Zillow To Flip Homes In Phoenix, Las Vegas

Zillow, the online real estate company, is getting into the business of buying and selling homes and will expand its Zillow Instant Offers service to Phoenix during April.

In a press release, Zillow said that it is partnering with three brokerages: West USA  in Phoenix, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Arizona & Nevada Properties in Phoenix and Las Vegas, and Coldwell Banker Premier Realty in Las Vegas. Starting in the spring, home sellers in Phoenix and Las Vegas will be able to compare a real estate agent’s market valuation of their home with offers from Zillow and other investors. If Zillow buys the home, it said it would repair and update it as necessary and then list it as soon as possible. A local agent will represent Zillow in the transaction, enabling the agent to earn a commission.

It’s also expanding its Zillow Instant Offers into Phoenix, which is its service in which sellers received investor offers alongside an analysis of the home’s market value. The offer comes within two business days of providing basic information about the house. Zillow starting testing the service in May of 2017  in Las Vegas and Orlando and is now adding Phoenix to the list. Zillow said the program gives real estate agents the ability to get new listings and that via testing, it found most of the sellers who request an Instant Offer sell their home with the agent that did the analysis.

“Even in today’s hot market, many sellers are stressed and searching for a more seamless way to sell their homes,” said Zillow Chief Marketing Officer Jeremy Wacksman in the press release. “They want help, and while most prefer to sell their home on the open market with an agent, some value convenience and time over price. This expansion of Instant Offers and Zillow’s entrance into the marketplace will help us better serve both types of consumers as well as provide an opportunity for Premier Agents to connect with sellers. This is expected to be a vibrant line of business for us and for our partners in the real estate industry while providing homeowners with more choices and information.”

To lead its new and expanding efforts, Zillow also announced it has hired Arik Prawer as chief business development officer — he will be in charge of business operations surrounding Zillow’s participation in the Instant Offers marketplace. Prior to joining Zillow Group, Prawer was most recently Chief Integration Officer at Invitation Homes, a single-family rental owner and operator in the United States. Prawer spent five years prior to that serving in executive leadership roles at large real estate owners and operators in the United States, Zillow said in the release.