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February 2024 » thefivestar.com 23 February 2024 I N D U S T R Y U P D A T E gage rates," said Jason Aleem, Redfin's SVP of Real Estate Operations. "The concept is simple: as a Sign & Save customer, you get extra savings because we know you're serious about buying a home, and we're serious about getting you into one. We started piloting Sign & Save in a handful of cities in September, and the customer response has been fantastic. We're now rolling it out to dozens more markets because we believe it will help our agents close more sales and increase profits by identifying and rewarding homebuyers who are ready to make a purchase." When a homebuyer goes on their first home tour with a Redfin agent, the agent learns about the customer's goals, explains the benefits of working with Redfin to achieve those goals, and asks the customer to sign a buyer agency agreement. This is a contract that creates a formal working relationship between the customer and Redfin. Customers who sign up to work with a Redfin agent before the second tour get a refund when they close on their new home. The standard Sign & Save refund is 0.25% of the purchase price. For custom- ers who purchase a luxury home through Redfin's Premier service, Redfin offers a 0.5% Sign & Save refund. Because Redfin earns a larger commission on a luxury home sale, it's able to give the homebuyer a larger refund. The program is part of Redfin's com- mitment to giving customers a better deal by offering great service from exceptional agents at a lower cost. "Saving customers money has been central to our mission to redefine real es- tate in the consumers' favor," Aleem said. "Homebuyers are becoming more aware of the high cost of agent fees and less apologetic about negotiating commis- sions. We've helped usher in this new era of price transparency by advertising our low listing fee and publishing the buyer's agent commission on every listing on our website. Sign & Save is another opportunity for our agents to explain the fees involved in the transaction and the benefits of working with Redfin." With Sign & Save, Redfin is reward- ing customers who commit to working with a Redfin agent early in the process. Customers who don't want to sign a buyer agency agreement can still work with Redfin agents to tour homes with no obligation. In pilot markets, Sign & Save customers were significantly more likely to close than other customers. Buyers in the pilot markets are making offers with their Redfin agent at a significantly higher rate than buyers in comparable markets. "Homebuyers today are often connect- ing with the first agent who responds to their online request without understand- ing how the process works or what the fees are," said Andrew Vallejo, a Redfin Premier agent in Austin, where Redfin piloted the program. "Sign & Save is a great way to start a conversation with new customers about why they should hire me and how I'll help them win and save." Sign & Save is now available to Redfin's home-buying customers in more than 50 markets. The refund is available to customers who sign an exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement before their second tour with Redfin and go under contract to purchase a property within 180 days of signing the agreement. Redfin reserves the right to cancel or modify the program at any time. NEW AMERICAN FUNDING TO EXPAND FOOTPRINT WITH ACQUISITION OF DRAPER AND KRAMER MORTGAGE CORPORATION T he acquisition of Draper and Kramer Mortgage Corporation (DKMC), with its strong pres- ence in the Midwest and along the East Coast, deepens New American Funding's (NAF) capabilities and offerings in these key regions. "Homebuyers today are often connecting with the first agent who responds to their online request without understanding how the process works or what the fees are." —Andrew Vallejo, Agent, Redfin Premier