Zillow A One Stop Shop Now (sales, real estate, house)

[JPrzybylski07]

https://rismedia.com/2020/09/23/from...ervices/#close

This will mean lower commissions in the future. Agents will have to work much harder now to provide value.

Many agents are mad they have been paying Zillow for leads and to list their own listings over the years only to be “betrayed”. Zillow said it was never in competition with agents but now are absolutely in competition.


Curt Hess on September 24, 2020 at 8:07 am
Now ask yourself this: What happens when buyer agent commissions are paid by the buyer, listings are done for 1%, and Zillow charges a flat $40/hr for their buyer agents? ($30 to salaried agent, $10 to boss.) Typically, we are talking 30-50 hours, regardless of house price. On that $400k house, your buyer can pay Zillow $2000 instead of your current $10,000 commission. Bye bye.


Zillow is only recurring agents within the company and not from other brokerages.

[markjames68]

I think competition like this is good.

If Zillow does a poor job, then they’ll fail.

I don’t see this changing SWFL much yet. You have the kind of buyer who still isn’t fully digital-enabled, who likes handholding and who will still drop by agencies to look in the window and get flyers.

[JPrzybylski07]

Originally Posted by markjames68

I think competition like this is good.

If Zillow does a poor job, then they’ll fail.

I don’t see this changing SWFL much yet. You have the kind of buyer who still isn’t fully digital-enabled, who likes handholding and who will still drop by agencies to look in the window and get flyers.

Yes agree, and you’re right this market is not the norm. I think Zillow is in this game for the long haul which is why they aren’t trying to grow too fast with their new full service brokerage in every single market just yet.

Now that Zillow will be pulling data directly from the MLS it will definitely be changing things up for the industry moving forward as the YEARS go by.

There’s always going to be money to be made in this industry as a realtor but it’s only going to get exceptionally harder as information becomes more available to the general public. Everyone knows or should know sellers bake in commissions into their asking prices, and if a competitor like Zillow can truly streamline the real estate process then at least some savings can get passed on directly to the consumers instead of the agents when it comes to closing costs.

[JPrzybylski07]

Lots of angry realtor comments I’m reading online about this:

Ben Handelsman on October 29, 2020 at 1:45 pm
This move was completely predictable. Everyone knew that Zillow was lying to all of our faces for years when they said they would not get into brokerage. It’s nice to think our precious clients, and years spent cultivating relationships will overcome the competitive wave of Zillow. Unfortunately, I think Zillow can and has been doing a very effective job convincing buyers and sellers that Zillow is the only one-stop-shop they need. Our clients may love us, but you’ll see how quickly they drop us in the interest of saving money. NAR is clearly too afraid to stand up to Zillow and I truly fear for the future sustainability of Realtors. I worry that we’re going to look back and wonder why we gave Zillow so much free data and paid them with ad dollars to take our jobs away. It starts with Zillow. If they have success, watch Quicken, Amazon, etc. jump into the business as well. Where does that leave us? The time to do something about it is now. The time for NAR to step up and start representing us is NOW.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by JPrzybylski07

Yes agree, and you’re right this market is not the norm. I think Zillow is in this game for the long haul which is why they aren’t trying to grow too fast with their new full service brokerage in every single market just yet.

Now that Zillow will be pulling data directly from the MLS it will definitely be changing things up for the industry moving forward as the YEARS go by.

There’s always going to be money to be made in this industry as a realtor but it’s only going to get exceptionally harder as information becomes more available to the general public. Everyone knows or should know sellers bake in commissions into their asking prices, and if a competitor like Zillow can truly streamline the real estate process then at least some savings can get passed on directly to the consumers instead of the agents when it comes to closing costs.

It’s no different than in technology sales.

Years ago buyers depended on sales people to guide them through complex sales.

Now a lot of independent research is done by the buyer, only contacting the seller if and when they are ready to purchase.

As a result it’s harder to make a living in tech sales now than the gravy days a decade or more ago.

[blueherons]

Originally Posted by JPrzybylski07

https://rismedia.com/2020/09/23/from...ervices/#close

This will mean lower commissions in the future. Agents will have to work much harder now to provide value.

Many agents are mad they have been paying Zillow for leads and to list their own listings over the years only to be “betrayed”. Zillow said it was never in competition with agents but now are absolutely in competition.


Curt Hess on September 24, 2020 at 8:07 am
Now ask yourself this: What happens when buyer agent commissions are paid by the buyer, listings are done for 1%, and Zillow charges a flat $40/hr for their buyer agents? ($30 to salaried agent, $10 to boss.) Typically, we are talking 30-50 hours, regardless of house price. On that $400k house, your buyer can pay Zillow $2000 instead of your current $10,000 commission. Bye bye.


Zillow is only recurring agents within the company and not from other brokerages.

I could care less of Zillow goes brokerage. Personally I think Zillow is a POS.

Just today one of my clients texted me a Zillow listing she wanted to see. The property has not been on the market in two years which is why the price looked good.

A listing I had Zillow refused to remove after it sold.

Brokerage away Zillow. You aren't bothering me.

My clients know the value I add.