Zillow to stop flipping homes, loses more than $550M, lays off 25% of staff

Post by lokar » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 12:10 AM UTC

AussieWog93 wrote: post #136

enlyth wrote: post #113

Good riddance, I hope this company burns to the ground The software developers working for this company knowingly tried to make algorithms to flip and profit off of something that should be a human right Replacing carpets and painting walls, trying to flip for a 20% profit, the people running Z must be geniuses As a millennial looking at 2 bedroom flats selling for £575k (780k usd, not far from a million dollars) in…

In defense of Zillow, they weren't looking to buy a "portfolio" of houses - they bought as many as they sold, and didn't have any net negative effect on housing supply. Yes, they're profiting off of a bad situation, but they're not the cause of it. Bev from the local council's planning department, as well as Michael Caton's horrific propaganda piece, has done more damage than every flipper combined.

Post by ralston3 » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 12:14 AM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #102

muttantt wrote: post #11

Crazy. I recently sold a condo to Opendoor for significantly more than I would have even thought to list it for. When I negotiated with Opendoor after their initial offer, I pointed out a recently sold condo (days before, in similar condition, layout and finishes) in the same complex that sold for much higher than Opendoor offered. Within hours Opendoor came back matching that same selling price. The kicker? It was a…

Very much like the $5000 books on Amazon where the algorithms are anticipating flipping an existing listing. Congrats on winning this round! The next step might be interesting which would be to go back and re-purchase the Condo once the price corrects to the 'real' price and bank the difference. I have read this article and the one before it and it sounds very much like some folks who fell in love with their own idea…

Post by nojito » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 12:15 AM UTC

woeirua wrote: post #7

This is kind of a big deal in the real estate sector. The only reason that Zillow would sell everything right now is if they believed that the carrying costs of the properties until they (eventually) sell would eat all of their profits. They must be seeing flashing red signs across the board that there's a slowdown in the market and that scenario is exactly what will play out if they don't exit quickly. There's no wa…

Post by acchow » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 12:19 AM UTC

enlyth wrote: post #113

Good riddance, I hope this company burns to the ground The software developers working for this company knowingly tried to make algorithms to flip and profit off of something that should be a human right Replacing carpets and painting walls, trying to flip for a 20% profit, the people running Z must be geniuses As a millennial looking at 2 bedroom flats selling for £575k (780k usd, not far from a million dollars) in…

Post by SantalBlush » Wed, Nov 03, 2021, 12:21 AM UTC

AareyBaba wrote: post #16

muttantt wrote: post #11

Crazy. I recently sold a condo to Opendoor for significantly more than I would have even thought to list it for. When I negotiated with Opendoor after their initial offer, I pointed out a recently sold condo (days before, in similar condition, layout and finishes) in the same complex that sold for much higher than Opendoor offered. Within hours Opendoor came back matching that same selling price. The kicker? It was a…

I suspect the 'AI software' running these companies is using linear regression to predict housing prices and one of the inputs is the price of similar houses nearby.