Zillow Offers, the real estate technology giant’s direct-to-consumer homebuying and selling program — also known as an “iBuyer” — is coming to Riverside, California, in early 2019. The southern California City, about 50 miles west of Los Angeles, will be the program’s eighth market when it launches.
Jeremy Wacksman
“Zillow Offers launched in April, and we’ve already helped thousands of homesellers through one of the most stressful time of their life — selling their home,” Jeremy Wacksman, president of the Zillow brand said, in a statement.
“Many homeowners are trying to time the sale of their current home with the purchase of a new one, and with rising inventory, this process can become even more uncertain,” Wacksman added. “Zillow Offers alleviates the stress and complexity that typically goes along with selling a home, and we can’t wait to begin helping Riverside homeowners early next year.”
Through Zillow Offers, the company offers to purchase homes from consumers with an all-cash offer, undertakes some light sprucing up and readies the home for market.
In the third quarter of 2018, Zillow purchased 168 homes and sold 36, generating $11 million in revenue, however, CEO Spencer Rascoff noted Zillow purchased 130 homes and sold 32 homes in October alone, on a third-quarter earnings call.
As Zillow has in the past, it will tap a local brokerage to represent it in all of its buying and selling transactions. It will also work with multiple partner brokerages — that advertise through the Premier Agent program — to provide them leads of consumers who opt not to take the offer and instead list on the open market.
Zillow Offers currently operates in Phoenix, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Denver. It will next be launching in Charlotte, then Raleigh and Houston before Riverside.
Opendoor and Redfin Now are currently the only other iBuyers operating in Riverside.