50 Best Websites 2009

Disintermediation — another SAT word whizzing around the Web — means removing the middleman, and that's the strategy of real estate site Redfin, which aims to do to Realtors what travel sites have done to travel agents: eradicate them. Redfin provides the same information that real estate agents have in their computers, like price history, pictures and comparables. After you narrow your choice, the site provides a cut-rate real estate agent to help you close the deal. Sellers can use Redfin too. The loser in the deal is the traditional Realtor, who has been — all together now — disintermediated.

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