Zillow’s New Insight on the Unit Economics of the iBuyer

To this point, we assumed that the iBuyer model would target homeowners willing to pay for convenience and that the average consumer would continue to employ a real estate agent—and earn more money for their patience. But Zillow’s Q4 numbers reflect that homeowners can actually make MORE selling to the platform than they would with a realtor. So, how does this information impact the potential market share of iBuyers moving forward? And how will it affect the way agents do business?

Today, Rob and Greg are discussing the change in leadership at Zillow, debating the company’s performance under Spencer Rascoff and Richard Barton’s motivation to return as CEO. They explore the possibility of a merger between Opendoor and Zillow, uniting the former’s mastery of workflow with the latter’s proficiency at lead flow.

Rob and Greg also speak to Redfin’s potential to adopt the iBuyer model and the way of thinking shared by Redfin and Opendoor. Listen in to understand the full implications of Zillow’s Q4 iBuyer unit economics learn how the iBuyer market may impact the industry in light of this new information.  

What’s Discussed: 

Barton’s motivation to return to Zillow as CEO

Zillow’s performance under Rascoff’s leadership

Opendoor’s complementary mastery of workflow

Zillow’s hiring of Arik Prawer to run iBuyer operations

The shared philosophy between Redfin and Opendoor

The implications of Zillow’s Q4 iBuyer unit economics  

How iBuyer unit economics may impact realtors

Connect with Rob and Greg:

Rob’s Website

Greg’s Website

Resources:

Zillow’s 2018 Q4 Results

‘Homeowners Net More Selling to Zillow Than with a REALTOR’ in Notorious ROB

‘Spencer Rascoff Out as CEO of Zillow’ in Vendor Alley

Mike DelPrete’s Presentation at Inman Connect

Our Sponsors:

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IT Manager – Heartland Multiple Listing Services

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To find out about this and more please visit the Vendor Alley Job Board.

Vice-President of MLS and Business Technology – Naples Area Board of REALTORS

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Summary:
The Vice President of MLS and Business Technology is responsible for the full operation, supervision, evaluation, delivery and maintenance of all Multiple Listing Services (MLS) and supporting products….

To find out about this and more please visit the Vendor Alley Job Board.

This episode was recorded live at the Clareity/Corelogic MLS Executive Workshop in Scottsdale.  Art and Josh were good sports when I spotted them at the lobby bar at the Scottsdale Plaza.  Also, full disclosure, I think I’ve had at least one drink.

What’s it going to take to get vendors to transition away from RETS to Web API? RESO is hoping that both a carrot (providing easy-to-use replication tools) and a stick (large MLSs putting a ‘death date’ on RETS feeds) will facilitate the move.

Art Carter is the Chair of the 2019 RESO Board of Directors and CEO of California Regional MLS. Josh Darnell is the Chief Architect at RESO and Founder and CEO of kurotek, a real estate tech consultancy. Both Art and Josh are committed to RESO’s mission around creating and promoting the adoption of standards to drive efficiency in the real estate industry.

Today, Art and Josh discuss the transition from RETS to Web API and discuss what RESO is doing to rectify the replication issue. Art gives us an update on the progress of RESO’s search for a new CEO, describing the combination of technical skill and evangelism the organization is looking for in a leader. Josh shares his take on independent systems like Trestle and Spark API and walks us through the RESO initiatives that address the separation of listing input. Listen in for insight into the ongoing evolution of real estate standards and learn how you can support RESO’s work to give agents access to the data they need.

What’s Discussed: 

The progress of RESO’s search for a new CEO

What RESO is looking for in a leader for the organization

What the RESO Board is doing to rectify the replication issue

RESO’s understanding that standards will continue to evolve

RESO’s focus on giving agents access to the data they need

Josh’s take on independent systems like Trestle, Spark API

The intent behind RESO’s RCP010 and RCP019 initiatives 

Why we will eventually rely on MLSs to handle compliance

The value of working together in an open-source model

Art’s insight on how proprietary systems impact innovation

Why vendors need to accept that RETS is going away

Who Josh would like to see at RESO’s Workgroup meetings

What it will take to get vendors to transition to Web API

Resources:

Mike Wurzer on Listing Bits EP035

OAuth

Trestle

Spark API

RESO on RubyGems

Amy Gorce at RESO

Connect with Art & Josh:

RESO

Josh at RESO

kurotek

Art on LinkedIn

CRMLS