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Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

dealbook.nytimes.com

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Re: Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

#91

Post by mooreds »

nawitus wrote: post #74
mooreds wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclaimer: I work for a real estate brokerage (but I'm a software developer). Real estate agents can help in a number of ways (chaossphere2112 outlines a number of them), but one of the easiest ways to think about it is that this is a very large, complex transaction that happens rarely. That means that, while you could learn all the ins and outs of: - contracts (often regulated by the state) - negotiation (in whatev…

The way the market works in Finland is that the seller almost always pays for a real estate agent, mainly to draft contracts, give tours of the property and so on. Negotiation is pretty simple typically, the buyer just makes an offer, I don't know what's more to it. I can see that a real estate agent for the buyer gives value, but I wouldn't personally pay much for it. Not 3% at least, that seems like a huge waste of…

There's a similar way to work without a real estate agent in the USA--you just hire a real estate lawyer who takes care of contracts and whatnot and you pay them a flat fee.

I'm always curious how other markets work (and aware that the USA is one of the few RE markets with buyer's agents). Is there an inspection period? Are most homes bought outright, or are loans taken out to purchase them? Does the seller's agent do any marketing (newspaper ads, open houses, etc)? What does the seller's agent usually get in terms of compensation (a percent of the sales price, a fixed fee)?

Re: Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

#92

Post by mooreds »

ssharp wrote: post #75
tnorthcutt wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you use a real estate agent trying to pump the price as high as possible I was surprised to read this, since I thought you'd hinted at exactly the opposite by mentioning Freakonomics. Isn't the Freakonomics argument that an agent is incentivized to instead sell the property as quickly as possible , regardless of the sale price? For instance, accepting an offer that is $10k under the listing price will cost…

Yes, that was the argument in Freakonomics and they're completely right. The real estate market can be extremely receptive to low prices, so if you list your house very low, you're likely to sell it much faster. The bulk of the money the agents make will come from the part of the house that could sell very easily. If a house could sell for $200,000 today, but you have to have it listed six months before it could sell…

There are good agents and bad agents, just like good and bad folks in any profession. (Actually, because the barriers to entry are so low, there are probably more bad real estate agents.)

See my comment below about LTV--if a consumer feels they aren't being treated well, the agent might make a bit more on this sale, but lose five figures of income later. Just like that agent that you interacted with.

Now, if you feel like the consumer isn't educated enough to know they are being treated with care, well, that's a different discussion entirely.

Re: Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

#93

Post by metaphorm »

epc wrote: post #50

Curious how this impacts Streeteasy, which Zillow just bought some time in the past year. Streeteasy is the defacto MLS (in a sense) for NYC (Manhattan doesn't have an MLS, nor does Brooklyn. Uncertain about Staten Island, Queens or Bronx).

New York City does have an MLS. Its run by the Real Estate Board of New York (http://www.rebny.com/content/rebny/en.html) and is called RLS (REBNY Listing Service).

Streeteasy simply never had access to RLS so they had to get their data from other sources, primarily from scraping websites and emails, as well as some direct data feeds from brokerages that agreed to work with them.

source: I work in technology in the New York real estate sector.

Re: Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

#94

Post by rgovind »

carsonreinke wrote: post #82
rgovind wrote: post #58

All real estate news and websites are biased and always suggest you that buying a home is a god think. In the SF bay area, I hear real estate agents speak on the radio. Before recession, they said you should buy a home immediately so that rates may increase....Then during recession they say you should buy a home as rates have fallen to historic lows..for last 1-2 years, whenever you hear...they say the interest rates…

`god think`

Can you please expand...I missed any reference...if you meant one.

Re: Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

#95

Post by mooreds »

philfreo wrote: post #66
chatmasta wrote: post #23

I interned for Redfin last summer. This is a really interesting space, and most people don't realize that Zillow/Trulia are operating drastically different businesses from Redfin. Some background: The US real estate industry is broken up into regions (e.g. SF bay area, Orange County, Lake Tahoe, etc.). In order for a brokerage [1] to operate in a region, it needs to employ agents specifically licensed in that region,…

Thanks for sharing. Homebuying seems like it could still use lots of disruption. > although they have coverage in most major metropolitan areas at this point Sadly there's still a ton of major cities not covered :/ https://www.redfin.com/out-of-area-signup

Yes, homebuying can use a LOT of disruption. Unfortunately there are many many players and change moves slowly. (Yes, Virginia, there are still MLSes that don't want to expose sold listings, as if that's some kind of secret.) If you're interested in this, the 1000 Watt blog (a real estate consulting company) has a lot more about tech and real estate: http://1000watt.net/blog/

Re: Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

#96

Post by scelerat »

Just adding some anecdata to the chatter about these sites and the experience of buying a home:

I began searching for a house in the East Bay about two years ago, culminating in a purchase in June 2013. The first year or so I was using Redfin, Zillow, and Trulia to track availability, prices and neighborhoods. While I got some good information, it wasn't until I started talking to an agent with about thirty years experience in the region that I actually got good leads. The listings on all of these sites seemed to trail the MLS leads she would get by days to weeks. I made several offers over many months, each one more than the last, each time watching the stock get thinner and bids climb higher. My agent was not only finding good potential properties, but also providing a lot of perspective and emotional support.

