REALTORS FIGHT BACK AGAINST ZILLOW
Greg Hague
Founder/CEO of 72SOLD, the 2024 INC 5000 #1 real estate firm in the Western U.S., #2 in America.
Zillow is like someone who pretends to be a friend so they can take you off guard only to pick your pocket when you're not looking. Every real estate agent in America should be infuriated with Zillow (and our own complacency).
Zillow's new "Instant Offers" program is a back stab to the real estate industry and a broken promise to people who trusted and empowered Zillow.
WHAT IS INSTANT OFFERS?
Zillow’s new “Instant Offers” program induces home sellers to bypass the professional advice of appraisers, attorneys and real estate agents and sell their home to Zillow-approved investors whose goal is to make a profit. The investors aren't buying homes to live in, they are buying homes to profit from.
WHY IS THIS PROGRAM SO BAD?
Homeowners could lose millions by unknowingly selling their homes for less than market value. Realtors could lose millions in commissions when homeowners sell to Zillow's investors instead of listing with them. To add insult to injury, Zillow's investors charge sellers who accept their low-ball offers an additional 8%-9% "service fee," significantly more than a full service real estate commission.
Zillow is testing the Instant Offers program in Las Vegas and Orlando. It has created an industry firestorm. We need to nip it in the bud.
BAD ON ME FOR NOT RAISING A STINK BACK THEN
Two years ago, in a LinkedIn article, I predicted that Zillow had nefarious plans. Check it out:
Do you agree that Zillow is doing us wrong? Then do something about it.
CHUBBY WOULD BE LIVID
Many years ago my father, a Cincinnati Realtor (nickname Chubby), founded a small company called the Cincinnati Property Exchange (CPE). This was before the modern day MLS existed.
Chubby banded together 54 small Cincinnati brokers (like him) who agreed to show/sell each other’s listings so they could compete against large firms that controlled the bulk of the listings. The big Cincinnati real estate firms refused to co-broke with the small firms, hoping to squeeze them out of business.
The Cincinnati Property Exchange worked so well that the large real estate firms eventually (grudgingly) joined. It later became one of the prototypes used to design today’s MLS.
Chubby was a real estate visionary (and Maverick). If he were with us today he’d be livid at Zillow and lead the charge to STOP ZILLOW from taking advantage of the industry that empowered it with listings and advertising.
WHAT'S ZILLOW'S HIDDEN AGENDA?
Zillow wants to be the Amazon of real estate. INSTANT OFFERS is a really a lead generation program that funnels home sellers who don’t accept investors’ low-ball offers into the hands of Zillow’s pay to play agents.
Why do I believe this? According to a recent Inman article, Zillow's investors had made tons of offers but not one had yet to be accepted. That tells us two things. Homeowners who do accept investors' offers will likely lose a bundle because the offers are so low. Second, Zillow's Instant Offers program is really a strategy to snag home sellers before they list with you. That way Zillow can funnel those sellers to its pay to play agents.
Because Zillow will be perceived as a trusted brand, home sellers will presume that Zillow ordained agents are better agents. Zillow will do everything it can to persuade sellers to deal with Zillow recommended agents by extolling that these agents get the lion's share of buyer leads from Zillow's website. Do you see the game plan?
Zillow is already the first stop for most homebuyers. If Zillow becomes the first stop for home sellers, it will own the real estate business…. determining who gets listings based on who pays the most for clients, not who is most qualified to handle the clients. If Zillow captures home sellers like it has captured the homebuyers, IT WILL BECOME THE AMAZON OF REAL ESTATE and real estate agents of the future will be toast.
FIRED UP LIKE NEVER BEFORE
Zillow deserves major league heat and I’m no lightweight. Let's stay in Zillow's face until Instant Offers no longer exists. Maybe this will even be the motivation we need to start our own Realtor-owned, Realtor managed online MLS. Remember, we control the listings. Are you ready for a miracle?
DON'T FEAR ZILLOW
Don’t be afraid of Zillow. Its existence depends on our listings. It won’t continue to exist without us.
Be bold! STOP ZILLOW from continuing Instant Offers. It's bad for consumers. It's bad for YOU. And Zillow is unlicensed so it's against the law! Sign the petition at:
Greg Hague, The Real Estate Maverick
Sales and Marketing Director
7 年Zillow and Trulia suck! No realtor should give them another dollar and within a year they will be history
Associate Broker at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty
7 年Anthony Graziano has the right Idea if it can happen.The REALTOR rule is you must be a current paid for REALTOR dues to use the MLS and in order to be using the system you have to abide by the MLS rules which includes good REALTOR standings. Some of the local boards enjoy financial benefits from the MLS that shares the data with NAR that in turn made a trade off deal with ZILLOW accessing the data from your local MLS thru NAR, to break this chain the listing control must start at home and the only way for now is to give up your REALTOR status and become a Real Estate Person without NAR.
Connie Martin has been serving all your Real Estate needs since 1985. Contact her 408-4830987
7 年The judge that originally ruled that our information should be public, is the one that has stolen our work product. NAR and CAR should have stopped this Years ago. Now trying to put the Jeanie back in the bottle will be extremely difficult.
My priority is to provide professional real estate services to clients whether you are selling or buying.
7 年We are all in this together! We pay our NAR and local dues to include MLS services. The guarantee that competitors do not compromise our information should also be closely monitored and enforced.
Eloquence in Action
7 年www.hi-techrealty.com Chubby would flow with the times and realize the equity in a home is the sellers ....hence flat fee.