The online real estate brokerage Redfin says it plans to start posting consumer reviews of real estate agents on its website. The firm has persuaded 35 agents -- 18 of them in California -- to participate.
The company pulled Multiple Listing Service records since December 2007 for the agents and surveyed the agents' clients by e-mail.
The agents will not be able to edit or reject reviews but will be able to post replies.
Although agents risk being panned by their clients, they also hope the publicity will lead to referrals. If the agent gets a client through the site, Redfin takes 30% of the agent's commission as a referral fee. The company says it will rebate half of its share to the client.
