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Confidential Draft Submitted on February 3, 2017

As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on                     , 2017

Registration No. 333-            

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Redfin Corporation

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

1099 Stewart Street, Suite 600

Seattle, WA 98101

(206) 576-8333

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrant’s principal executive offices)

Glenn Kelman

Chief Executive Officer

Redfin Corporation

1099 Stewart Street, Suite 600

Seattle, WA 98101

(206) 576-8333

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copies to:

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or Securities Act, check the following box.  ☐

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. (Check one):

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment that specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

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The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities, nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to Completion. Dated                 , 2017.

                 Shares

Common Stock

This is an initial public offering of shares of common stock of Redfin Corporation.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. It is currently estimated that the initial public offering price per share will be between $        and $        . We intend to list our common stock on the              under the symbol “RDFN.”

We are an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 and, as such, have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements.

See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 15 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of our common stock.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

To the extent that the underwriters sell more than                  shares of common stock, the underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional                  shares from us at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discount.

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York on                     , 2017.

Prospectus dated                     , 2017

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We have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectuses we have prepared. We and the underwriters take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the shares offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any sale of our common stock.

For investors outside of the United States: Neither we nor the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. You are required to inform yourself about, and to observe any restrictions relating to, this offering and the distribution of this prospectus outside of the United States.

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RISK FACTORS

An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this prospectus, including “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes, before deciding to invest in our common stock. Our business, operating results, financial condition, or prospects could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks and uncertainties. If any of these risks occurs, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you might lose all or part of your investment. Our business, operating results, financial performance, or prospects could also be harmed by risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe are material.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

The U.S. residential real estate industry is seasonal and cyclical, and we‘re negatively affected by industry downturns.

Our success depends largely on the health of the U.S. residential real estate industry, which is seasonal, cyclical, and affected by changes in general economic conditions beyond our control. Any of the following macroeconomic factors could adversely affect demand for residential real estate, result in falling home prices and harm our business:

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We have a history of losses, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.

We have not been profitable on an annual basis since we were founded, and as of September 30, 2016, we had an accumulated deficit of $487.1 million. We expect to continue to make future investments in developing and expanding our business, including technology, recruitment and training, marketing, and pursuing strategic opportunities. These investments may not result in increased revenue or growth in our business. Additionally, we may incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including:

Accordingly, we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability and we may continue to incur significant losses in the future.

Our business is concentrated in certain geographic markets. Failing to grow in those markets or any disruptions in those markets could harm our business.

For 2015 and the nine months ended September 30, 2016, approximately 75% and 72% of our real estate revenue, respectively, was derived from our top-10 markets. These markets are primarily major metropolitan areas, where home prices and transaction volumes are generally higher than other markets. Local and regional economic conditions in these markets differ materially from prevailing conditions in other parts of the United States. In addition, due to the higher home prices in these markets, our real estate revenue and gross margin is generally higher in these markets than in our smaller markets. Any overall or disproportionate downturn in demand or economic conditions in any of our largest markets, particularly if we are not able to increase revenue from our other markets, could result in a decline in our revenue and harm our business.

Our future market share gains may take longer than planned and cause us to incur significant costs.

We represent people buying and selling homes in over 80 markets throughout the United States. We have a limited operating history in many of these markets. Expanding our services in

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existing and new markets and increasing the depth and breadth of our presence imposes significant burdens on our marketing, compliance, and other administrative and managerial resources. Our plan to expand and deepen our market share in our existing markets and possibly expand into additional markets is subject to a variety of risks and challenges. These risks and challenges include the varying economic and demographic conditions of each market, competition from local and regional residential brokerage firms, variations in transaction dynamics, and pricing pressures. Additionally, our earlier markets typically have higher mean home prices than our more recent markets. In addition, many valuable markets have established residential brokerages with superior local referral networks, name recognition, and perceived local knowledge and expertise. If we cannot manage our expansion efforts efficiently, our market share gains could take longer than planned and our related costs could exceed our expectations. In addition, we could incur significant costs to seek to expand our market share, and still not succeed in attracting sufficient customers to offset such costs.

We expect our revenue and results of operations to fluctuate on a quarterly and annual basis.

Our revenue and results of operations are likely to vary significantly from period to period and may fail to match expectations as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside our control. The other risk factors discussed in this “Risk Factors” section may contribute to the variability of our quarterly and annual results. In addition, our revenue and results may fluctuate as a result of:

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As a result of potential variations in our revenue and results of operations, period-to-period comparisons may not be meaningful and the results of any one period should not be relied on as an indication of future performance. In addition, our results of operations may not meet the expectations of investors or public market analysts who follow us, which may adversely affect our stock price.

Our business model and growth strategy depend on our ability to attract homebuyers and home sellers to our website and mobile application in a cost-effective manner.

Our success depends on our ability to attract homebuyers and home sellers to our website and mobile application in a cost-effective manner. Our website and mobile application are our primary channels for meeting customers. We rely heavily on organic traffic generated from search engines and other unpaid sources to meet customers. We use a variety of media in our marketing efforts, including online and television advertising and social media, to drive traffic. We intend to continue to invest resources in our marketing efforts.

We are heavily dependent on digital marketing initiatives such as search engine optimization to improve our website’s search result ranking and generate new customer leads. We also rely on other marketing methods such as social media marketing, paid search advertising and targeted email communications. Advertising platforms, such as Facebook, Google, and others, may raise their rates significantly, and we may choose to use alternative and less expensive channels, which may not be as effective at attracting homebuyers and home sellers to our website and mobile application. We also use television advertising, which may have significantly higher costs than other channels. In addition, we may be required to expand into or continue to invest in more expensive channels than those we are currently in, which could harm our business.

These marketing efforts may not succeed for a variety of reasons, including changes to search engine algorithms, ineffective campaigns across marketing channels, and limited experience in certain marketing channels like television. External factors beyond our control may also affect the success of our marketing initiatives, such as filtering of our targeted communications by email servers, homebuyers and home sellers failing to respond to our marketing initiatives, and competition from third parties. Any of these factors could reduce the number of homebuyers and home sellers to our website and mobile application. We also anticipate that our marketing efforts will become increasingly expensive as competition increases and we seek to expand our business in existing markets. Generating a meaningful return on our marketing initiatives may be difficult. If our strategies do not attract homebuyers and home sellers efficiently, our business and growth would be harmed. Even if we successfully increase revenue as a result of these efforts, that additional revenue may not offset the related expenses we incur.

We rely heavily on Internet search engines and mobile application stores to direct traffic to our website and our mobile application, respectively.

We rely heavily on Internet search engines, such as Google, Bing and Yahoo!, to drive traffic to our website and on mobile application stores, such as Apple iTunes Store and the Android Play Store, for downloads of our mobile application. The number of visitors to our website and mobile application downloads depends in large part on how and where our website and mobile application rank in Internet search results and mobile application stores, respectively. For example, when a user types a property address into an Internet search engine, we rely on that search engine to rank our

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webpages in the search results and to direct a user to the listing on our website. While we use search engine optimization to help our webpages rank highly in search results, maintaining our search result rankings is not within our control. Internet search engines frequently update and change their ranking algorithms, referral methodologies, or design layouts, which determine the placement and display of a user’s search results. In some instances, Internet search engines may change these rankings in order to promote their own competing services or the services of one or more of our competitors. Similarly, mobile application stores can change how they display searches and how mobile applications are featured. For instance, editors at the Apple iTunes Store can feature prominently editor-curated mobile applications and cause the mobile application to appear larger than other applications or more visibly on a featured list. Listings on our website and mobile application have experienced fluctuations in search result and mobile application rankings in the past, and we anticipate fluctuations in the future. If our website or listings on our website fail to rank prominently in Internet search results, our website traffic could decline. Likewise, a decline in our website and mobile application traffic could reduce the number of customers for our services.

If we cannot obtain and provide to our customers comprehensive and accurate real estate listings quickly, or at all, our business will suffer.

Our ability to attract consumers to our website and mobile application is heavily dependent on our timely access to comprehensive and accurate real estate listings data. We get listings data primarily from MLSs in the markets we serve. We also source listings data from public records, other third-party listing providers, and individual homeowners and brokers. Many of our competitors and other real estate websites also have access to MLSs and other listings data, including proprietary data, and may be able to source listings data or other real estate information faster or more efficiently than we can. Since MLS participation is voluntary, brokers and homeowners may decline to post their listings data to their local MLS or may seek to change or limit the way that data is distributed. A competitor or another industry participant could also create an alternative listings data service, which may reduce the relevancy and comprehensive nature of the MLSs. If MLSs cease to be the predominant source of listings data in the markets that we serve, we may be unable to get access to comprehensive listings data on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, and we may be unable to provide timely listings to our customers.

If we do not comply with the rules, terms of service, and policies of MLSs, our access to and use of listings data may be restricted or terminated and harm our business.

