Redfin Files Paperwork For $100M IPO, Quietly Enters House-Flipping Game
Seattle residential brokerage Redfin plans to go public. The company filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week to raise up to $100M in an initial public offering.
The brokerage, which lists 3,000-plus homes on its website and pairs customers with traditional agents, also plans to expand its business model by jumping into the house-flipping fray. The firm has been buying and refurbishing homes under the radar since early this year to resell in a business it calls Redfin Now — which falls under the subsidiary RDFN Ventures, Xconomy reports.
“Customers who sell through Redfin Now will typically get less money for their home than they would listing their home with a real estate agent, but get that money faster with less risk and fuss,” the filing reads.
Though the venture-backed firm generated annual revenue of $267.2M in 2016, up from $187.3M in 2015, it is still not profitable. The firm reported an annual net loss of $22.5M in 2016, a 29% decline compared to the $30.2M in net losses reported in 2015. As of Q1 the company had accumulated a deficit of $613.3M, according to its filing.
The company’s online-offline model puts it in direct competition with online marketplaces Trulia and Zillow Group — which raised $69.2M during its IPO in 2011. As of 2016, Zillow generated revenues of $846M and has a current $9B market cap.
As of March 31, Redfin averaged 20 million average visitors per month, a 44% jump in visitors compared to 2016. The company is in 80 markets in the U.S., though a large chunk of its revenue comes from major metros, including Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle, MarketWatch reports.
