Zillow abandoning the home flipping business

[WildMan]

There's others still doing it like OpenDoor and Knock. Zillow just thought they'd swing in and take a piece of the pie without doing their homework first.

I was fascinated by Zillow buying up houses. They were paying well over market value, but then again these days and times people offering up to 15% over asking price are being out bid.

A huge number of large corps. are buying up swaths of residential property as rentals. I wondered if Zillow was going to do this or if it was some sort of market manipulation. Seeing that Zillow is giving it up is really odd. Still makes me think their pulling some kind of ****, maybe they owe some taxes and want to balance books by increasing the value of taxable write offs?

 

[WildMan]

Open Door bought ours for $7000 more than listed, then put it on the market for $40,000 more than they paid us. Had to sit on it for a while, finally got about $13,000 over their investment. Plus the 5% we discounted for no repairs/no inspection.

Average people can't sit on properties as easily as large companies that will leave them empty for a good while and also command higher prices by owning nearby properties as well.

How long ago was it that you sold/they sold if you don't mind?

 

[whiskerz]

Zillow bought my GF's house. Zillow paid full asking even after the small deduction for minor repairs. From what I understand Zillow does not make any repairs either. She was one of Zillows last closings. Zillow does not have the house listed for sale currently. In her neighborhood of about 500 houses Zillow owns hers , Redfin owned one and Opendoor owns one. The Redfin house is the only one that sold and an investor bought it only to discover he paid $450k for a house he can not use as a rental. He is doing improvements in an attempt to flip it. If he flips it he will have the most expensive house in the neighborhood with no basement.

 

[lostchild]

Average people can't sit on properties as easily as large companies that will leave them empty for a good while and also command higher prices by owning nearby properties as well.

How long ago was it that you sold/they sold if you don't mind?

June/October this year. Took them almost 4 months ‘cause they way overpriced their original ask.
They started out at about $40,000 over comps in the neighborhood. They still got more than I would have payed for it.
edit:
paid…
dun gon’ brain dead for a sec.

 

[WinstonSmith]

Everything about our economy, housing market included, is a game of musical chairs. When the folks who know the DJ and play all the time start looking for a chair might be good to pay attention.

 

[lostchild]

Ours was with OpenDoor, had a call scheduled with Zillow and they cancelled day of...I think they knew their bottom was falling out.

Simple process with OpenDoor too. Video walk through, they send someone out to inspect the exterior and then you have your offer and are under contract.

Yep, that’s exactly how it went with ours. Very comprehensive, lengthy walk through video. Check all appliances, heat/ac, plumbing, and light switches for operation also.

 

[Gingerbeard Man]

Yep, that’s exactly how it went with ours. Very comprehensive, lengthy walk through video. Check all appliances, heat/ac, plumbing, and light switches for operation also.

I certainly was willing to go this route to not have the headache of unknown people walking through our house and having to be displaced every evening until it sold.

When we sold our house before moving to Georgia, we had a very bad experience. I had cameras in the living areas and ended up getting the police involved. Realtor guy and his "client" walked through our house and took turns stealing small things I'm sure they thought we wouldn't notice. Police were there before they finished their "walk through". Needless to say, we moved everything to storage after that and sold the house empty.

I was stressed thinking we would be going through the same crap again. This time around, working with OpenDoor, took the stress out of selling. I'd also say that it's completely fair from their end as you can pick a closing date up to 90 days out and back out at any time without any penalty.

 

[lostchild]

I certainly was willing to go this route to not have the headache of unknown people walking through our house and having to be displaced every evening until it sold.

When we sold our house before moving to Georgia, we had a very bad experience. I had cameras in the living areas and ended up getting the police involved. Realtor guy and his "client" walked through our house and took turns stealing small things I'm sure they thought we wouldn't notice. Police were there before they finished their "walk through". Needless to say, we moved everything to storage after that and sold the house empty.

I was stressed thinking we would be going through the same crap again. This time around, working with OpenDoor, took the stress out of selling. I'd also say that it's completely fair from their end as you can pick a closing date up to 90 days out and back out at any time without any penalty.

That was our thoughts, also.
Not having to get out of the house, board the cats, keep it squeaky clean for showings, worry about pilferage, was worth a few thousand dollars to us.
Your last paragraph is spot on.
Side note:
We worked with an excellent agent with Mark Spain realty. Picked them because of their relation with investor buyers. She also remembered where we were moving to, and that wife’s brother was our agent down here.
Couple of months later, she listed a house for a couple who was moving to our new area, called to get his name. They worked a deal to find those folks a home in this area.