We must comply with each MLS’s rules, terms of service, and policies to access and use its listings data. Each of the more than 115 MLSs we belong to has adopted its own rules, terms of service and policies governing, among other things, how MLS data may be used and listings data must be displayed on our website and mobile application. These rules typically do not contemplate multi-jurisdictional online brokerages like ours and vary widely among markets. They also are in some cases inconsistent with the rules of other MLSs such that we are required to customize our website, mobile application, or service to accommodate differences between MLS rules. Complying with the rules of each MLS requires significant investment, including personnel, technology and development resources, other resources, and the exercise of considerable judgment. If we are deemed to be noncompliant with an MLS’s rules, we may face disciplinary sanctions in that MLS, which could include monetary fines, restricting, terminating our access to that MLS’s data or other disciplinary measures. The loss or degradation of this listings data could materially and adversely affect traffic to our website and mobile application, making us less relevant to consumers and restricting our ability to attract customers. It also could reduce agent and customer confidence in our services and harm our business.

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Our business model subjects us to challenges not faced by our competitors.

Unlike most of our brokerage competitors, we hire our lead agents as employees, rather than as independent contractors, and therefore we incur related costs that our brokerage competitors do not, such as base pay, employee benefits, expense reimbursement, training, and employee transactional support staff. We also continue to invest heavily in developing our technology as well as new offerings. As a result, we have significant costs, some of which we incur in anticipation of future growth in revenue and market share. In the event of fluctuations in demand in the markets we serve, or significant reductions in home sales’ prices, whether due to seasonality, cyclicality, changes in interest rates, fiscal policy, or other events, we will not be able to adjust our expenses as rapidly as many of our competitors, and our business would be harmed. Additionally, due to these costs, our lead agent turnover may be more costly to us than to traditional brokerages, and our business may be harmed if we are unable to achieve the necessary level of lead agent productivity and retention to offset their related costs.

Competition in the residential brokerage industry is intense and if we cannot compete effectively, our business will suffer.

We face intense competition nationally and in each of the markets we serve. We compete primarily against other residential brokerages, which include operations affiliated with national or local brands and small independent brokerages. We also compete with a growing number of Internet-based residential brokerages and others who operate with non-traditional real estate business models. Competition with brokerages is particularly intense in some of the densely populated metropolitan markets we serve. To capture and retain market share, we must compete successfully against other brokerages, not only for customers, but also for high-performing lead agents and other critical employees.

The residential brokerage industry has low barriers to entry for new participants, including other technology-driven brokerages that offer lower commissions than the traditional pricing model. We may change our pricing strategies in response to a number of factors, including competitive pressures or in response to transaction volume fluctuations in particular markets we serve. As competitors introduce new offerings that compete with ours or reduce their commission rates, we may need to change our pricing strategies to compete effectively. Any such changes, particularly in the top-10 markets we serve, may affect our ability to compete successfully and harm our business.

Many of our brokerage competitors have substantial competitive advantages, such as longer operating histories, greater financial resources, stronger brand recognition, more management, sales, marketing and other resources, and extensive relationships with participants in the residential real estate industry including third-party data providers such as MLSs. Consequently, these brokerages may have an advantage in recruiting and retaining agents, attracting consumers, acquiring customers and growing their businesses. They may be able to provide consumers with offerings that are different from or superior to those we provide. They may also be acquired by third parties with greater resources than ours, which would further strengthen and enable them to compete more vigorously or broadly with us. The success of our competitors could result in our loss of market share and harm our business.

Our revenue may not continue to grow at its recent pace, or at all.

Our revenue may not continue to grow at the same pace as it has over the past several years. We believe that our future revenue growth will depend, among other factors, on our ability to:

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We may not be successful in our efforts to do any of the foregoing, and any failure to be successful in these matters could adversely affect our revenue growth. You should not consider our past revenue growth to be indicative of our future growth.

If we’re not able to deliver a rewarding experience on mobile devices, whether through our mobile website or mobile application, we may be unable to attract and retain customers.

Developing and supporting a mobile website and mobile application across multiple operating systems and devices requires substantial time and resources. We may not be able to consistently provide a rewarding customer experience on mobile devices, and as a result customers we meet through our mobile website or mobile application may not choose to use our brokerage services, or those of our partner agents, at the same rate as customers we meet through our website.

As new mobile devices and mobile operating systems are released, we may encounter problems in developing or supporting our mobile website or mobile application for them. Developing or supporting our mobile website or mobile application for new devices and their operating systems may require substantial time and resources. The success of our mobile website and mobile application could also be harmed by factors outside our control, such as:

Adverse developments in economic conditions could harm our business.

Our business is sensitive to general economic conditions that are outside of our control. These conditions include interest rates, inflation, fluctuations in consumer confidence, fluctuations in equity and debt capital markets, availability of credit, and the strength of financial institutions, which are

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sensitive to changes in the general macroeconomic environment. A host of factors beyond our control could cause fluctuations in these conditions, including the political environment, disruptions in an economically significant geographic region, or equity or debt markets, acts or threats of war, or terrorism, any of which could harm our business.

Our growth may be limited due to historically low home inventory levels.

Traditionally, a “balanced” residential real estate industry requires enough homes on the market to satisfy six months of homebuyer demand. In recent years, home inventory has remained at historically low levels in many parts of the United States. Low inventory levels can harm our ability to attract customers, inflate home prices, increase competition for homes, increase our operating expenses because of home touring and offer-writing activities that do not result in closed home purchases, and reduce transaction volumes. As a result, our customers may be unable to complete a sufficient number of real estate transactions to sustain or grow our transaction volume and revenue.

We may not be able to attract, retain or effectively train, motivate and utilize lead agents.

As a result of our business model, our lead agents generally earn less on a per transaction basis than traditional agents, which may be unattractive to some agents. Because our model is uncommon in our industry, agents considering working for us may not understand our compensation model, or may not perceive it to be more attractive than the independent contractor, commission-driven compensation model used by most traditional brokerages. If we‘re unable to attract, retain or effectively train, motivate and utilize lead agents, we will be unable to grow our revenue and we may be required to significantly increase our lead agent compensation or other costs, which would harm our business.

We are, and expect in the future to become, subject to an increasing variety of federal and state laws and regulations, many of which are continuously evolving, which increases our compliance costs and could subject us to claims or otherwise harm our business.

We are currently subject to a variety of, and may in the future become subject to, additional, federal, state and local laws that are continuously changing, including laws related to: the real estate, brokerage, title and mortgage industries; mobile- and Internet-based businesses; and data security, privacy and consumer protection laws. For instance, we are subject to federal laws such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, or FHA, and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974. These laws can be costly to comply with, require significant management attention, and could subject us to claims, government enforcement actions, civil and criminal liability or other remedies, including revocation of licenses and suspension of business operations.

In some cases, it is unclear as to how such laws and regulations affect us based on our business model that is unlike traditional brokerages, and the fact that those laws and regulations were created for traditional real estate brokerages. If we are unable to comply with and become liable for violations of these laws or regulations, or if unfavorable regulations or interpretations of existing regulations by courts or regulatory bodies are implemented, we could be directly harmed and forced to implement new measures to reduce our liability exposure. It could cause our operations in affected markets to become overly expensive, time consuming or even impossible. This may require us to expend significant time, capital, managerial and other resources to modify or discontinue certain operations, limiting our ability to execute our business strategies, deepen our presence in our existing markets or expand into new markets. In addition, any negative exposure or liability could harm our brand and reputation. Any costs incurred as a result of this potential liability could harm our business.

Further, due to the geographic scope of our operations and the nature of the services we provide, we may be required to obtain and maintain additional real estate brokerage, title insurance

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agency and mortgage broker licenses in certain states where we operate. Additionally, if we enter new markets, we may be required to comply with new laws, regulations, and licensing requirements. As part of licensing requirements, we are typically required to designate individual licensees of record. We cannot assure you that we are, and will remain at all times, in full compliance with all real estate, title insurance, and mortgage licensing laws and regulations, and we may be subject to fines or penalties, including license revocation, for any non-compliance. If in the future a state agency were to determine that we are required to obtain additional licenses in that state in order to transact business, or if we lose an existing license or are otherwise found to be in violation of a law or regulation, our business operations in that state may be suspended until we obtain the license or otherwise remedy the compliance issue.

We are subject to certain risks related to litigation filed by or against us, and adverse results may harm our business and financial condition.

We are from time to time involved in, and may in the future be subject to, claims, suits, government investigations, and proceedings arising from our business. We cannot predict with certainty the cost of defense, the cost of prosecution, insurance coverage or the ultimate outcome of litigation and other proceedings filed by or against us, including remedies, damage awards and penalties. Regardless of outcome, any such claims or actions could require significant time, money, managerial and other resources, result in negative publicity, and harm our business and financial condition. Such litigation and other proceedings may relate to:

In addition, class action lawsuits, such as the existing worker misclassification claims we face, can often be particularly vexatious litigation given the breadth of claims, the large potential damages claimed and the significant costs of defense. The risks of litigation become magnified and the costs of

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settlement increase in class actions in which the courts grant partial or full certification of a large class. Also, insurance coverage may be unavailable for certain types of claims and even where available, insurance carriers may dispute coverage for various reasons, including the cost of defense. Further, such insurance may not be sufficient to cover the losses we incur.

