Zillow Announces Plans to Expand its iBuyer Program in Six New Markets
Zillow announced plans to launch Zillow Offers in six markets — Austin, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego and Tampa — by early 2020.
Launched last year, Zillow Offers is an iBuyer service in which Zillow directly buys a house, prepares it for showings, and then quickly lists it for sale – all on the consumer’s timeline. Agents from local brokerages represent Zillow in the transaction.
“Zillow Offers launched just over a year ago and we already receive a request for an offer every two minutes, which represents more than $200 million in transaction value per day. More than 100,000 sellers have requested a Zillow Offer since we launched last year, and we’re excited to announce we’ll be serving 20 markets just two years after buying our first home,” said Zillow Brand President Jeremy Wacksman.
“It’s clear people want a simpler, easier and less stressful way to buy and sell homes. To meet the needs of today’s on-demand consumers, Zillow is rewiring real estate to create a seamless and integrated transaction experience. We’re rapidly innovating on a number of services that span the entire transaction, including Zillow Offers, mortgages through our affiliate lender Zillow Home Loans, and the ability to tour and unlock Zillow-owned homes on any schedule.”
Zillow Offers is currently available in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Denver, Charlotte, Raleigh, Houston, Riverside and Dallas. In addition to the new markets announced today, Zillow previously announced plans to launch in Miami, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Nashville, Orlando and Portland, Ore., bringing the total to 20 markets by the end of Q1 2020.
Timing the sale of a home with the purchase of a new one is a top concern for sellers and, according to Zillow’s latest research, 61 percent of sellers are buying a new home at the same time, which adds stress and financial complexity to an already complicated process. Zillow Offers is designed to accommodate all types of sellers, whether they need to close quickly for a job across the country or want to close on a longer timeline to search for their dream home.
In each Zillow Offers market, Zillow is represented by local real estate agents and brokers during every transaction. Zillow pays a commission to local agents when it buys and sells each home.
The Zillow Offers program also gives local brokerages and Premier Agents the opportunity to acquire new listings by connecting them with motivated sellers who have taken a direct action to sell their home. Consumers who request a Zillow Offer, but instead decide to sell their home traditionally with an agent or do not receive a Zillow Offer, will be connected to a local brokerage or Premier Agent.
