Zillow project drawing fire from U.S. real estate agents
A new home-sales program connecting Orlando-area sellers directly with certain investors has drawn the ire of real estate agents nationwide.
More than 32,000 real estate agents from around the country signed online petitions opposing the Instant Offers program Zillow rolled out two months ago in the pilot markets of Orlando and Las Vegas. Petition organizer Greg Hague said the program paves the way for sellers to sacrifice sales profits by settling for a discounted price with minimal guidance from real estate agents.
“This is going to sucker home sellers into making a mistake that is going to cost them an education for their kids, an amazing family vacation or just sleeping better at night because they have more money in their bank account,” said Hague, a lawyer and real estate broker in
The new Zillow program targets an audience of sellers willing to trade off a top-dollar sales price in exchange for the ability to forgo repairs, showings and a protracted sale.
Arizona. “And to do it all without the advice of a Realtor or appraiser or anyone — that’s the bottom line.”
He said his petition has drawn interest from around the country and particularly from agents in Florida and Nevada. The anti-Instant Offers campaign wants the National Association of Realtors to intervene with Zillow.
A spokesman for the national industry trade group, when asked for comment on Instant Offers, referred to a trade magazine article stating that Zillow’s new program had “created a stir.”
Instant Offers is another in a line of potentially disruptive real-estate services, including investor-sales platform OpenDoor and discounted commission brokerage Redfin Corp. The new Zillow program targets an audience of sellers willing to trade off a top-dollar sales price in exchange for the ability to forgo repairs, showings and a protracted sale.
Zillow would not say how Instant Offers has performed so far or whether it plans to expand beyond Orlando and Las Vegas. The company has not released its business model but emphasized that the new program connects sellers with real estate agents who suggest pricing and serve as fallbacks to investor sales.
Orlando Home Team Realty Broker Rob West is dubbed a “preferred agent” for Zillow. Orlando was a good choice to test the service because the market has a high level of investor sales and overall churn, he said.
And while he has not connected with sellers through Instant Offers, he said he believes he will get that opportunity as the program expands.
“I personally would rather have more opportunities to connect with people,” the West said. “Without Instant Offers, there may be people out there I would never get to talk with.”
While he said opponents to Instant Offers might fear losing business, others say they are concerned about the program being misleading. Hague said he believes it is more about driving website traffic to Zillow than about connecting sellers and investors.
In June, the National Association of Realtors stated it could not “sponsor or encourage a boycott of Zillow.”
The group went on to state that it would be unlawful to discourage members from using any product or service provider and that real estate associations in general could not try to withhold listings from Zillow.
The association urged its members to “inform their clients and customers of the value they bring to the real estate marketing and sales transaction, and the problems and risks sellers may encounter in marketing and selling their home without using a Realtor.”