Redfin's Newest Online Tool Cuts Out the Buyer's Agent...

Redfin is no stranger to disrupting the traditional home-buying process. Its website features broker-listed homes for sale in an area, for-sale-by-owner properties that don’t pay brokers a commission and offers online tools that make the home-buying and selling process easier.

Redfin Direct, the company’s newest online tool, is a way to buy homes that, according to company spokeswoman Alina Ptaszynski, can help sellers save money. The program recently completed a pilot in Boston and will expand to Virginia in June and other cities in the coming year. As part of the program, on Redfin-listed homes in Boston, consumers are given two options: Buy with an agent or make an offer without an agent using Redfin software.....

Where to Park Your Money if you Want to Profit

"I don't want to make more money"—said no one, ever. With the cost of just about everything shooting up, up, up, most folks these days are looking for near-surefire ways to bring in more cash and build a nest egg.  Conventional wisdom has long held that home ownership is one of the best ways to build wealth. But is it really? And how does it compare with other types of investment opportunities, new and old? This data team decided to find out.....