Any failure to maintain, protect, and enhance our brand would hurt our ability to grow our business, particularly in markets where we have limited brand recognition.

Maintaining, protecting, and enhancing our brand is critical to growing our business, particularly in markets where we have limited brand recognition and compete with well-known traditional brokerages with longer histories and established community presence. This will partially depend upon our ability to continue to provide high-value, customer-oriented, and differentiated services, and we may not be able to do so effectively. Enhancing and maintaining the quality of our brand may require us to make substantial investments, such as in marketing and advertising, technology, and agent training. If we do not successfully build and maintain a strong brand, our business could be harmed. In addition, despite these investments, our brand could be damaged from other events that are or may be beyond our control, such as litigation and claims, our failure to comply with local laws and regulations, and illegal activity such as phishing scams or cybersecurity attacks targeted at us, our customers, or others.

In addition to our agents, we rely on a flexible network of licensed third-party associate agents to conduct customer home tours and field events, and their status as independent contractors is being challenged and may be challenged in the future.

We are currently defending three lawsuits, each of which includes class and/or representative claims, and may from time to time be subject to additional lawsuits or administrative proceedings, claiming that certain of our independent contractor associate agents should be classified as our employees rather than independent contractors. These lawsuits and proceedings typically seek substantial monetary damages (including claims for unpaid wages, overtime, unreimbursed business expenses, and other items), injunctive relief, or both. Adverse determinations in these matters could, among other things, require us to adopt certain changes in our business practices that are costly and time-consuming to implement, entitle our independent contractor associate agents to the benefit of wage and hour laws, and result in employment and withholding tax and benefit liabilities, as well as changes to the independent contractor status of our other non-employee service providers. Regardless of the validity of these claims or their outcome, we have incurred, and anticipate incurring in the future, significant costs and efforts to defend against or settle them. In addition, if legislative and regulatory authorities take actions that classify our independent contractor service providers as employees, we would incur liabilities under a variety of laws and regulations including tax, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, labor, employment, and tort, including for prior periods, as well as potential liability for employee benefits and tax withholdings.

We are subject to an array of employment-related laws and regulations and failure to comply with these obligations could harm our business.

Our relationship with our employees is subject to various tax, wage and hour, unemployment, workers’ compensation, right to organize, anti-discrimination, workplace safety, and other employment-related laws. Each state has its own unique wage and hour laws, which have been the subject of growing litigation nationwide. In addition, federal and state regulatory authorities have increasingly challenged the classification of workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Legislators have also proposed legislation to make it easier to reclassify independent contractors as employees, including legislation to increase recordkeeping requirements for employers of independent contractors, and to abolish safe harbors allowing certain individuals to be treated as independent contractors.

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Federal agencies and each state have their own rules and tests for determining the classification of workers, as well as whether employees meet exemptions from minimum wages and overtime laws. These tests consider many factors that also vary from state to state and have evolved based on case law, regulations and legislative changes. They frequently involve factual analysis as well. We may face significant penalties and damages if we are found to be noncompliant with any of these laws and regulations.

Referring customers to our partner agents may harm our business.

We refer customers to third-party partner agents when we do not have a lead agent available due to high demand or geographic limitations. Our dependence on partner agents can be particularly heavy in certain new markets as we build our operations to scale in those markets. Our partner agents are independent licensed agents affiliated with other brokerages and we do not have any control over their actions. We may not be able to attract and retain quality partner agents, and they may not offer the high-quality customer service that we expect. If our partner agents were to provide diminished quality of customer service, engage in malfeasance or otherwise violate the law, MLS or other broker rules and regulations, our reputation and business may be harmed. Improper actions involving our partner agents may also lead to direct legal claims against us based on agency, vicarious or other theories of liability, which, if determined adversely, could increase our costs, affect the use of partner agents as part of our business model and subject us to liability for their actions, including revocation of our licenses and suspension of business operations. Our partner agents may also disagree with us and our strategies regarding the business or our interpretation of our respective rights and obligations under our partner relationships. This could lead to disputes with our partner agents. To the extent we have such disputes, the attention of our management and our partner agents will be diverted, which could harm our business.

Additionally, referring customers to partner agents limits our growth and brand awareness because referring customers to partner agents potentially redirects repeat and referral opportunities to them. Referring customers to partner agents may also dilute the effectiveness of our marketing efforts and may lead to customer confusion or dissatisfaction when they are offered the opportunity to work with a partner agent rather than one of our lead agents. Nevertheless, retaining more customers than we are able to serve may affect customer satisfaction by overloading our lead agents and teams. If we are unable to allocate transactions between our lead agents and partner agents efficiently, and successfully contract with high-quality partner agents, our business may be harmed.

If our technology and development efforts are not successful, our business may be harmed.

We intend to continue investing significant resources in developing technology, tools, features, and products. If we do not spend our development budget efficiently or effectively on commercially successful and innovative technologies, we may not realize the expected benefits of our strategy. Moreover, technology development is inherently challenging and expensive, and the nature of development cycles may result in delays between the time we incur expenses and the time we make available new offerings and generate revenue, if any, from those investments. Anticipated customer demand for an offering we are developing could also decrease after the development cycle has commenced, and we would not be able to recoup substantial costs we incurred. In addition, there are many competitors in the markets we serve, including brokerages as well as non-brokerage real estate websites, and we may not be able to effectively compete both as a brokerage and a developer, of technology. We cannot assure you that we will be able to identify, design, develop, implement and utilize, in a timely and cost-effective manner, technologies necessary for us to compete effectively, that such technologies will be commercially successful, or that products and services developed by others will not render our offerings noncompetitive or obsolete. If we do not achieve the desired or anticipated customer acquisition and transaction efficiency leverage from our technology investments, our business may be harmed.

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Our introduction of new services could fail to produce the desired or predicted results or harm our brand or reputation.

From time to time, we introduce and implement new services. For instance, in early 2013, we began offering title and settlement services in limited markets. We have limited experience operating businesses outside of our core brokerage offerings and forecasting our revenue for any new service is inherently uncertain, and our actual results may vary significantly from what we desire or predict. Additionally, these new services may fail to attract customers, reduce customer confidence in our services, undermine our customer-first reputation, or result in disputes between our customers and us. Any such event could harm our brand and reputation.

New services that we introduce and implement, including our planned mortgage offering, may subject us to new laws and regulations.

From time to time, we may introduce and implement new services in highly regulated areas. For instance, our title and settlement services are subject to regulation by insurance and other regulatory authorities on the federal level and in each state in which we provide such services. Compliance with new and existing regulatory and compliance regimes is time consuming and may require significant time and effort, which may divert attention and resources from our other offerings.

We plan to originate mortgage loans to customers in a limited number of markets through our wholly owned subsidiary, Redfin Mortgage, LLC. Redfin Mortgage is subject to a wide array of stringent federal and state laws, regulations, and agency oversight. These include laws and regulations governing the relationship between us and Redfin Mortgage, the manner in which Redfin Mortgage will conduct its loan origination and servicing businesses, the fees that it may charge, procedures relating to real estate settlement, fair lending, fair credit reporting, truth in lending, loan officer licensing, property valuation, escrow, payment processing, collection, foreclosure, and federal and state disclosure and licensing requirements. In addition, Redfin Mortgage will receive, transmit and store personally identifiable information from our customers to process mortgage applications and transactions. The sharing, use, disclosure and protection of such information is governed by federal, state, and international laws regarding privacy and data security, and all of which are constantly evolving. Changes to or a failure to comply with these laws and regulations could limit Redfin Mortgage’s ability to originate and fund mortgage loans, require us to change our business practices, result in revocation or suspension of our licenses and subject us to significant civil and criminal penalties. Any such events could harm our business.

If our current or future technology developments and service improvements do not meet customer or agent expectations, our business may be harmed.

Our technology-powered brokerage model is relatively new and unproven, and differs significantly from traditional residential brokerages. Our success depends on our ability to innovate and adapt our technology-powered brokerage to meet evolving industry standards and customer and agent expectations. We have expended, and expect to continue to expend, substantial time, capital and other resources understanding the needs of customers and agents and developing technology and service offerings to meet those needs. We cannot assure you that our current and future offerings will be satisfactory to or broadly accepted by customers and agents, or competitive with the offerings of other businesses. If our current or future offerings are unable to meet industry and customer and agent expectations in a timely and cost-effective manner, our business will be harmed.

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We could be required to cease certain activities or incur substantial costs as a result of any claim of infringement of another party’s intellectual property rights.

