This sounds like a document-processing center where trainees guide consumers through the paperwork and hope they don’t ask too many questions. Sound familiar? They are going to walk right in and take over while the industry stands by idly – and we’ll look up in a few years and wonder what happened, just like we did when they began.
Over the last several years, Zillow has been transitioning from a real estate search portal into a streamlined buying-and-selling entity that offers iBuying services through Zillow Offers, and mortgage, title and escrow services through Zillow Home Loans and Zillow Closing Services. Now, the company has taken a big step further by starting its own licensed brokerage: Zillow Homes.
Zillow Group’s Chief Industry Development Officer Errol Samuelson provided details about the new brokerage in a video:
According to Zillow, starting in January 2021, Zillow Offers customers in Atlanta, Phoenix and Tucson will be working directly with a licensed employee of Zillow Homes. In addition, any Zillow-owned homes in these three markets will be listed by Zillow Homes employees. Although the services will be limited to these three locations to start, the company says it plans to expand into additional markets later in 2021.
In the video, Samuelson emphasizes that Zillow Homes will not be recruiting agents from other companies, but instead will be licensing existing Zillow employees under the Zillow Homes entity.
“We’re excited to add another important link in the Zillow Offers transaction chain to offer our customers greater choice and convenience when considering a move,” said Jeremy Wacksman, president of Zillow, in a statement. “At Zillow, our mission is to give people the power to unlock life’s next chapter and we want to help them on their journey home through a range of services that meet their preferences—whether through Zillow Offers or through a trusted Zillow Premier Agent partner.”
Zillow Offers launched in 2018 and is now available in 25 markets. According to the company, Zillow Homes will be “the brokerage of record for Zillow Offers transactions.” The move also frees up the company from using “thousands of disparate data feeds,” allowing them instead to pull from “MLS Internet Data Exchange, or IDX feeds,” according to the video statement.
“We look forward to working more closely with our agents, industry and MLS partners to efficiently serve our mutual customers,” added Wacksman. “Together, we will push to keep the real estate industry moving forward, and adapt to changing consumer preferences and virtual technologies.”
Zillow says it has plans to join local real estate associations, as well as the National Association of REALTORS®. The company also says it will continue investing and expanding its Premier Agent business—through which buyers and sellers can get connected to Zillow Premier Agents—and added that it expects this to be the “preference of the majority of Zillow’s customers.”
Zillow has hired two brokerages in San Diego to take their buyer leads too – because that’s the time-intensive part that they would rather leave to the pros and instead just take a healthy cut of those commissions.
He says in the video that the real estate world has changed a lot over the last five years. Not really – but Zillow has changed a lot. They went from saying that they would NEVER be a brokerage, to, well, umm….here we are. They are here to replace us.
Half of the realtors are old and will be leaving the business anyway over the next few years. Will the young bucks have enough to fight it out, or just succumb?
Something something about the camel’s nose and tents.
Just look at the securities industry and use that as a template. Free. Free. Free. If you do not add value as a realtor, good luck. Get good help like Jim the Realtor or go with the Junior Varsity for your listing and buying experience. Experience and knowledge versus the lowest cost provider who has a monopoly on information. Tell prospects “You have no problem paying you waiter 20% and you cant’s pay realtors 5%. You pay people peanuts and you get monkeys.”
When a company says “Never” that means “Maybe” in today’s world. When they “Maybe” that means “Definitely.” Apply that to this example.