Redfin is bolstering its national real estate presence, perhaps yet another sign that the Seattle online real estate company is prepping for an initial public offering.
The company is expanding its efforts in Orlando, Florida; Norfolk-Hampton, Virginia; and Tucson, Arizona, according to new maps and data feeds posted on the company’s Web site.
The company has not officially announced those cities yet, in part because it is still in the process of recruiting real estate agents in those markets.
Not including the three new areas, Redfin now operates in 23 markets. The last one it added was Minneapolis, established last November.
Redfin raised $50 million in funding last fall, though at the time CEO Glenn Kelman said the funds were not directly tied to expansion.
“Most of the expansion has been self-financing, so when we open these markets, they used to lose tons of money,” he said. “But more recently we have figured out how to bring them to profits fairly quickly, and what is interesting is that each market that we’ve opened has been optimized for profit.”
However, national coverage could be important for Redfin if it tries to go public, since investors will want to see a national footprint. The company declined to discuss its additional expansion plans this year.
“Unfortunately we can’t share details on future plans, but we can share that expansion is one of the most important company initiatives for Redfin in 2014,” said company spokeswoman Jani Strand.