From time to time, we may receive claims from third parties, including our competitors, that our offerings or underlying technology infringe or violate that third party’s intellectual property rights. We may be unaware of the intellectual property rights of others that may cover some or all of our technology. If we are sued by a third party that claims our technology infringes on its rights, the litigation (with or without merit) could be expensive, time-consuming and distracting to management. The results of such disputes or litigation are difficult to predict. The results of any intellectual property litigation to which we might become a party may require us to do one or more of the following:

If we are required to make substantial payments or undertake any of the other actions noted above as a result of any intellectual property infringement claims against us, such payments or costs could have an adverse effect upon our business and financial results. Even if we were to prevail, such claims and proceedings could harm our business.

Any failure to protect our intellectual property rights could impair our ability to protect our proprietary technology and our brand.

Our success and ability to compete depends in part upon our intellectual property. We primarily rely on a combination of patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright laws, as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual restrictions with our employees, independent contractors and others to establish and protect our intellectual property rights. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property rights may be inadequate or we may be unable to secure intellectual property protection for all of our technology and methodologies.

If we are unable to protect our intellectual property, our competitors could use our intellectual property to market offerings similar to ours and our ability to compete effectively would be impaired. Moreover, others may independently develop technologies that are competitive to ours or infringe on our intellectual property. The enforcement of our intellectual property rights depends on our legal actions against these infringers being successful, but we cannot be sure these actions will be successful, even when our rights have been infringed. In addition, defending our intellectual property rights might entail significant expense and diversion of management resources. Any of our intellectual property rights may be challenged by others or invalidated through administrative processes or litigation. Furthermore, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights are uncertain and constantly changing. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing or misappropriating our intellectual property. Any intellectual property that we own may not provide us with competitive advantages or may be successfully challenged by third parties.

Our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Litigation to

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protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be expensive, time-consuming and distracting to management, and could ultimately result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property.

We employ third-party licensed technology, and the inability to maintain these licenses or errors in the software we license could result in increased costs, or reduced service levels, which would harm our business.

Our technology employs certain third-party software obtained under licenses from other companies. We anticipate that we will continue to rely on such third-party software and tools in the future. Although we believe that there are commercially reasonable alternatives to the third-party software we currently license, this may not always be the case, or it may be difficult or costly to replace. In addition, integration of our technology with new third-party software may require significant work and require substantial investment of our time and resources. Also, to the extent that our technology depends upon the successful operation of third-party software, any undetected errors or defects in the third-party software could prevent the deployment or impair the functionality of our technology, delay new offerings, result in a failure of our website or mobile application, and harm our reputation. Our use of additional or alternative third-party software would require us to enter into license agreements with third parties, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.

Some aspects of our technology include open source software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or more of these open source licenses could harm our business.

Our technology incorporates software covered by open source licenses. The terms of various open source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. courts, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our technology. If portions of our proprietary software are determined to be subject to an open source license, we could be required to publicly release the affected portions of our source code, re-engineer all or a portion of our technologies or otherwise be limited in our use of such software, each of which could reduce or eliminate the value of our technologies and harm our business. In addition to risks related to license requirements, use of open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of the software. Many of the risks associated with use of open source software cannot be eliminated, and if such risks materialize, could harm our business.

Moreover, we cannot assure you that our processes for controlling our use of open source software will be effective. If we are held not to have complied with the terms of an applicable open source software license, we could be required to seek licenses from third parties to continue offering our services on terms that are not economically feasible, to re-engineer our technology to remove or replace the open source software, to discontinue the use of certain technology if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis, to pay monetary damages, to make generally available the source code for our proprietary technology, or to waive certain intellectual property rights, any of which could harm our business.

Responding to any infringement or other enforcement claim, regardless of its validity, could harm our business, operating results, and financial condition, by, among other things:

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Our business depends on third-party network and mobile infrastructure and on our ability to maintain and scale the technology underlying our offerings.

Our brand, reputation, and ability to attract homebuyers and home sellers and provide our offerings depend on the reliable performance of third-party network and mobile infrastructure. As the number of homebuyers and home sellers, agents, and listings shared on our website and mobile application and the extent and types of data grow, our need for additional network capacity and computing power will also grow. Operating our underlying technology systems is expensive and complex, and we could experience operational failures. If we experience interruptions or failures in these systems, whether due to system failures, computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins, attacks on domain name servers or other third parties on which we rely, or any other reason, the security and availability of our services and technologies could be affected. Any such event could harm our reputation, result in a loss of consumers, customers and agents using our offerings and cause us to incur additional costs.

Our website is hosted at a single facility, the failure of which would harm our business.

Our website is hosted at a single facility in Seattle, Washington. We do not currently have a back-up web hosting facility in a different geographic area. Should this facility experience outages or downtimes for any reason, including a natural disaster or some other event, such as human error, fire, flood, power loss, telecommunications failure, physical or electronic break-ins, terrorist attacks, acts of war, and similar events, we could suffer a significant interruption of our website and mobile application, which would harm our business. In addition, our website and mobile application could be interrupted even if this facility experiences temporary outages, which could also negatively affect our services and harm our business.

Cybersecurity incidents could disrupt our business operations, result in the loss of critical and confidential information, and harm our business.

Global cybersecurity threats and incidents can range from uncoordinated individual attempts to gain unauthorized access to information technology systems to sophisticated and targeted measures known as advanced persistent threats, directed at us or our third-party service providers. In the ordinary course of our business, we and our third-party service providers collect and store sensitive data, including our proprietary business information and intellectual property, and that of our customers, including personally identifiable information. Additionally, we increasingly rely on third-party data storage providers. The secure processing, maintenance and transmission of this information are critical to our operations and we rely on the security procedures of these third-party data storage providers. Although we employ comprehensive measures designed to prevent, detect, address and

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mitigate these threats (including access controls, data encryption, vulnerability assessments and maintenance of backup and protective systems), cybersecurity incidents, depending on their nature and scope, could potentially result in the misappropriation, destruction, corruption or unavailability of critical data and confidential or proprietary information (our own or that of third parties, including personally identifiable information of our customers) and the disruption of business operations. Any such compromises to our security could cause customers to lose trust and confidence in us, and stop using our website and mobile application in their entirety. In addition, we may incur significant costs for remediation that may include liability for stolen assets or information, repair of system damage, and compensation to customers and business partners. We may also be subject to legal claims, government investigation and additional state and federal statutory requirements.

Our software is highly complex and may contain undetected errors.

The software and systems underlying our technology and offerings are highly complex and may contain undetected errors or vulnerabilities, some of which may only be discovered after their implementation. Our development and testing processes may not be sufficient to ensure that we will not encounter technical problems. Any inefficiencies, errors, technical problems or vulnerabilities discovered in our software and systems after release could reduce the quality of our services or interfere with our agents’ and customers’ access to and use of our technology and offerings. This could result in damage to our reputation, loss of revenue or liability for damages, any of which could harm our business.

Changes in privacy or consumer protection laws could adversely affect our ability to attract customers and harm our business.

We collect information relating to our customers as part of our business and marketing activities. The collection and use of personal data is governed by privacy laws and regulations of the United States and other jurisdictions. Privacy regulations continue to evolve and, occasionally, may be inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another. Compliance with applicable privacy regulations may increase our operating costs or adversely impact our ability to market our services and products and serve our customers. In addition, non-compliance with applicable privacy regulations by us, or a breach of security systems storing our data may result in fines, payment of damages or restrictions on our use or transfer of data.

In addition, we are subject to, and may become subject to additional, laws or regulations which restrict or prohibit use of emails, similar marketing activities or other types of communication that we currently rely on. Such laws and regulations currently include the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and similar laws adopted by a number of states to regulate unsolicited commercial emails; the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, or the FTC, guidelines that impose responsibilities on companies with respect to communications with consumers; and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act which limits certain uses of automatic dialing systems, artificial or prerecorded voice messages and SMS text messages. Any further restrictions under such laws that govern our marketing activities could adversely affect the effectiveness of our marketing activities or other customer communications. Furthermore, even if we can comply with existing or new laws and regulations, we may discontinue certain activities or communications if we become concerned that our customers or potential customers deem them intrusive or they otherwise adversely affect our reputation. If our marketing activities are restricted, our ability to attract customers could be adversely affected and harm our business.

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We rely on business data to make business decisions and drive our machine-learning technology, and errors or inaccuracies in such data may adversely affect our business decisions and the customer experience.

We regularly analyze business data to evaluate growth trends, measure our performance, establish budgets and make strategic decisions. Much of this data is internally generated and calculated and has not been independently verified. While our business decisions are based on what we believe to be reasonable calculations for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring and interpreting the data, and we cannot be sure that the data, or the calculations using such data, are accurate. Errors or inaccuracies in the data could result in poor business decisions, resource allocation or strategic initiatives. For instance, if we overestimate traffic to our website and mobile application, we may not invest an adequate amount of resources in attracting new customers or we may hire more lead agents in a given market than necessary to meet customer demand. If we make poor decisions based on erroneous or inaccurate data, our business may be harmed.

