{"id":2607,"date":"2021-11-03T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-11-03T10:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/preprod.realtrends.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/03\/opinion-after-zillow-is-ibuying-dead\/"},"modified":"2025-03-13T02:39:29","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T02:39:29","slug":"opinion-after-zillow-is-ibuying-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/preprod.realtrends.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/03\/opinion-after-zillow-is-ibuying-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: After Zillow, is iBuying dead?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As of this writing, <strong>Zillow\u2019s<\/strong> stock is at its 52-week low, battered by its recent announcements about trouble in paradise.&nbsp;Turns out, <a href=\"https:\/\/preprod.realtrends.com\/blog\/zillow-to-kill-its-ibuying-program\/\">Zillow\u2019s iBuying business<\/a> had some operational issues, and the company finds itself saddled with thousands of houses it needs to unload \u2014 perhaps not at fire-sale prices \u2014 but not at the prices Zillow executives hoped for. Nor are they the prices that make the iBuying business a success, at least not for Zillow. &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Industry analysts are openly chanting some version of the \u201cI told you so\u201d story, and communities like LinkedIn are flooded with opinions.&nbsp;For a company that still has a $20 billion market cap and whose name is a metonym for \u201chouse values,\u201d the whole affair is undoubtedly difficult, and perhaps cause for soul-searching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s the thing: Most of the \u201cI told you so\u201d crowd never told anyone anything.&nbsp;They clapped as new iBuyers were born almost daily and sent Zillow stock up to stratospheric heights. Most housing watchers marveled at the \u201cinnovation.\u201d&nbsp;We saw the chest-thumping daily and the confident clich\u00e9s about \u201cdisrupting agents and brokers\u201d bandied about incessantly. Tens of billions of dollars of market-capitalization were added and SPACS (special purchase acquisition companies) were formed.&nbsp;CEOs got on stage and warned the industry not that a new player was in town but that the very game had changed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-to-the-victors-go-the-spoils-but-do-the-victors-deserve-it\"><strong>To the victors go the spoils, but do the victors deserve it?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>A small, silent crew of folks differed about Zillow&#8217;s iBuying and the iBuying business model, in general.\u00a0The math seemed scary.\u00a0The <a href=\"https:\/\/preprod.housingwire.com\/articles\/how-zillows-model-crushed-its-ibuying-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">carrying costs of thousands of houses <\/a>put fear in their hearts.\u00a0The idea that a downturn could wipe out large players came to their minds (let\u2019s remember what happened just a little over a decade ago!).\u00a0This crew was likely talked down by the big-shots, told their views were \u201ctoo pessimistic.\u201d This crew didn\u2019t get to headline SPACS or make billions of dollars on inflated stock values.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"h-and-here-we-are-a-few-years-later-zillow-is-looking-to-offload-7-000-houses-and-ibuying-has-been-exposed-as-a-low-margin-business-with-huge-capital-requirements-those-who-spoke-of-great-innovation-have-started-to-realize-that-there-is-no-atm-machine-here-no-self-replicating-sales-robot-and-no-superhero-just-a-bunch-of-people-calling-on-others-to-sell-their-homes-a-bunch-of-people-valuing-the-homes-and-a-bunch-of-people-making-offers\"><strong> <\/strong>And here we are a few years later.&nbsp;Zillow is looking to offload 7,000 houses and iBuying has been exposed as a low-margin business with huge capital requirements.&nbsp;Those who spoke of great \u201cinnovation\u201d have started to realize that there is no ATM machine here, no self-replicating sales robot, and no superhero.&nbsp; Just a bunch of people calling on others to sell their homes, a bunch of people valuing the homes, and a bunch of people making offers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The disrupted are having a laugh. <\/strong>Indeed, agents who add value and who have relationships with customers are having a banner year.&nbsp;They are employing new innovations like talking on the phone with clients, understanding the nuances of neighborhoods, and using technology as a tool, not genuflecting to it as a god.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PropTech is an incredible space.&nbsp;But I\u2019m not going to believe anyone who talks about disruption or who writes premature eulogies of entire professions.&nbsp;Nah, I\u2019ll leave that to the folks who should have egg on their face but who are, instead, feasting on the carcass of a business that someone else killed.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of RealTrends&#8217; editorial department and its owners.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To contact the author of this story:<br>Romi Mahajan at <a href=\"mailto:romi@thekkmgroup.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">romi@thekkmgroup.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To contact the editor responsible for this story:<br>Tracey Velt at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:tvelt@realtrends.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tvelt@realtrends.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Zillow iBuying program shutdown  taught us one thing. When it comes to real estate, it&#8217;s still a contact sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15802,"featured_media":4822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3255],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1779],"class_list":["post-2607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Opinion: After Zillow, is iBuying dead? - RealTrends - Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Zillow iBuying program shutdown taught us one thing. 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