Friday, September 6, 2013

Redfin's Matchmaker: Yes, You Really Want To Buy This House

Can a software algorithm really figure out what kind of house you'd really like to buy--even if you don't? A new feature from Seattle-based real estate Redfin is looking to find that out, by automatically matching clients to homes that its software thinks might match them--even if they wouldn't have been thinking they'd like a house. According to Redfin, the new software uses algorithms, online activity, in-person visits, and guidance from agents to help surface and recommend unexpected property listings to clients. Redfin said it is using data from its millions of users--plus machine learning algorithms analyzing the homes people are viewing on the site--to present alternative properties to its agents, who can then suggest those properties to clients.