We use our business data and proprietary algorithms to inform our machine learning, such as in the calculation of our Redfin Estimate. If customers disagree with us or if our Redfin Estimate fails to accurately reflect market pricing such that we are unable to attract homebuyers or help our customers sell their homes at satisfactory prices, or at all, customers may lose confidence in us, and our brand and business may be harmed.

If we fail to effectively manage the growth of our operations, technology systems and infrastructure to service customers and agents, our business could be harmed.

We have experienced rapid and significant growth in recent years that has placed, and may continue to place, significant demands on our management and our operational and financial infrastructure. For example, we have grown from 752 employees as of December 31, 2013 to 1,845 employees as of December 31, 2016. As we continue to grow, our success will depend on our ability to expand, maintain and improve technology that supports our business operations, as well as our financial and management information systems, disclosure controls and procedures, internal controls over financial reporting, and to maintain effective cost controls. This requires us to commit substantial financial, operational and technical resources. Our ability to manage these efforts could be affected by many factors, including a lack of adequate staffing with the requisite expertise and training. If our operational technology is insufficient to reliably service our customers and agents, then the number of visitors to our website and mobile application could decrease, agents may not desire to work for us, our customer service and transaction volume could suffer, and our costs could increase. In addition, our reputation may be negatively affected. Any of these events could harm our business.

We depend on our senior management team to grow and operate our business, and if we are unable to hire, retain, manage, and motivate our key personnel, or if our new personnel do not perform as we anticipate, our business may be harmed.

Our future success depends upon our continued ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate, and retain qualified personnel, particularly those who have specialized skills and experience in technology fields and the residential brokerage industry. Further, we may not be able to retain the services of our key employees or other members of senior management in the future. In particular, we are highly dependent on Glenn Kelman, our Chief Executive Officer, who is critical to our business, consumer-focused mission, and strategic direction.

We do not have employment agreements other than offer letters with any employee, including our senior management team, and we do not maintain key person life insurance for any employee. Any

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changes in our senior management team may be disruptive to our business. If we fail to retain or effectively replace members of our senior management team, or if our senior management team fails to work together effectively and to execute our plans and strategies, our business could be harmed.

Our growth strategy also depends on our ability to expand our organization by attracting and retaining high-quality personnel, particularly lead agents and experienced technical personnel. Identifying, recruiting, training, integrating, managing, and motivating talented individuals will require significant time, expense, and attention. Competition for talent is intense, particularly in many major markets we serve. In particular, hiring for technical personnel is highly competitive in Seattle and San Francisco, where substantially all of our technical team is located. If we are unable to effectively attract and retain qualified personnel, our business will be harmed.

Our dedication to our values and the customer experience may negatively influence our short-term financial results.

We have taken, and may continue to take, actions that we believe are in the best interests of customers and the long-term interests of the business, even if those actions do not necessarily maximize short-term financial results. For instance, we believe we could increase our profitability in the short term by engaging lead agents as independent contractors and compensating them on transaction value-based commissions, but instead we employ our lead agents and compensate them based in part on customer satisfaction. However, this approach may not result in the long-term benefits that we expect, in which case our business and results of operations could be harmed.

We may need to raise additional capital to grow our business, and we may not be able to raise it on terms acceptable to us, or at all.

Growing and operating our business will require significant cash outlays and capital expenditures and commitments to respond to business challenges, including developing or enhancing new or existing services and technologies, and expanding our operating infrastructure. If cash on hand, cash generated from operations and the net proceeds from this offering are not sufficient to meet our cash requirements, we may need to seek additional capital, potentially through debt or equity financings. We may not be able to raise needed cash on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Such financings may be on terms that are dilutive or potentially dilutive to our stockholders, and the prices at which new investors would be willing to purchase our securities may be lower than the initial public offering price of this offering or the then-current market price per share of our common stock. The holders of new securities may also have rights, preferences or privileges which are senior to those of existing stockholders. If new financing sources are required, but are insufficient or unavailable, we may need to modify our growth and operating plans and business strategies based on available funding, if any, which would harm our ability to grow our business.

We intend to evaluate acquisitions or investments in third-party technologies and businesses, but we may not realize the anticipated benefits from, and may have to pay substantial costs related to, any acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, or investments that we undertake.

As part of our business strategy, we evaluate acquisitions of, or investments in, a wide array of potential strategic opportunities, including third-party technologies and businesses. We may be unable to identify suitable acquisition candidates in the future or to make these acquisitions on a commercially reasonable basis, if at all. Any transactions that we enter into could be material to our financial condition and results of operations. Such acquisitions may not result in the intended benefits to our business, and we may not successfully evaluate or utilize the acquired technology, offerings, or

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personnel, or accurately forecast the financial effect of an acquisition transaction. The process of integrating an acquired company, business, technology or personnel into our own company is subject to various risks and challenges, including:

Our failure to address these risks or other problems we encounter with our future acquisitions and investments could cause us to not realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions or investments, incur unanticipated liabilities, and harm our business.

We will incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives.

As a public company, particularly after we are no longer an emerging growth company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and rules subsequently implemented by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and                 , have imposed various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel have limited experience operating a public company, which may result in operational inefficiencies or errors, or a failure to improve or maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures necessary to ensure timely and accurate reporting of operational and financial results. We may need to hire additional personnel, and our existing management team will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly.

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we will be required to furnish a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting, including an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. However, while we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to include an

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attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. To achieve compliance with Section 404 within the prescribed period, we will be engaged in a process to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to continue to dedicate internal resources, potentially engage outside consultants and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, continue steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting. Despite our efforts, there is a risk that neither we nor our independent registered public accounting firm will be able to conclude within the prescribed timeframe that our internal control over financial reporting is effective as required by Section 404. This could result in an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our consolidated financial statements.

In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be harmed.

We also expect that being a public company and compliance with applicable rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to incur substantially higher costs to obtain and maintain the same or similar coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified executive officers and members of our board of directors.

Our ability to use net operating losses to offset future taxable income may be limited.

As of December 31, 2015, we had federal net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, we may use to reduce future taxable income or offset income taxes due. The NOLs start expiring in 2025. Insufficient future taxable income will adversely affect our ability to deploy these NOLs and credit carryforwards. In addition, under Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, a corporation that experiences a more-than 50% ownership change over a three-year testing period is limited in its ability to use its pre-change NOLs and other tax assets to offset future taxable income or income taxes due. Our existing NOLs and credit carryforwards may be subject to limitations arising from previous ownership changes; if we undergo an ownership change in connection with or after this offering, then our ability to use our NOLs and credit carryforwards could be further limited by Section 382 of the Code. Future changes in our stock ownership, the causes of which may be outside our control, could result in an ownership change under Section 382 of the Code. Our NOLs may also be impaired under state law. As a result of these limitations, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of, or possibly any of, the NOLs and credit carryforwards.

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Catastrophic events may disrupt our business.

Natural disasters or other catastrophic events may damage or disrupt our operations, local and regional real estate markets, or the U.S. economy, and thus could harm our business. Our headquarters is located in Seattle, Washington, an earthquake-prone area. A natural disaster or catastrophic event in Seattle could interrupt our engineering and financial functions and impair access to internal systems, documents and equipment critical to the operation of our business. Many of the major markets we serve, such as the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California, are also located in earthquake zones and are susceptible to natural disasters. Additionally, other significant natural disasters or catastrophic events in any of the major markets we serve could harm our business.

As we grow, the need for business continuity planning and disaster recovery plans will become increasingly important. If we are unable to develop adequate plans to ensure that our business functions continue to operate during and after a disaster, and successfully execute on those plans in the event of a disaster or emergency, our business would be harmed.

We could be subject to significant losses if banks do not honor our escrow and trust deposits.

Through Title Forward, our title and settlement services business, we act as an escrow agent for numerous customers. As an escrow agent, we receive money from customers to hold until certain conditions are satisfied. These funds are held as restricted cash on our balance sheet; because we do not have rights to the cash, a corresponding customer deposit liability in the same amount is recognized in our consolidated balance sheets in other payables. Upon the satisfaction of the applicable conditions, we release the money to the appropriate party. Although we deposit this money with various banks, we remain contingently liable for the disposition of these deposits. The banks may hold a significant amount of these deposits in excess of the federal deposit insurance limit. If any of our depository banks were to become unable to honor any portion of our deposits, customers could seek to hold us responsible for such amounts and, if the customers prevailed in their claims, we could be subject to significant losses.

Risks Relating to this Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock

There has been no prior public market for our common stock, the stock price of our common stock may be volatile or may decline regardless of our performance, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the initial public offering price.

