How to get a Zillow Offer, and is it Worth it?

Table of contents

• What is Zillow Offers and Is It Worth It?
• Pros and Cons of Zillow Offers
• Pros
• Cons
• Where are Zillow Offers Available?
• How to Sell Your Home to Zillow
• The steps in the Zillow offer process:
• Zillow’s Offers Reviews and Fees
• FAQ
• What is Zillow offers?
• How does Zillow offers work?
• What is Zillow cash offer?
• How much does Zillow offer for homes?
• How to get a Zillow offer?
• What does pending offer mean on Zillow?
• Are Zillow offers profitable?
• Can you negotiate with Zillow offers?
• Does Zillow offer the best price when buying a house?
• Why is Zillow Zestimate so low?
• Will Zillow buy my house for Zestimate?
• What is the difference between Redfin Now and Zillow offers?
• Are Zillow offers competitive?
• How to make an offer on Zillow?
• Why is Zillow buying homes?

Zillow has been a popular household name, famous for its Zestimate to provide homeowners easy access to a ballpark estimate on their home’s worth without speaking to an agent. Since 2018, Zillow has grown to serve only 25 markets, looking for profitable areas to gain exposure among property owners to sell to Zillow. Are you better off accepting an offer directly from them, or will you be missing out on a better offer?

What is Zillow Offers and Is It Worth It?

For quite some time, the Zillow Offers program has been the talk of news outlets like CNN.

“For Zillow (Z), this new feature is just the latest step in transforming itself from a hub for online real estate data to what it’s calling “Zillow 2.0,” a one-stop shop for home searching, buying and selling. Zillow also offers connections to nearby real estate agents, as well as home loans.”

Zillow has been marketing itself as a one-stop shop for property owners to gain loyalty from communities. But are they really here to help homeowners get the most money for their home – or run a business that ensures profitability? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of Zillow offers.

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Pros and Cons of Zillow Offers

Pros

• They claim that you’re guaranteed to be paid once closed without any surprises. This doesn’t mean they guarantee a great cash offer from Zillow!
• You don’t have to repaint or do renovations to appease the buyer – but that doesn’t mean it’s not being considered when you get an offer from Zillow.
• Since you’re dealing with a third party that will buy your home, you’re at least able to choose when you can move out with the Zillow offers program.

Cons

• Zillow’s fees and repair costs add up quickly, which is calculated into the Zillow value.
• You only get one Zillow cash offer at their highest and best with nothing to compare it to. You run the risk of accepting a below-market value offer.
• You have no negotiation powers. It’s a take it or leave it situation when you’re given a Zillow offer to purchase.
• Zillow offers markets are only available in 25 cities, and homes with minimal repair costs are eligible.

Where are Zillow Offers Available?

If you’ve ever been browsing Zillow and stumbled across a little “Owned by Zillow” symbol on the photo of the home, that means it was a Zillow home purchase, fixed up, and is now up for sale by Zillow directly. Zillow Offers is now taking the lead as a division of Zillow, recognized as the second-largest iBuyer (instant buying organization) in the US. To be considered the second-largest, it’s looked at by volume, not by national reach. In fact, Zillow is only available in 25 locations, 4 of those right in Florida.

• Jacksonville
• Miami
• Orlando
• Tampa
• Atlanta, GA
• Austin, TX
• Charlotte, NC
• Cincinnati, OH
• Colorado Springs, CO
• Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
• Denver, CO
• Fort Collins, CO
• Houston, TX
• Las Vegas, NV
• Los Angeles, CA
• Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
• Nashville, TN
• Phoenix, AZ
• Portland, OR
• Raleigh, NC
• Riverside, CA
• Sacramento, CA
• San Antonio, TX
• San Diego, CA
• Tucson, AZ

What iBuyers do, like Zillow buying houses, is basically leverage their home evaluation algorithms to propose a cash offer confidently and then resell it for profit when the market conditions or repairs make it more attractive to buyers.

You’re not selling with a Realtor, but you can certainly choose to through Zillow offers if you’re already under contract. This just makes your fee go up more instead of working with someone from the Zillow offers Advisor Team.

How to Sell Your Home to Zillow

If you’re considering selling your fixer-upper to Zillow offers, think again. In order to be considered for the initial offer, your home should be in resellable condition, meaning no significant repairs, foundation issues, or other big red flags. Zillow instant offers isn’t a get out of jail free card for dilapidated homes.

Another thing to quickly compare if Zillow home buying is right for you – you need to be located in one of their high opportunity markets. Zillow buying houses isn’t out in the middle of nowhere.

Suppose your home is in good repair, in an eligible location. In that case, you have the option to sell quickly through Zillow instant offers and offload a burdened property if you don’t have the time to maximize your profits by selling yourself.

The steps in the Zillow offer process:

1. You fill out a questionnaire about your home, and then a Zillow advisor follows up within a few days.
2. You’ll receive a rough estimate based on comparable homes in the neighborhood, the classic Zestimate and things you mentioned in the questionnaire.
3. They don’t buy sight unseen! They’ll schedule an in-person evaluation to know how low they can offer after seeing what needs to be repaired to adhere to their “we’ll handle the rest” policy.
4. You’ll receive an offer from Zillow, and you can accept, decide to sell yourself or use an agent.

Zillow’s Offers Reviews and Fees

Property owners are confused about how much they need to pay out of pocket when accepting Zillow home offers. If you look at their website, they claim their selling fee is a whopping 5% on average. Other sources have reviewed Zillow offer fees, stating they can go as high as 9%, averaging 7%. They claim this covers repairs, but they also express their Zillow house offer reflects the repairs required.

That means for a Florida homeowner selling their home for $250,000, you could be paying $22,500 plus an additional $7,500 if you were already under contract with another real estate agent.

