A contributor to Kevin Kelly’s “Cool Tools” site writes that they saved $15,000 on a recent home purchase in California by using Redfin, an online real estate broker that lets you do most of the grunt work of finding a new house, then steps in to help with the paperwork at the end for a greatly reduced fee. We’ve discussed Redfin before, but thought it was interesting to read a user’s personal experience with it.

Says the home buyer,

You, in the role of buyer and self-agent, do all the footwork of finding, visiting the various homes, checking out the disclosures, etc. You are your own real estate agent up to this point. When you are ready to make on offer on a home, you do so online via Redfin, completing the necessary forms on the web. Then a human Redfin employee will take you through the final paperwork and signatures, and eventually visit the house with you. At the close of the deal they will rebate 2/3rds of their buyer agent commission paid by the seller.

The Cool Tools post smells a little like PR copy, but we suppose there is still such a thing as a satisfied customer testimonial, and we think Redfin deserves a second glance (if you’re in one of the few cities it serves).

Redfin [Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools]

(Photo: Getty)

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