There has been no public market for our common stock prior to this offering. The initial public offering price for our common stock will be determined through negotiations among the underwriters and us, and may vary from the market price of our common stock following this offering. The market prices of the securities of newly public companies have historically been highly volatile. The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:

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In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. Stock prices of many companies, and technology companies in particular, have fluctuated in a manner unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. In the past, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could subject us to substantial costs, divert resources and the attention of management from our business, and harm our business.

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If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business, our market and our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our shares, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

Because the initial public offering price of our common stock will be substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our outstanding common stock following this offering, new investors will experience immediate and substantial dilution.

The initial public offering price is substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately following this offering based on the total value of our tangible assets less our total liabilities. Therefore, if you purchase shares of our common stock in this offering, based on the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and the issuance of                  shares of common stock in this offering, you will experience immediate dilution of $         per share, the difference between the price per share you pay for our common stock and its pro forma net tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2016. Furthermore, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares, if outstanding stock options are exercised, if we issue awards to our employees under our equity incentive plans, or if we otherwise issue additional shares of our common stock, you could experience further dilution. See “Dilution” for additional information.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock may cause the price of our common stock to decline.

Based on shares outstanding as of                     , 2017, upon completion of this offering, we will have outstanding a total of                  shares of common stock. Of these shares, only the                  shares of common stock sold in this offering, or                  shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, will be freely tradable, without restriction, in the public market immediately after the offering. Each of our officers, directors and substantially all of our securityholders, have entered into lock-up agreements with the underwriters that restrict their ability to sell or transfer their shares. The lock-up agreements pertaining to this offering will expire 180 days from the date of this prospectus. However, our underwriters may, in their sole discretion, permit our officers, directors and other current stockholders who are subject to the contractual lock-up to sell shares prior to the expiration of the lock-up agreements. After the lock-up agreements expire, based on shares outstanding as of                     , 2017, up to an additional                  shares of common stock will be eligible for sale in the public market, approximately              of which are held by our officers, directors and their affiliated entities, and will be subject to volume limitations under Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and various vesting agreements. In addition,                  shares of our common stock that are subject to outstanding options as of                     , 2017 and                  shares of our common stock that are subject to options granted after                     , 2017 will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by the provisions of various vesting agreements, the lock-up agreements and Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act.

After this offering, the holders of an aggregate of                  shares of our outstanding common stock as of                 , 2017 will have rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or our stockholders. We also intend to register shares of common stock that we may

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issue under our equity incentive plans. Once we register these shares, they will be able to be sold freely in the public market upon issuance, subject to the 180-day lock-up period under the lock-up agreements described above and below in “Underwriting.”

We cannot predict what effect, if any, sales of our shares in the public market or the availability of shares for sale will have on the market price of our common stock. However, future sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, including shares issued upon exercise of outstanding options, or the perception that such sales may occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We also expect that significant additional capital may be needed in the future to continue our planned operations. To raise capital, we may sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner we determine from time to time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our common stock.

We will have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from this offering and may not use them effectively.

Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering, including for any of the purposes described below in “Use of Proceeds,” and you will not have the opportunity as part of your investment decision to assess whether the net proceeds are being used appropriately. Because of the number and variability of factors that will determine our use of the net proceeds from this offering, their ultimate use may vary substantially from their currently intended use. If we do not use the net proceeds that we receive in this offering effectively, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be harmed, and the market price of our common stock could decline. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in short-term, investment-grade, interest-bearing securities such as money market accounts, certificates of deposit, commercial paper, and guaranteed obligations of the U.S. government that may not generate a high yield to our stockholders.

We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not intend to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We currently anticipate that for the foreseeable future we will retain all of our future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and for general corporate purposes. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investments.

Our executive officers, directors, principal stockholders and their affiliates will continue to exercise significant influence over our company after this offering, which will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control.

As of                     , 2017, our executive officers, directors, five percent or greater stockholders and their respective affiliates owned in the aggregate approximately     % of our capital stock and, upon completion of this offering, that same group will hold in the aggregate approximately     % of our outstanding voting stock (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, no exercise of outstanding options and no purchases of shares in this offering by any members of this group), in each case assuming the conversion of all outstanding shares of our redeemable

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convertible preferred stock into shares of our common stock immediately prior to the closing of this offering.

As a result, after this offering these stockholders will continue to have the ability to influence us through this ownership position even if they do not purchase any additional shares in this offering. These stockholders may be able to determine all matters requiring stockholder approval. For example, these stockholders may be able to control elections of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, or approval of any merger, sale of assets, or other major corporate transaction. This may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our common stock that you may feel are in your best interest as one of our stockholders. The interests of this group of stockholders may not always coincide with your interests or the interests of other stockholders and they may act in a manner that advances their best interests and not necessarily those of other stockholders, including seeking a premium value for their common stock, and might affect the prevailing market price for our common stock.

We are an emerging growth company, and intend to take advantage of reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, which could make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or JOBS Act. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (1) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1 billion or more; (2) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the completion of this offering; (3) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years; or (4) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the rules of the SEC, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and intend to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. These exemptions include:

We may choose to take advantage of some, but not all, of the available exemptions described above. We have taken advantage of reduced reporting burdens in this prospectus. In particular, we

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have provided only two years of audited financial statements and have not included all of the executive compensation information that would be required if we were not an emerging growth company. We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware or Washington law could make an acquisition of us, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

Provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation and our restated bylaws that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of our company that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. In addition, because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. Among other things, these provisions:

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Moreover, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, which prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner. Likewise, because our principal executive offices are located in Washington, the anti-takeover provisions of the Washington Business Corporation Act may apply to us under certain circumstances now or in the future. These provisions prohibit a “target corporation” from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any stockholder constituting an “acquiring person” for a period of five years following the date on which the stockholder became an “acquiring person.”

Any of these provisions of our charter documents or Delaware or Washington law could, under certain circumstances, depress the market price of our common stock. See “Description of Capital Stock.”

Our restated certificate of incorporation will designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents.

Our restated certificate of incorporation that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering will provide that, unless we consent in writing to an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or the Court of Chancery, will be the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents to us or our stockholders, any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our restated certificate of incorporation or our restated bylaws or any action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each case subject to the Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein and the claim not being one which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery or for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. Any person purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to this provision of our restated certificate of incorporation.

This choice of forum provision may limit our stockholders’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, employees and agents even though an action, if successful, might benefit our stockholders. Stockholders who do bring a claim in the Court of Chancery could face additional litigation costs in pursuing any such claim, particularly if they do not reside in or near Delaware. The Court of Chancery may also reach different judgments or results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder considering an action may be located or would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments or results may be more favorable to us than to our stockholders. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our restated certificate of incorporation inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this prospectus other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future operating results and financial position, our business strategy and plans, market growth and trends, and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “potentially,” “likely” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, operating results, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including those described under “Risk Factors.” Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly-changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the effect of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this prospectus may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, performance, or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. We undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this prospectus or to conform these statements to actual results or revised expectations.

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed with the SEC as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part with the understanding that our actual future results, performance, and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

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INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA AND CALCULATION OF KEY BUSINESS METRICS

Industry and Market Data

This prospectus includes data, forecasts, and information obtained from independent trade associations, industry publications, government agencies, surveys conducted by third parties and commissioned by or conducted by us, and other information available to us. The National Association of REALTORS^®, or NAR, is the primary source for third-party industry data. In addition, we have used third-party industry data from the National Association of Home Builders, the National Bureau of Economic Research, the U.S. Census Bureau and certain other sources, as well as general economic data from the U.S. Department of Labor. While we believe that the industry data presented herein is derived from the most widely recognized sources for reporting U.S. residential real estate market statistical data, we do not endorse or suggest reliance on this data alone.

Certain information included in this prospectus concerning our industry and the markets we serve, including our market share, are also based on our good faith estimates derived from management’s knowledge of the industry and other information currently available to us. We regularly conduct or commission studies of homebuyers and home sellers, and have also used providers that provide panels to take third-party surveys that we design. We believe these internal company surveys and estimates are reliable, but such information involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and no independent sources have verified such surveys and estimates.

Industry publications, surveys and forecasts generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but such information may not be accurate or complete. We have not independently verified any of the data from third-party sources nor have we ascertained the underlying economic assumptions relied upon therein.

While we are not aware of any misstatements regarding the industry, survey or research data provided herein, our estimates involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based upon various factors, including those discussed under “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Calculation of Key Business Metrics

Monthly Average Visitors

When we refer to “monthly average visitors” for a particular period, we are referring to the average number of unique visitors to our website and mobile application for each of the months in that period, as measured by Google Analytics, a product that provides digital marketing intelligence. Visitors are tracked by Google Analytics using cookies, with a unique cookie being assigned to each browser or mobile application on a device. For any given month, we count all of the unique cookies that visited our website or either our iOS or Android mobile applications during that month; each such unique cookie is a unique visitor. If a person accesses our website using different web browsers within a given month, each web browser has a unique cookie that is counted by Google Analytics as a separate visitor for that month. If a person accesses our mobile applications using different devices within a given month, each such mobile device is counted as a separate visitor for that month. If the same person accesses our website using an anonymous browser, or clears or resets cookies on their device, each access with a new cookie is counted as a new unique visitor for that month. If more than one person accesses our website from the same browser or our mobile application from the same device, this is counted as one unique visitor for that month.

