Redfin, a Web-based real estate broker, on Thursday said it landed a $10 million fourth round of funding.
Led by Greylock Partners, the financial backing brings the Seattle company's total funding to $30.8 million. The round was joined by previous investors Madrona Venture Group, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Vulcan Capital, and the Hillman Company.
Under the deal, Greylock partner and former Yahoo executive James Slavet will join Redfin's board of directors.
Redfin positions its service as something of a do-it-yourself site for home buying and selling, where agents do the things agents normally do, such as handle documentation, negotiate, open homes, and compare comps for their customers.
The Internet real estate broker boasts that it shares with buyers half of 3 percent commission off home sale prices that it earns from sellers. This is all fine under ordinary real estate markets, but in the past few years the traditional fees earned by brokers have widely come under question and have been negotiated lower. Also, the fine print at Redfin notes that for direct service from Redfin agents, the minimum fee is $5,500. Still, Redfin claims to save users $3,600 on average.
Redfin's take of the money, its business model, is unclear as is why somebody wouldn't just go to a traditional broker and cut out the middle man.
That hasn't stopped other upstarts from offering similar "Web friendly" services paired with agents. ZipRealty of Emeryville, California, touts its full service real estate brokerage that gives back 20 percent of commissions.