The Impact of the Zillow Shutdown

Summarizing the Zillow shutdown and what it means for us locally.

Today Mr. Licorice and I are here to answer an increasingly common question: How will the Zillow iBuyer shutdown affect you?

Locally, the shutdown doesn’t affect us because they were never really big in our area. They were more common in places like Houston, Phoenix, and Atlanta. To catch you up, per Zillow’s website, “We are not making any new offers on homes. We’re focusing on existing customers and selling our remaining inventory.”

See, they were buying properties sight unseen, and they used their own algorithm to determine each home’s value. They bought hundreds of homes with the goal of reselling them, but the they built up too much inventory and were having trouble selling off the properties due to their inaccurate Zestimates. Zestimates can only calculate certain things like square footage, the number of bedrooms, and the distance to other houses. They can’t, however, factor in any upgrades you’ve done to the house or the quality of the surrounding area.

Ultimately, the Zestimate is a tool to give you a general idea of your home’s value. If you want an accurate estimate, nothing beats an in-home valuation from professionals like Mr. Licorice and me. Don’t hesitate to give us a call or send an email! We’d love to hear from you.