‘Playmakers’: Glenn Kelman on breaking boundaries, moving fast 

Editor's note: The Playmakers podcast explores the biggest shifts in real estate with those who are shaping the industry's future. Check out our top takeaways and watch the latest episode from host Andrew Flachner, co-founder of RealScout.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in the Playmakers podcast belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.

On this episode of the Playmakers podcast, Glenn Kelman shares how Rocket's $1.75 billion acquisition of Redfin came to be — and explains why he's not personally looking for an exit anytime soon.

After nearly 20 years leading Redfin as its CEO, "I still love it," Kelman said. "As long as I feel like I can run around and make things happen in a really fast way instead of sitting on my fanny in a bunch of boring meetings, I am going to be there forever."

Redfin's boundary-breaking challenge: Kelman sees the integration of service and technology as key to moving real estate forward. "We've been so trained to expect technology companies to be technology companies and service companies to be service companies. And that drives me crazy," Kelman said. 

"Our challenge has been to break those boundaries. But the boundaries are just really strong."

That may finally be changing. "I think now there's a recognition that nobody wants to just be a service company; that if you don't embrace technology to make every aspect of your business better, you're going to miss the boat," he said.

Why Rocket? Varun Krishna wanted to acquire Redfin from the moment he became CEO of Rocket Companies in September 2023, Kelman recalled. Redfin wasn't interested at the time, but after the 2024 presidential election, the company's board began considering offers.

"Of all the companies we could combine with, Rocket was by far the best because it has that same bizarre belief in technology and service," Kelman explained. "Everybody else I'd met who wanted our website wanted to get rid of all of our agents, didn't care about putting the customer first, didn't have that sense of mission. We always felt that Rocket was the main viable buyer, if we were going to sell."

The Rocket-Redfin future: "I just think we can put together brokerage service, a website, mortgage and title better than anybody else," Kelman said of the Rocket-Redfin partnership. Bringing these services beneath the same umbrella is beneficial for agents — and consumers, he added.

"There are people in this world that want to save money on a real estate agent — but not everybody," Kelman said, whereas "there is no one who prefers a higher mortgage rate to a lower mortgage rate."

Looking ahead, "I think we're going to keep driving to make real estate more efficient, but we're going to move all the savings into the back of the deal on the mortgage rate, because that's what people really care about."

How AI fits in: Having a solid algorithm is important, Kelman said, but "what really matters" about AI is "who has the best data to train that system." Redfin primarily uses AI for home worth estimates and listing recommendations, but Kelman believes it can also be used to optimize follow-ups with potential customers.

While he's heard from investors who are worried that AI will replace agents, Kelman noted that those same investors turn to him for advice when purchasing new homes. "I just think there's some high-stakes situations where people always want to talk to other people," he said.

Kelman doesn't think AI will make agents obsolete, but he does believe it will make them "much more productive."

A desire 'to do something good': "The deal I have with Varun and [Rocket Companies Founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert] is that we do not come in peace — we are here to make real estate better," Kelman said. "Mostly I just want to do something good. And I think housing is the ultimate good."

Housing today "isn't what I want it to be," said Kelman, who believes "we should be working to make it better and more affordable."