The house I ultimately bought was something she found via her network of colleagues before it even was placed on the market. I made a bold offer and gulped at what I was putting on the table, but in retrospect I was fortunate considering what's happening in the bay area housing market right now.

Maybe I'm a dummy, but I cannot envision going through the process without a real human pro providing guidance and leads.

Re: Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

#97

Post by ngmaloney »

zachanker wrote: post #61
chatmasta wrote: post #23

I interned for Redfin last summer. This is a really interesting space, and most people don't realize that Zillow/Trulia are operating drastically different businesses from Redfin. Some background: The US real estate industry is broken up into regions (e.g. SF bay area, Orange County, Lake Tahoe, etc.). In order for a brokerage [1] to operate in a region, it needs to employ agents specifically licensed in that region,…

I worked at Placester for a couple of years and built the system that imports data from real estate agencies. When I left last year, we had coverage with around 90% of the MLS's in the US. Most of what you say is right, but some clarifications and context: You don't need to be a brokerage to get access to the MLS feed. Each MLS has their own policies for how you can display the data, what logos, size and text needs t…

Thanks for all your work on ruby-rets! It works like a champ for pulling in listings from MLSPin and CCIAOR. As you mentioned, dealing with all the "certified" RETS vendors is a nightmare. For the uninitiated (and fortunate), RETS has its own querying language called DMQL which is inconsistent across versions and MLS vendors. Even trivial tasks like importing photos are handled with vast difference across MLS vendors.

Despite all the technical hurdles, given their resources, I would be shocked if Zillow and Trulia DIDN'T import the majority of their Mlsdata via RETS. Most MLS providers allow 3rd party access to the data feeds. There is no way all the listing data is re-entered via agents.

Re: Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

#98

Post by pyoung »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #22
IgorPartola wrote: post #12

Having bought real estate, I can say that Zillow/Trulia are both a blessing and a curse. They are great in that you can see what's been listed for a while, scan a map, and generally put a pretty interface on house searches. This I imagine is their great advantage. I also found my mortgage company through Zillow's mortgage rate search. Their big disadvantage is that their records are not updated as fast as the convent…

they provide a hugely invaluable service What is that service? I'm not being snarky; I'm genuinely curious, as the structure of the industry (and fee level) is significantly different than where I'm from. I don't get why you need a real estate agent to help you buy.

I don't re-call the exact details of the situation, but an old acquaintance was able to sue a seller for breach of contract after the seller backed out of the deal at the last minute. The settlement was in the lower 5 figure range.

I guess the point is, for many people this transaction involves a significant portion of their net worth and and there are plenty of people out there who would happily relieve you of that money. I agree that the incentives are slightly mis-aligned when it comes to final price negotiations, but at the very least, any agent should be concerned enough about their reputation that they will have done the basic due diligence to ensure that you don't get fleeced. That alone would be worth the price.

Re: Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

#99

Post by bkjelden »

scelerat wrote: post #96

Just adding some anecdata to the chatter about these sites and the experience of buying a home: I began searching for a house in the East Bay about two years ago, culminating in a purchase in June 2013. The first year or so I was using Redfin, Zillow, and Trulia to track availability, prices and neighborhoods. While I got some good information, it wasn't until I started talking to an agent with about thirty years exp…

I think it depends on the market and the competitiveness. I also bought a house last summer, but in a smaller, much less competitive midwest market. I watched the buyer's agent walk out of the closing meeting with a check for several thousand dollars, despite my wife and I thinking she had been a net negative to the entire process.

Re: Zillow to Acquire Trulia for $3.5B

#100

Post by fragmede »

cmdkeen wrote: post #64
pjc50 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting how the division works in other markets. In the UK people generally do their own negotiation, the tours are arranged by calling the seller's agent, the surveys are arranged to the standards of the mortgage company (and in Scotland, rolled into the "home report" at the seller's expense). Once you've selected a property you hire a conveyancer who handles title search and almost all the paperwork.

It's slightly different in Scotland further still. Here almost all estate agency is conducted by solicitors (lawyers). I've just bought a flat in Edinburgh and for a flat rate I had an experienced solicitor advising me on the process, giving me advice on each property I was considering - such as what to look for as warning signs when you're buying a 130 year old flat. Because they're lawyers they are regulated (which…

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