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It won't be enough money. You don't understand how much they charge agents for different services and a simple FSBO listing isn't going to cut it. Some agents pay $1000 a month for advertising. Why would a FSBO pay that much to be on one site?
For ~$500 in my market, a FSBO seller can be on the MLS, Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist, dozens of sites through syndication, and a bazillion IDX and VOW sites where agents pay big money for SEO and rankings.
Why would anyone pay Z a nickel to list?
Calling Z "technology" as if it is some sort of silver bullet because they have good servers to provide information they scrape from readily available sources is ridiculous.
Last edited by MikeJaquish; 08-06-2016 at 08:05 PM..
if you want to take a vacation, it's a one week commitment and by technology and transparency (and complete lack of emotion by hotels and airlines), consumers have been able to save lots of money by "booking online". I know that I do, and yes, the travel agency model is fairly defunct. Folks probably aren't spending more than $6K on a 1 week vacation they book themselves. And they probably save 25% over using a travel agent - $2K.
if you're in the market for a new (to you) car, the olden days of driving to all 5 dealerships in town, picking out a vehicle, and feeling taken for a ride on the transaction are gone. Not only has technology and transparency helped you understand that there were 10 million Toyota Camrys sold last year across the US, they've drilled down to the average price paid by your zip code. You can walk into ANY dealership with that number and walk out with your new car. And not only that, because 1 million 2010 Honda Accords sold last year, you know what you can get for your trade-in.
But here's the problem that none of the internetters seem to grasp.
There is very little homogenity among houses. There's such disparity among neighborhoods, nearby towns, school zones, street locations, etc ... that no matter the computing power put into it you can never accurately apply factors across the entire US.
And if a consumer makes a wrong buying decision on a house, there's no Kelly Blue Book to bail them out a year or 2 later.
Lastly, it's almost hilarious for the tech companies to not understand or accept some of the very basic rules of licensing and supervision acroos the land. What they see is "6% of 20% of the US economy" and start drooling.
Unlike most forum posters, I love the zillow website. Tons of information, easy to navigate, loads fast. Plus it is simple to verify that the home is still for sale if it is an old listing. Just do a search on the address and check another site, or go to the listing site.
Quote:
Originally Posted by illtaketwoplease
the main investor in zillow anticipates it being a 50 billion dollar company. it's currently a 6.5 billion dollar company. they aren't going to get there by selling ads to agents...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lockdev
The first two don't understand how technology works.
Unlike the hasn't-changed-in-50-years real estate market, products evolve in the tech world.
They're not going to make money off of real estate agents nor subscriptions in the future.
Their plan is to take over the real estate community as a whole.
The last guy gets it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident
I agree. I find Zillow to be very useful (and much more so than Trulia . . . even though they are owned by the same company, I find Trulia to be much more off base than Zillow).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philip Lagi
agreed....
Unlike most forum posters, I love the zillow website. Tons of information, easy to navigate, loads fast. Plus it is simple to verify that the home is still for sale if it is an old listing. Just do a search on the address and check another site, or go to the listing site.
Same question for all of you:
What are you contributing to Zillow's bottom line?
Same question for all of you:
What are you contributing to Zillow's bottom line?
I don't understand the relevancy to this question to my post, but, indirectly (via my views and contact of agents listed on the site when I'm looking to purchase), I help with Trulia's marketing strategy to agents/RE firms by helping to put numbers to their sales strategy/making the site more attractive to agents.
Same question for all of you:
What are you contributing to Zillow's bottom line?
What is your point?
Is it that zillow will have to charge the public in order to be profitable? I disagree with that. Yelp is free for consumers and is profitable. So is facebook. So is linkedin
What is your point?
Is it that zillow will have to charge the public in order to be profitable? I disagree with that. Yelp is free for consumers and is profitable. So is facebook. So is linkedin
Because they charge businesses for advertising. In order for Zillow to be free to consumers, businesses must pay for the site. That is how "free" works. So unlike FB, LinkedIn, and Yelp which have a diverse group of businesses that feed into them, Zillow is all about real estate. So that limits its pool of business used to support it. That is why it has struggled to be profitable compared to a FB, for example.
How do you see Zillow being profitable and maintaining that site without the money from real estate agents?
Because they charge businesses for advertising. In order for Zillow to be free to consumers, businesses must pay for the site. That is how "free" works. So unlike FB, LinkedIn, and Yelp which have a diverse group of businesses that feed into them, Zillow is all about real estate. So that limits its pool of business used to support it. That is why it has struggled to be profitable compared to a FB, for example.
How do you see Zillow being profitable and maintaining that site without the money from real estate agents?
It is intriguing. Zillow whose existence is based on the coop fee will free the consumer from paying the coop fee.
Surest way for Zillow to cease to exist is to create a fee paying listing environment. Virtually instantly every big MLS in the country cuts off the feed.
So when you get to the bottom of it all Zillow exists off the 6%. And will support it. Or go out of business.
And when you think about it Zillow appeals almost completely to the buyers side. Do Listing agents pick up leads from Zillow? I don't think so. So its business model is supported only by the payment to buyer's agents.
And the amazing thing is these folk who are convinced the biggest marketing force for the existing system is going to change it radically. How irrational folk get.
Because they charge businesses for advertising. In order for Zillow to be free to consumers, businesses must pay for the site. That is how "free" works. So unlike FB, LinkedIn, and Yelp which have a diverse group of businesses that feed into them, Zillow is all about real estate. So that limits its pool of business used to support it. That is why it has struggled to be profitable compared to a FB, for example.
How do you see Zillow being profitable and maintaining that site without the money from real estate agents?
Display advertising!
Oh. Z reduced display advertising and revenue.... whoops.
Unlike most forum posters, I love the zillow website. Tons of information, easy to navigate, loads fast. Plus it is simple to verify that the home is still for sale if it is an old listing. Just do a search on the address and check another site, or go to the listing site.
I like Zillow for photographs of properties and ease with the maps in finding property locations. The rest of it is pretty much useless. Amusing, but useless.
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