[JumpCrisscross]

> Zillow getting into flipping seems questionable to me. The customers are no longer aligned with the company on goals with something like this

I'm currently looking to buy a house. Having a Zillow in between the seller and myself (as a dealer, not a broker) wouldn't be a slam dunk, but it would be worth some non-zero premium to me. (Just offering a counterpoint to the "uselessly driving up prices" narrative.)

[brendoelfrendo]

Can I ask why? I'm also looking to buy a house and the Zillow offerings, from what I've seen, are not particularly competitive. They don't seem to care much about the quality of their housing stock. I'd also be leery of dealing with someone removed from the initial seller. It sounds like a great way to "launder" issues with the home where Zillow can say "eh, we didn't know about that."

[JumpCrisscross]

> Can I ask why? I'm also looking to buy a house and the Zillow offerings, from what I've seen, are not particularly competitive.

I agree. (I'm not buying from them.) I am having to deal with sellers who change their ask at the last minute, have past financial issues (if something goes wrong and I have to sue, will they have assets?), want to stay through the winter, et cetera. In most home purchases, expedience isn't the most important thing for the buyer. For some, it is, and in those cases something like Zillow's offer in theory makes sense. (Counterpoint: homes aren't fungible.)

[nradov]

Checking if the seller has assets in case you have to sue is just bizarre. That's not how residential real estate works.

[sigstoat]

> Can I ask why?

john q homeowner (probably) generates significantly more counterparty risk in transactions than giant corporation's house flipping algorithm.

no shortage of stories of home sellers doing all sorts of weird shit, that zillow et al just wouldn't have time/energy to engage in.

[mrkstu]

I'm looking to do this- I'm going to move out of state, and having a counter-party buying my house that is likely to offer maximum flexibility as I'm looking for another house elsewhere is valuable.

[arthurcolle]

Not only that (it's true though) but what if they committed to a certain $ figure of upgrades/renovations for the house in question? Seems valuable in terms of property values even if it costs the seller/buyer some additional premium up front

[judge2020]

As someone selling to Zillow, they do retain a certain amount ($x thousands) from the seller for repairs and cleaning, at least for relatively new construction. I imagine it's a larger number depending on how old the house is and how much repair they think they need based on their appraisal/final walkthrough.

[sjg007]

You can also just refuse their offer too if they want to take too much off the top.