You may want to check out Zillow offers reviews for property owners in a tough spot that are seriously considering this as an option. It’s hard to find your own credible source as Zillow cash offer reviews on their site are hand-picked to show the best outcomes for homeowners in a pinch.

The seller and Reddit user, u/mikedjp, left a review about his experience where his offer was slashed after the home inspection.

We decided to give Zillow a shot because who wants to list your house with a newborn if you don’t need to. The initial offer made on the phone was fair, but the fees are high, which is what one would expect. Offer was $450k with net proceeds of $395k. Considering our situation, we were tempted to take this. So we agreed to the inspection.

Our home is 5 years old. There was nothing wrong with it. (They factor in stuff like repainting in the primary offer so the inspection doesn’t reduce it.)

But here’s the kicker: the Zillow representative that came to the inspection with a contracted inspector recommended that they reduce the offer because of its proximity to a freeway and some warehouses (this is Houston so that is like half of the city). So new offer was 420k net proceeds around $372. Needless to say, we didn’t accept.

FAQ

What is Zillow offers?

Zillow Offers is a new program launched in hand with their well-known online real estate database. It’s an iBuyer that makes quick cash offers on homes to then sell them to another source. Zillow claims they aren’t flipping houses, but their offer is instant, whereas the offer they receive from the buyer will be different from the offer they give to you.

How does Zillow offers work?

Simply put, there are four steps. If you’re considering selling your home to Zillow, you’ll need to:

1. Apply online through their website.
2. Review the first estimate offer.
3. Have an inspection done.
4. Review the final offer.
5. Accept and close the deal within 7-90 days.

What is Zillow cash offer?

Zillow aligns itself to “help agents” that work with Zillow Offers. If a home is considered eligible, Zillow makes an all-cash offer so it’s guaranteed to hit their bank account when they expect it.

How much does Zillow offer for homes?

Zillow claims to present an offer that represents the current market value of your home – but they also take 5% of the sale price as their fee. They also add on estimated repair and closing costs. After all the deductions, you may as well sell with an agent that will market your home for a higher offer. If you’re looking to save on the commission, rather than pay the big bucks for a quick mediocre offer, for sale by owner may be a more suitable option.

How to get a Zillow offer?

You can get a Zillow Offer if it’s available in your area after entering your address on their dedicated site. After filling out your questions and going through the 4 step process, you’ll receive an offer from Zillow within a few days if your home qualifies.

What does pending offer mean on Zillow?

A pending offer on Zillow means that the seller has accepted an offer. However, it has not closed yet. A pending offer isn’t a guaranteed sale. There are a few reasons why pending home sales fall through, such as:

• Failing a home inspection contingency.
• A low appraisal didn’t allow the buyer to follow through with the mortgage.
• Property title issues – like unpaid debts, liens (or the home isn’t theirs!)
• Financial situation changes for the buyers, so the lender has to cancel the financing.
• Buyer’s remorse – this isn’t exactly a way you can back out of a deal. But a buyer can change their mind and use a loophole to cancel the offer, such as any of the other reasons listed above.

Are Zillow offers profitable?

Zillow has had mixed reviews on if they are considered profitable or not. On one hand, homeowners have loved the flexible closing and not taking care of any repairs. The other, reviews have been made of dropping tens of thousands of dollars in offer price after the in-home inspection for minor repairs.

Can you negotiate with Zillow offers?

You can’t really negotiate with Zillow offers. The state that they provide their best offer upfront – best meaning final. There’s no wiggle room, as they claim it helps sellers avoid a negotiation process. When in reality, it’s more of a take it or leave it situation.

Does Zillow offer the best price when buying a house?

Zillow does not claim to offer the best price when buying a house. What they do offer, is a “handling the rest” so you have a stress-free sale. This means charging you a fee to sell your home for you and having the repairs done on your behalf.

Why is Zillow Zestimate so low?

Zillow often has out-of-date information, leading to inaccurate estimates about your property’s worth. You’re able to try and update the missing or erroneous information, but this doesn’t guarantee your Zestimate to go any higher.

Will Zillow buy my house for Zestimate?

Your Zillow offer will often be different than your Zestimate. The reason for this is that the Zestimate is a rough estimate based on public information and the current market. The offer takes in more considerations, such as any renovations you may have done or how close you are to the nearest park.

What is the difference between Redfin Now and Zillow offers?

The difference between Redfin Now and Zillow Offers is that Redfin is known for accepting older homes to be eligible for an offer. The downfall is that they charge up to 12% of the offer price for their service fee. They’re also in several California cities that other iBuyers haven’t tapped into yet.

Are Zillow offers competitive?

Zillow Offers are not seen as competitive in terms of seeing multiple offers come in. You’ll receive their highest and best, which may not be as great as you’re hoping. The fees they need to pay to repair your home before putting it on the market can sway sellers to sell themselves instead and negotiate repairs with the buyer.

How to make an offer on Zillow?

You can make an offer to Zillow-owned homes, and you’ll typically hear back within 48 hours if it’s accepted or not. The one plus to buying a Zillow-owned home is that the move-in date is usually flexible as the sellers have already moved out so they could make the repairs for resale.

Why is Zillow buying homes?

Zillow claims to sell homes to allow sellers to go through the process without dealing with open houses, negotiations or inconvenient closing dates. Sellers in a pinch would rather spend the service fee and accept a potentially lower offer instead of taking the open market risk that may lead to a higher reward.

Property owners tend to have these significant factors in common when listing their home: they want the most profit they can get with the least amount of hassle. When you sell yourself using Richr’s free MLS services, you have exposure in front of millions globally, listed on over 750 websites, Zillow included. Don’t leave money on the table by taking the first offer that comes your way without listing on MLS – the price to pay for missed opportunities is higher than the fees they’re already charging.