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Hey HN, I'm a founder at Open Listings and did a lot of the engineering of this project. We got a lot of inquiries from tech workers who really cared about thei

by rgbrgb 11y ago

Hey HN, I'm a founder at Open Listings and did a lot of the engineering of this project. We got a lot of inquiries from tech workers who really cared about their commute times, so we used Googles Distance Matrix API [0] to sort listings by commute time. I'll be on here with my cofounders today to answer any questions you might have. [0]: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/distancematrix/intro https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/distancemat...

jboggan 11y ago
I clicked on my last company (Factual in LA) and the first listing was for a $18M penthouse. It also said that the buyer would get a $225k+ refund from Open Listings for buying through them - how does that work? But seriously, it is a very neat tool, thanks for making it.
- jschoenholtz 11y ago
  Thanks! We'd love to get you into that penthouse... When you buy a home, your agent is paid a 2.5% commission to represent you in the transaction. As a real estate brokerage, Open Listings replaces your agent and facilitates the transaction on your behalf. At close, we refund you half of the commission we receive, usually crediting the refund against your closing costs. Here's a more detailed explanation plus a fun slider: https://www.openlistings.co/our-commission-refund https://www.openlistings.co/our-commission-refund
  - ehhuang 11y ago
    I've heard from multiple agents about how redfin agents don't know what they are doing. Of course, that is just one side of the story, but I'm curious about how receptive listing agents are towards working with you guys in hot markets like SF Bay area. Anything you can share?
    - jschoenholtz 11y ago
      It's not just Redfin agents: a surprising number of licensed agents have trouble with basic tasks like communicating via email and filling out contracts. Since we work as a team, we've built a vast amount of institutional knowledge over the past 5 months and there are no individual, inexperienced agents representing our buyers. We're also automating most of the offer submission process. This means that we're more responsive, more articulate and more accurate than the majority of agents. We also have the privilege of working with smart, serious buyers. We can honestly say that most agents have been happy to work with us and treat us like any other brokerage. The most important thing to understand is the seller decides which offer to accept and that decision comes down to price & terms. The best offer always wins. 100% of the time we've submitted the highest offer, it has been accepted. Our offers are clean and our buyers are able to pay more knowing they'll get a significant refund. So far, so good.
    - hueving 11y ago
      Incumbent says competing entrant is not as good. More news to follow.
      - jschoenholtz 11y ago
        Haha - not really! Was saying that most of the criticisms directed towards Redfin agents could be applied to more generally to many real estate agents currently working in the industry. To date, Redfin has built the best home search tools available. But they continue to reduce their refund amounts and hire agents on salary who work individually in a traditional manner. As a competing entrant, we're trying a different approach. Buyers win because they have more choices.
    - danieltillett 11y ago
      As an Australian I have always been amazed with that in the USA you have to use a buyers agent. Here you visit the properties yourself and deal directly with the selling agent. Only the buyer pays the agent. We do have very high stamp duty (basically a sales tax on real estate) which is 5% of the property price which the buyer has to pay.
ruswick 11y ago
I see that you are only targeting the big companies. This is really smart, since those companies tend to pay better and their employees will have a bunch more cash to throw at their house, leading to a bigger commission. What are your plans for adding new companies? Are you going to branch out into firms that might not pay as well? Stick with the "top 1%" companies but in different cities? Real estate service that focuses on tech people seems lucrative. Good idea all around.
- rgbrgb 11y ago
  You can use the search box to find your company if it's marked on google maps. It'll try to pull an image too using the Clearbit company logo API [0]. The list is crudely sorted by number of page views so it'll tend to just show the big companies. [0]: http://blog.clearbit.com/logo http://blog.clearbit.com/logo
PeterWhittaker 11y ago
Hey, with cookies disabled, the site displays nothing at all, simply a blank page. (A favourite hobby horse of mine. I accept cookies only from specific sites, whitelisted after consideration.)
- Figs 11y ago
  It also shows nothing at all if you turn off JavaScript in Firefox. Not even a crappy "You need JavaScript" error -- just blank.

by rgbrgb 11y ago

jboggan 11y ago

I clicked on my last company (Factual in LA) and the first listing was for a $18M penthouse. It also said that the buyer would get a $225k+ refund from Open Listings for buying through them - how does that work? But seriously, it is a very neat tool, thanks for making it.

jschoenholtz 11y ago
Thanks! We'd love to get you into that penthouse... When you buy a home, your agent is paid a 2.5% commission to represent you in the transaction. As a real estate brokerage, Open Listings replaces your agent and facilitates the transaction on your behalf. At close, we refund you half of the commission we receive, usually crediting the refund against your closing costs. Here's a more detailed explanation plus a fun slider: https://www.openlistings.co/our-commission-refund https://www.openlistings.co/our-commission-refund
- ehhuang 11y ago
  I've heard from multiple agents about how redfin agents don't know what they are doing. Of course, that is just one side of the story, but I'm curious about how receptive listing agents are towards working with you guys in hot markets like SF Bay area. Anything you can share?
  - jschoenholtz 11y ago
    It's not just Redfin agents: a surprising number of licensed agents have trouble with basic tasks like communicating via email and filling out contracts. Since we work as a team, we've built a vast amount of institutional knowledge over the past 5 months and there are no individual, inexperienced agents representing our buyers. We're also automating most of the offer submission process. This means that we're more responsive, more articulate and more accurate than the majority of agents. We also have the privilege of working with smart, serious buyers. We can honestly say that most agents have been happy to work with us and treat us like any other brokerage. The most important thing to understand is the seller decides which offer to accept and that decision comes down to price & terms. The best offer always wins. 100% of the time we've submitted the highest offer, it has been accepted. Our offers are clean and our buyers are able to pay more knowing they'll get a significant refund. So far, so good.
  - hueving 11y ago
    Incumbent says competing entrant is not as good. More news to follow.
    - jschoenholtz 11y ago
      Haha - not really! Was saying that most of the criticisms directed towards Redfin agents could be applied to more generally to many real estate agents currently working in the industry. To date, Redfin has built the best home search tools available. But they continue to reduce their refund amounts and hire agents on salary who work individually in a traditional manner. As a competing entrant, we're trying a different approach. Buyers win because they have more choices.
  - danieltillett 11y ago
    As an Australian I have always been amazed with that in the USA you have to use a buyers agent. Here you visit the properties yourself and deal directly with the selling agent. Only the buyer pays the agent. We do have very high stamp duty (basically a sales tax on real estate) which is 5% of the property price which the buyer has to pay.

ruswick 11y ago

I see that you are only targeting the big companies. This is really smart, since those companies tend to pay better and their employees will have a bunch more cash to throw at their house, leading to a bigger commission. What are your plans for adding new companies? Are you going to branch out into firms that might not pay as well? Stick with the "top 1%" companies but in different cities? Real estate service that focuses on tech people seems lucrative. Good idea all around.

rgbrgb 11y ago
You can use the search box to find your company if it's marked on google maps. It'll try to pull an image too using the Clearbit company logo API [0]. The list is crudely sorted by number of page views so it'll tend to just show the big companies. [0]: http://blog.clearbit.com/logo http://blog.clearbit.com/logo

PeterWhittaker 11y ago

Hey, with cookies disabled, the site displays nothing at all, simply a blank page. (A favourite hobby horse of mine. I accept cookies only from specific sites, whitelisted after consideration.)

Figs 11y ago
It also shows nothing at all if you turn off JavaScript in Firefox. Not even a crappy "You need JavaScript" error -- just blank.