Zillow is selling thousands of homes in hot markets. What's that mean for buyers?
CBSN
Zillow's online house-flipping division bought fixxer-upper homes high and is now selling them relatively low as its flips turned into a flop, forcing the company to exit the emerging business and dump thousands of its own properties on local real estate markets.
The real estate search giant plans to sell roughly 18,000 homes it already owns or has under contract to own through its home-flipping business, called Zillow Offers, according a letter to shareholders. It expects to lose about 5% to 7% on the failed venture, the company told investors last week.
Zillow's enemy was its own algorithm — and an under appreciation for the individual nature of a flippable home's quirks. As one Sacramento, California-based appraiser told Money.com, "Zillow can't smell if 20 cats live there."
