Zillow Making Cash Offers For Properties Based On Zestimate

Zillow is streamlining its home-buying service by giving property owners the chance to sell directly to Zillow based on the Zestimate, the company said in a Thursday (Feb. 25) press release.

Zillow Offers — a model known as instant buying, or iBuying — was originally launched in 2018 to offer customers the chance to save the time and money needed to sell a property but letting Zillow buy it. The company said the service gives sellers certainty about price and the ability to set the closing date that works best for them.

Zillow’s Zestimate is the online estimate of a property’s value and is published for nearly 100 million homes. Zestimate has a nationwide median error rate of 1.9 percent for on-market homes, the company said.

For some properties, the Zestimate will represent an initial cash offer from Zillow to buy the home, which could make for a fast timeline. The Zestimate is also a data source for would-be sellers who want to know how much money they’ll have to buy their next house.

“For 15 years, homeowners and home shoppers have come to rely on the Zestimate as an essential first step. This exciting advancement demonstrates the confidence we have in the Zestimate and the lengths we are willing to go to make selling your home truly seamless and easy,” said Zillow Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Wacksman.

He said that the tool is a credit to Zillow’s tech term, which has greatly accelerated artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). 

“Zillow is transforming the way people sell and buy homes. Presenting the Zestimate as a cash offer to qualifying homes up front will save time, reduce friction and provide greater transparency — getting us closer to our vision of helping customers transact with the click of a button,” Wacksman said.

The Zestimate, launched 15 years ago, now serves as an initial cash offer for eligible homes in more than 20 cities across the country. 

Sales of U.S. homes hit a record high during 2020, the highest point since 2006. December’s escalation in prices was the 106th consecutive months of year-over-year increases. With the escalation of remote work due to the pandemic, new data shows that 28 percent of respondents are considering relocating due to being able to work from home.