leaning on ‘wow’ and making sure our clients were wowed.

We were running into some “Why are we doing this the way that we’re doing this?” kind of questions, and it came down to our values. It’s our corporate value to wow our clients; that’s what we want to do.

Day to day, being honorable and humble is in my pocket all the time. I don’t know every client or every coworker’s individual story. I’m coming from a place of curiosity and knowing that every single person has something to teach me. Even if there’s an unhappy client, there’s a reason. It’s not fair to approach that with oppositional feelings. Instead, I think you learn a lot more if you ask, “What’s the lesson here? What is my takeaway? I can’t just sit here and defend myself, because that’s not going to help me, or them.”

If you’ve messed up, own it. With every single client it’s really important to remain humble and honorable. That’s a huge one.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I feel like the Redfin values are great values for work, but they’re also great values period. I don’t think they should be limited to your working environment. I mean, who are you if you’re not genuine, right? They’re words to live by. If I were hiring somebody and these were their personal and professional values, that would thrill me.

To learn more about becoming a Lead Agent and available opportunities, click here.