Real Estate Broker Redfin Debuted Today and It Went Better Than Expected

That’s one small step for real estate, one giant leap for real estate broker Redfin (NASDAQ:$RDFN).

The Seattle, Washington-based company made its debut today, hitting the public market in a $138.5 million initial public offering (IPO). On its first day of trading, the stock popped 44.7%. The 9.23 million share offering was priced at $15 a share, which is up from the expected price range of $12 to $14 apiece.

Redfin focuses on the buying and selling of homes and uses a mobile application to complete tasks like planning home tours and suggesting listings to prospective clients.

Keep in mind that Redfin sees itself as unique and different in comparison to other technology companies that use the internet and mobile phone apps to connect consumers with businesses. Additionally, it has a tool that helps to estimate home values. The company tracks the following in monthly reports: home sales, prices, inventory, buyer demand and luxury transactions.

To put their platform into perspective, CEO Glenn Kelman has compared the company’s home visualization platform to Google’s Street View for inside a home.

Last year, revenue increased 43% to $267.2 million from $187.3 million in 2015. Redfin’s net loss went from $30.2 million to $22.5 million. According to the company, Redfin is a “technology-powered real estate broker.”

It’s worth noting that big name tech investors,including Greylock Partners and T.Rowe Price, have backed Redfin, which was originally created back in 2004. Additionally, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:$GS) led the initial public offering.

For a real estate company, management sure has high hopes. And based on today’s trading, those hopes are not totally far-fetched. In fact, Kelman has said that he wants his company to feel like “the Apple of real estate” in a world of Radio Shacks.

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About the author: Caroline Harris is a third-year student at Capilano University in North Vancouver, Canada. Having already completed an Associates Degree in Psychology, Caroline is now finishing her Bachelor's degree in Communications. In preparation for working in the advertisement sector, Caroline is writing financial content and analysis. On a daily basis, Caroline works on articles regarding the following topics: finance, cryptocurrency, technology, and politics.