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Real Estate Transactions

We include a single transaction twice when we or our partner agents serve both the homebuyer and home seller of a transaction.

Real Estate Revenue per Real Estate Transaction

We calculate real estate revenue per real estate transaction by dividing brokerage, partner, or aggregate revenue, as applicable, by the corresponding number of real estate transactions in any period.

Aggregate Home Value of Real Estate Transactions

We include the value of a single transaction twice when we or our partner agents serve both the homebuyer and home seller of a transaction.

U.S. Market Share by Value

We calculate the aggregate value of U.S. home sales by multiplying the total number of U.S. home sales by the mean sale price of these sales, each as reported by NAR. We calculate our market share by aggregating the home value of real estate transactions conducted by our lead agents or our partner agents. Then, in order to account for both the sell- and buy-side components of each transaction, we divide that value by two-times the estimated aggregate value of U.S. home sales.

Average Number of Lead Agents

We calculate the average number of lead agents by taking the average of the number of lead agents at the end of each month included in the period.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that the net proceeds from the sale of              shares of common stock in this offering will be approximately $        million, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $        per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses. If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in full, we estimate that our net proceeds would be approximately $        million, after deducting the estimated underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses.

A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $        per share would increase (decrease) the net proceeds that we receive from this offering by approximately $        million, assuming that the number of shares of common stock offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discount. Each increase (decrease) of one million shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase (decrease) the net proceeds that we receive from this offering by approximately $        million, assuming that the assumed initial public offering price remains the same, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discount.

The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our capitalization and financial flexibility, create a public market for our common stock, and provide access to the public equity markets for us and our stockholders. We intend to use the net proceeds that we receive from this offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes, including technology and development and marketing activities, general and administrative matters, and capital expenditures. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to invest in or acquire third-party businesses, products, services, technologies, or other assets. However, we do not currently have any definitive or preliminary plans with respect to the use of proceeds for such purposes.

We currently have no specific plans for the use of the net proceeds that we receive from this offering. Accordingly, we will have broad discretion in using these proceeds, and investors will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the proceeds. Pending their use as described above, we plan to invest the net proceeds in short-term, interest-bearing obligations, investment-grade instruments, certificates of deposit, or direct or guaranteed obligations of the U.S. government.

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We do not expect to pay dividends on our capital stock for the foreseeable future. Instead, we anticipate that all of our earnings for the foreseeable future will be used for the operation and growth of our business. Any future determination to declare cash dividends would be subject to the discretion of our board of directors and would depend upon various factors, including our operating results, financial condition, and capital requirements, restrictions that may be imposed by applicable law, and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors.

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and capitalization as of September 30, 2016 on:

You should read this table together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes, “Selected Consolidated Financial Data,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” each included elsewhere in this prospectus.

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The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering is based on 209,800,686 shares of our common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2016, and excludes:

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DILUTION

If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your interest will be diluted immediately to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share of our common stock and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after this offering.

Our pro forma net tangible book value as of September 30, 2016 was $      million, or $      per share of common stock. Pro forma net tangible book value per share represents the amount of our total tangible assets less our total liabilities, divided by the number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2016, after giving effect to the automatic conversion of all shares of our redeemable convertible preferred stock outstanding as of September 30, 2016 into 166,266,114 shares of our common stock.

Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share reflects the pro forma adjustments described above and the sale by us of              shares of our common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $          per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses. Our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of September 30, 2016 would have been $          million, or $          per share. This amount represents an immediate increase in pro forma net tangible book value of $          per share to our existing stockholders and an immediate dilution in pro forma net tangible book value of $          per share to investors purchasing shares of our common stock in this offering at the assumed initial public offering price.

The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis to new investors:

A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $          per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering by $          and would increase (decrease) dilution per share to investors in this offering by $         , assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discount. Similarly, each increase (decrease) of one million shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase (decrease) our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by $         and would decrease (increase) dilution per share to investors by $        , assuming that the assumed initial public offering price of $        per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discount.

If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in full, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering would be $        per share, and the dilution in pro forma net tangible book value per share to new investors in this offering would be $        per share of our common stock.

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The following table presents, on a pro forma as adjusted basis as described above, as of September 30, 2016, the differences between our existing stockholders and new investors purchasing shares of our common stock in this offering, with respect to the number of shares purchased from us, the total consideration paid to us, and the average price per share paid by our existing stockholders or to be paid to us by new investors purchasing shares in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $        per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, before deducting the estimated underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses.

A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $          per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) the total consideration paid by new investors by $          million and increase (decrease) the percent of total consideration paid by new investors by      %, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discount.

To the extent any outstanding stock options are exercised, investors participating in this offering will experience further dilution.

Except as otherwise indicated, the above discussion and tables assume no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase              additional shares of our common stock. If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in full, our existing stockholders would own     % and our new investors would own     % of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding upon the completion of this offering.

The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering is based on 209,800,686 shares of our common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2016, and excludes:

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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

The following tables summarize our consolidated financial data. We derived our selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015, and our selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2015 from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We derived our selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2014 from our audited consolidated financial statements not included in this prospectus. We derived our selected consolidated statements of operations data for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016 and our selected consolidated balance sheet data as of September 30, 2016 from our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, on the same basis as our audited annual consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal, recurring adjustments, that are necessary for the fair presentation of our consolidated financial position as of September 30, 2016 and our consolidated results of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected in the future, and the results for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year or any other period. You should read the following selected consolidated financial data in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements, the accompanying notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this prospectus.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our “Selected Consolidated Financial Data” and our consolidated financial statements, the accompanying notes, and other financial information included elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those forward-looking statements below. Factors that could cause or contribute to those differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below and those discussed under “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this prospectus.

Overview

Redfin is a technology-powered, residential real estate brokerage. We represent people buying and selling homes in over 80 markets throughout the United States. Our mission is to redefine real estate in the consumer’s favor. In a commission-driven industry, we put the customer first. We do this by pairing our own agents with our own technology to create a service that is faster, better, and costs less.

We’ve been advocating for customers for over 10 years. Our progress has been marked by technology-driven innovation and market expansion:

Our revenue model is straightforward. We employ lead agents supported by internal teams, who help customers buy and sell homes. We earn commissions when those transactions close. In some cases, we introduce customers to pre-approved, third-party agents through our Redfin Partner Program. These partner agents pay us a fee when they close a referred transaction.

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We derive substantially all of our revenue when customers buy and sell homes. Our key revenue components are:

We strive to be frugal with every expense, including capital expenditures and stock-based compensation. At the same time, we intend to continue to thoughtfully invest for long-term growth, with a focus on growing share in the markets we currently serve. We’ve invested, and expect to continue to invest, in marketing to promote the Redfin brand and in technology development to make the homebuying and home selling experience better and faster for our customers and our agents, while continuing to lower costs for our customers.

Our growth has been significant. For the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015, we generated revenue of $125.4 million and $187.3 million, respectively, representing annual growth of 37% and 49%, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, we generated revenue of $141.6 million and $200.4 million, respectively, representing year-over-year growth of 42%. We generated net losses of $24.7 million and $30.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015, respectively, and $21.5 million and $17.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

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Key Business Metrics

In addition to the measures presented in our consolidated financial statements, we use the following key metrics to evaluate our business, develop financial forecasts and make strategic decisions. For information about the methodologies we use to calculate our key business metrics, please see “Industry and Market Data and Calculation of Key Business Metrics.”

Monthly Average Visitors

The number of, and growth in, visitors to our website and mobile application are important leading indicators of our business activity because these channels are the primary ways we meet and serve customers. For a particular period, monthly average visitors refers to the average of the number of unique visitors to our website and mobile application for each of the months in that period. Monthly average visitors are influenced by market conditions that affect interest in buying or selling homes, the level and success of our marketing programs, as well as seasonality. We believe we can continue to increase monthly visitors, allowing us to grow.

Real Estate Transactions

Increasing the number of real estate transactions in which we or our partner agents represent homebuyers and home sellers is critical to increasing our revenue and, in turn, to achieving profitability. Real estate transactions are influenced by pricing for our services as well as market conditions that affect home sales such as local inventory levels and mortgage interest rates. Real estate transactions are also affected by seasonality and macroeconomic factors.

Real Estate Revenue per Real Estate Transaction

Real estate revenue per real estate transaction, together with the number of real estate transactions, is a factor in evaluating business growth and determining pricing. Changes in revenue per real estate transaction can be affected by our pricing, the mix of transactions for homebuyers and home sellers, changes in the value of homes in the markets we serve, the geographic mix of our transactions, and the transactions we refer to partner agents. We generally generate more real estate revenue per brokerage transaction from representing homebuyers than home sellers.

