Will the ibuyers succeed? Sure, they offer convenience, but the reason it works is because it's so vague - sellers will never know the money difference between selling to an ibuyer or an open-market sale. The trendy-hip, sell-with-a-click factor could lure sellers...
A good article with evidence here by Ryan discussing the accuracy of the zestimates, and how Zillow calculates their success rate based on their updated zestimates once a property sells. His comment section is full of examples where Zillow adjusts their zestimate to...
While the old tradition of broker cooperation via the MLS is slowly eroding, there is an opening for others to intrude. Two quotes seen this week in different articles: Founder and CEO Rich Barton said in a radio interview on April 1st that he sees Zillow Offers as...
It's out in the open now - Zillow intends to change the game. An excerpt from an interview with Rich Barton where he admits Zillow used agents to get big, and is now deciding how to use that power: An excerpt from I-News: Barton also indicated there could be major...
Mike has been the leading resource on the ibuyer industry, and he sees it the same way I do - Zillow wants (and needs) to commit fully to their ibuyer program because advertising income from agents is starting to lag, which could be a major shift in the...
Bloomberg has this article on Spence stepping down at Zillow yesterday: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-21/zillow-ceo-rascoff-steps-down-so-barton-can-lead-moonshot-effort Zillow must believe that flipping homes is their future: On average, a customer...
Hat tip to SM for sending in this detailed article about Zillow's contest to improve the zestimate. No surprise that the winner was a group of analyzers who blended the algorithms to move the needle a couple of ticks. If they would have asked me, I'd say score each...
Everyone is getting into the home-buying business. First it was the well-funded disrupters like OpenDoor and Offerpad, and then Zillow, Redfin, Knock and others jumped in - which caused Coldwell Banker, Keller Williams to also announce their programs (plus Compass...
After using Zillow for years, consumers probably start to cozy up to the zestimates, just out of familiarity and convenience. Those who are new to the game - and believe Zillow to be an authority - are going to think the zestimate is a neutral opinion of actual...
Hat tip to Eddie89 for sending in this article on the prospects of Zillow's ibuyer program, which looked a little sketchy to me too until it was divulged that these ibuyers are primarily in it to make the fee income, and if they can make a profit by selling the houses...
