I saved the clip above from the Zillow ad of my Escondido listing.

I appreciate them trying to do something to nudge buyers closer to making an offer. Their suggestions are just common sense – if you offer close to the list price, you’ll probably get it!

But I hate the bait-and-switch they do underneath it.

The ‘advice from an agent’ is a licensee who is paying 30% to 40% of their fee to Zillow – which means the buyer-agent fee will be higher (which the buyer is paying one way or another). The advice comes from an agent who hasn’t seen the house, or knows anything about the situation.

I really hate their promise to show the home ‘as early as today at 3:00pm’.

They haven’t run that by me or gleaned it from the listing. It’s when they might have a licensee available – maybe – and yet it makes you think you could see the home within an hour or two. It guarantees disappointment when the buyer finds out they can’t see it that fast, which reflects badly on the home – and it’s likely the buyer will just skip it instead.

We should insist on better treatment of buyers. It’s tough enough on them already!