Zillow announced Thursday it is expanding its home buying/selling program to new markets this year.
Zillow will begin buying and selling homes through its Zillow Offers program in five new markets in 2019: Miami, Minneapolis-St.Paul, Nashville, Orlando and Portland. Sellers in these markets can request cash offers from Zillow to buy their home.
Zillow announced it expects the program to be fulling up and running in these markets by the fall.
Zillow Offers allows homeowners to request a no-obligation cash offer from Zillow to buy their home. If they accept it, Zillow directly buys a seller’s house, prepares it for showings and quickly lists it for sale.
This program already launched in several other markets, including Phoenix, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Denver and Charlotte, South Carolina.
Zillow Offers will also be launching in Dallas, Raleigh, North Carolina; Houston and Riverside, California in 2019.
“Since launching Zillow Offers just nine short months ago, we have been continually excited by the strong demand from homeowners throughout the country and are constantly getting asked when Zillow Offers will come to their market,” Zillow President Jeremy Wacksman said. “It’s clear people want a convenient, stress-free way to sell their home, and real estate professionals are eager to work with us to leverage Zillow Offers as a way to build their local businesses.”
“With today’s announcement, we are excited to continue to rapidly scale Zillow Offers throughout the country and we are well on our way to delivering a simple, on demand real estate experience to consumers in at least 14 markets this year,” Wacksman said.
Zillow’s new program does not seem to compete with local real estate agents. Through Zillow Offers, the company works with local real estate agents and brokers during every transaction. Zillow pays a commission to local agents when it buys and sells each home.
It also uses Zillow Offers to promote its Premier Agent, which allows real estate agents to acquire new listings by connecting them with motivated sellers who have taken a direct action to sell their home.
Consumers who request a Zillow Offer, but instead decide to sell their home traditionally with an agent or do not receive a Zillow Offer, will be connected to a local brokerage or Premier Agent.
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