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From 2014 through 2016, brokerage transactions for home sellers as a percentage of brokerage transactions increased from slightly over 20% to slightly over 30%. We expect brokerage transactions for home sellers to comprise a greater portion of our brokerage transactions over time as we continue to focus on listings as a strategic asset that provides benefits beyond the revenue we generate from home sellers. For example, we believe that increased listings draw more homebuyers to our website and mobile application.

Aggregate Home Value of Real Estate Transactions

The aggregate home value of real estate transactions completed by our lead agents and the transactions we refer to partner agents is an important indicator of the health of our business because our revenue is based on a percentage of each home’s sale price. This metric is affected by changes in home values in the markets we serve and by changes in the number of customers who use our services as well as seasonality and macroeconomic factors.

U.S. Market Share by Value

Increasing our U.S. market share is critical to our ability to grow our business and achieve profitability over the long term. We believe there is a significant opportunity to increase our share in the markets we currently serve.

Revenue from Top-10 Markets as a Percentage of Real Estate Revenue

We plan to continue to diversify our growth into the future and to increase our market share in our newer markets. We expect our revenue from top-10 markets to decline as a percentage of our real estate revenue over time.

Average Number of Lead Agents

The average number of lead agents, in combination with our other key metrics such as the number of brokerage transactions, is a measure of agent productivity and is an indicator of the potential future growth of our business. We systematically evaluate traffic to our website and mobile application and customer activity to anticipate changes in customer demand to determine when and where to hire lead agents.

Our lead agents are employees who receive a salary, variable transaction bonuses based on customer satisfaction and transaction value, benefits, and expense reimbursement. Base pay represented approximately 27% of total lead agent cash compensation in 2016.

Market Cohorts

Our growth strategy is based on our belief that, as we gain local market share, our brand awareness and ability to provide efficient service in each market we serve will increase, which will, in turn, promote additional market share gains and further efficiencies in those markets. To demonstrate progress in the more than 80 markets we serve, we group markets in which we began operating in similar timeframes into three cohorts that illustrate this cycle. We chose this grouping of markets so the total market transaction value is similar across the cohorts.

We have gained market share, increased revenue, increased real estate revenue per brokerage transaction, and increased real estate gross margin in all of the cohorts in each of the years presented. From year-to-year, our market share gains have been largely consistent within cohorts.

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Our first cohort primarily consists of major metropolitan areas, such as Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. A number of factors may limit our ability to replicate our financial results of our first cohort in our other two cohorts, including that the mean home sale price in our earliest cohort of markets is significantly higher than the mean home price in the later two cohorts. As a result, we cannot ensure that we will experience similar financial outcomes from our later cohorts or in any future markets we may serve. However, we believe the continued market share growth trend in our earliest cohort demonstrates possible revenue growth rate and margin trends over time as our newer markets mature.

Factors Affecting Performance

Seasonality

Residential real estate is a highly seasonal business. While individual markets may vary, transaction volume typically increases progressively from January through the summer months and then declines gradually over the last three to four months of the calendar year. We experience the most significant financial effect from this seasonality in the first and fourth quarters of each year, when our revenue is typically lower relative to the second and third quarters. However, because we employ our lead agents and a portion of their compensation is fixed, we do not experience a proportional decrease in our expenses during such lower seasonal periods, which negatively affects our operating results.

Cyclicality

The residential real estate industry is cyclical and, when economic conditions are favorable, the real estate industry tends to perform well. When the economy is weak, if interest rates dramatically increase, if mortgage lending standards tighten, or if there are economic or political disturbances, the residential real estate industry tends to perform poorly. Our revenue growth rate tends to increase as the real estate industry performs well, and decrease as it performs poorly.

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Ability to Gain Market Share

Our ability to gain market share in the markets we serve will be influenced by our ability to compete in each individual market. The residential real estate industry is subject to local dynamics, as each market has its own characteristics, and individual agents tend to focus on certain neighborhoods within these markets. Many of our competitors have agents with long-standing reputations and relationships in individual markets and may have specialized expertise related to local dynamics that our agents may not. Our market share growth will be influenced by our ability to compete in individual, local neighborhoods. Given the varying characteristics of each market, gains in any individual market are difficult to predict and not all of our markets will have the same challenges or rewards.

Pricing

Delivering a better customer experience at a lower cost than our competitors is a fundamental tenet of our strategy. We believe that in the long run our technology-powered, residential brokerage model will further drive efficiencies that continue to reduce costs. From time to time, we adjust pricing after considering market conditions, the balance of profitability against customer savings and other factors. Based on prior pricing changes, we believe that home sellers are more sensitive to pricing than homebuyers.

Agent Productivity and Partner Mix

We hire lead agents in anticipation of customer demand, so we have the necessary capacity of trained lead agents to help homebuyers and home sellers. We manage the capacity of our lead agents, as we want them to be busy working with customers but not so busy that customer satisfaction declines. As we hire lead agents, we also add staffing to support these agents. We adjust staffing levels in each market we serve, but also transactional support from a national hub located in the greater Chicago area, letting us re-allocate support staff to the markets that need it most, which creates some economies of scale.

The Redfin Partner Program is designed to moderate the effects of industry seasonality and cyclicality. We adjust the portion of customers who are served by partner agents in each of the markets we serve to maintain an effective balance between capacity utilization and customer service. Rather than countering seasonal and cyclical changes in demand by hiring a surplus of lead agents in each neighborhood, we rely on partners to handle demand swings.

Investments in Technology and Marketing

We have invested, and intend to continue to invest, in developing technology, tools, features and products that provide targeted and useful real estate information to customers, manage their real estate transaction, and make our lead agents and internal teams more efficient. In addition, we will continue to invest in marketing to increase our market share in the markets we serve. Any investments we make in these areas will occur before we experience benefits, if any, from the investments. Furthermore, the effectiveness of these efforts may be difficult to measure.

Components of our Results of Operations

Revenue

We generate revenue primarily from commissions and fees charged on real estate transactions closed by us or partner agents as well as from other services we provide.

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Real Estate Revenue

Brokerage Revenue. Brokerage revenue consists of commissions earned on real estate transactions closed by our lead agents. We recognize commission-based revenue upon the closing of a transaction, less the amount of any commission refund or any closing-cost reduction, commission discount, or transaction fee adjustment. Brokerage revenue is affected by the number of real estate transactions we close, the mix of brokerage transactions, home sale prices, commission rates, and the amount we give to customers.

Partner Revenue. Partner revenue consists of fees partner agents pay us when they close referred transactions, less the amount of any payments we make to customers. We recognize these fees as revenue upon the closing of a transaction. Partner revenue is affected by the number of partner transactions closed, home sale prices, commission rates, and the amount we give to customers.

Other Revenue

Other revenue consists of fees charged for title and settlement services, marketing services provided to home builders by our builder services group, licensing and analytics fees from our Walk Score service, and other services. Revenue is recognized when the service is provided.

Cost of Revenue and Gross Margin

Cost of revenue consists primarily of personnel costs (including base pay and benefits), stock-based compensation, transaction bonuses, tour and field expenses, listing expenses, business expenses, and facilities expenses. We expect cost of revenue to continue to rise, but more slowly than revenue, as we hire more lead agents and support staff in response to anticipated customer demand.

Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue. Gross margin is gross profit expressed as a percentage of revenue. Our gross margin has and will continue to be affected by a number of factors, including real estate revenue per real estate transaction and the productivity of our lead agents and support staff. We expect gross margin to continue to rise over time to the extent we gain efficiencies through technology and operations.

Operating Expenses

Technology and Development

Technology and development expenses relate primarily to developing new software used by our customers and internal teams, making enhancements to our existing software, and maintaining and improving our website and mobile application. These expenses consist primarily of personnel costs, stock-based compensation, data licenses, software, and equipment and infrastructure such as for data centers and hosted services. Technology and development expenses also include amortization of capitalized internal-use software and website and mobile application development costs. We expect technology and development expenses to continue to increase in absolute dollars as we hire more software developers. We anticipate technology and development expenses as a percentage of revenue to decrease over time.

Marketing

Marketing expenses consist primarily of media costs for online and traditional advertising, as well as personnel costs and stock-based compensation. We expect marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we expand advertising programs. We anticipate marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue to decrease over time.

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General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel costs, stock-based compensation, facilities, and related expenses for our executive, finance, human resources, facilities and legal organizations, and fees for professional services. Professional services are principally comprised of external legal, audit and tax services. We expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollars due to the anticipated growth of our business and to meet the increased compliance requirements associated with our transition to, and operation as, a public company. We anticipate general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue to decrease over time.

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Results of Operations

The following tables set forth our results of operations for the periods presented and as a percentage of our revenue for those periods. The period-to-period comparisons of our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in the future.