New Zillow Offers Partnership with Homebuilders Simplifies Buying a New Home

Home shoppers looking to purchase a new construction home can now sell their existing home to Zillow and enjoy an extended closing time -- up to eight months -- while their new home is being built

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Zillow

Sep 19, 2019, 14:11 ET

SEATTLE, Sept. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Zillow today announced partnerships with select homebuilders across the country to give home shoppers an easier and more convenient way to move into their dream home. The partnership helps home sellers move into their new construction home without the hassle and stress of selling their existing home traditionally, by using Zillow Offers.

Zillow is partnering with homebuilders in select Zillow Offers markets across the U.S. including Ashton Woods, Brookfield Residential, Fischer Homes, H&H Homes, Hartford Homes, Kerley Family Homes, M/I Homes, Mattamy Homes, Oakwood Homes, PulteGroup and Shea Homes.

When home shoppers buy a new construction home from one of Zillow's homebuilder partners, they will have the opportunity to sell their existing home directly to Zillow, on their own timeline, through Zillow Offers. There's no need to deal with the hassle of hosting open houses or prepping their home for sale.

Those selling their home through Zillow Offers while buying from one of Zillow's homebuilder partners will enjoy an extended closing period -- anywhere from seven days to eight months -- so they don't have to worry about timing the sale of their existing home with the move-in date of their new construction home, helping them avoid moving twice or carrying two mortgages simultaneously.

"One of the last things buyers want to deal with when searching for a new home is the stress and hassle that comes along with selling their existing home," said Zillow Brand President Jeremy Wacksman. "With Zillow Offers, we are allowing homeowners a quick and efficient way to sell their current home and buy a brand new house - all on their timetable - so they can focus on what really matters: getting settled into their dream home."

Zillow's homebuilder partnerships will be prominently marketed on all new construction home listings on Zillow and in all homebuilder showrooms. For many builders who have clients needing to sell their existing home at the same time that they are purchasing a newly built home, ensuring they have a concrete offer can help eliminate contingent sales, lowers risk of cancelled deals and help increase home sales.

According to the Burns Home Builder Analysis and Forecast, in the past 12 months, public builders reported cancellation rates of about 16 percent on average, which are sometimes driven by consumers being unable to sell their existing home on time.

"Zillow has really made the entire journey from start to close incredibly easy and convenient," said Brookfield Director of Sales, Caitlyn Lai-Valenti. "Our home buyers really appreciate the hassle-free convenience of Zillow Offers."

"We are excited to expand our partnership with Zillow and be among the first builders in Atlanta to offer this to our customers," said Fischer Homes Director of Marketing, Steve Whaley. "Zillow Offers is an additional resource to help buyers sell their current home and to let them focus on the enjoyment of building their new Fischer Home."

"H&H Homes looked to partner with Zillow on Zillow Offers in Charlotte and Raleigh with the hopes that it would bring an extra element of ease to the new home ownership process for some of our customers," said H&H Homes Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Matt Roesch. "The flexible close date of a customer's current home allows our customers to choose when they move based on when their home will be ready."

"One of the most stressful things homeowners can go through during their new home process is selling their current home and making sure all the dates line up perfectly," said Hartford Homes Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Mike Welty. "Zillow is at the forefront of finding ways to enhance the homeowner journey and make the process of selling a home as easy as possible. With Zillow Offers, Hartford Homes is excited to give our future homeowners one more avenue and solution to making their dream of a Hartford Home a reality."

"Kerley Family Homes is ecstatic to partner with Zillow Offers," said Kerley Family Homes President, Sam Bass. "Through this partnership, we're able to help our Atlanta metro customers and prospects own their future faster. When Zillow Offers purchases their existing home, they can close faster, and with less stress, on a Kerley Family Home. It's a win-win for both us and our customers."

"For our M/I Home buyers, whether they're downsizing or moving up, the hassle of moving and coordinating showings for the sale of an existing home can be tiring. Not to mention the insecurity that can surround a contingent sale of your existing home," said M/I Homes Houston Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Kathy Delgado. "Building a new home should be an exciting time in your life, and services like Zillow Offers are the perfect fit for our busy homebuyers who understand the value of their time. M/I Homes looks forward to our continued partnership with Zillow Offers and we are happy to be able to tell our prospective homebuyers about this stress relieving, time saving, and convenient option."

"Our goal is to always offer an enjoyable experience for our homebuyers," said Oakwood Homes Chief Operating Officer, Scott Thorson. "The partnership with Zillow enhances our opportunity to make the journey of homeownership easy and simple."

"We are working with Zillow Offers in a number of our markets and have experienced tremendous success," said PulteGroup Senior Vice President of Operations and Strategy, Steve Schlageter. "Through such iBuyer programs, home buyers across the country will now be able to experience a simpler, more streamlined process of selling their existing home and getting into their new PulteGroup home."

"We are excited to be one of the first builders to partner with Zillow Offers and we've already seen a great response from home shoppers looking for a more convenient way to sell their existing home," said Shea Homes Arizona Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Ken Peterson. "An offer from Zillow enables our buyers to confidently move forward with their purchase of a new Shea home. They also love the convenience of choosing a closing date, so they don't have to move into a rental while their new home is being built. The ability to offer this program to our customers is just one more way we can help them take the next step on their new home journey."

Zillow Offers is expanding rapidly. The program first launched in Phoenix in 2018 and is currently available for home sellers in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Denver, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., Houston, Riverside, Calif., Dallas, Minneapolis, Orlando, Fla., Portland, Ore., Colorado Springs, Colo., Fort Collins, Colo., Nashville, Tenn., Miami and San Diego.

Zillow has announced plans to launch in Austin, Texas, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Fla., Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Calif., San Antonio, Tampa, Fla. and Tucson, Ariz., bringing the total number of planned Zillow Offers markets to 26 by the middle of next year.

In each market where Zillow Offers is available, Zillow works with local agents and brokers on every transaction.

Since Zillow Offers first launched in April 2018, more than 170,000 homeowners across the country have requested a no-obligation cash offer from Zillow to buy their home.

Homebuilders interested in partnering with Zillow Offers can contact [email protected].

About Zillow
Zillow® is transforming how people buy, sell, rent and finance homes by creating seamless real estate transactions for today's on-demand consumer. Zillow is the leading real estate and rental marketplace and a trusted source for data, inspiration and knowledge among both consumers and real estate professionals.

Zillow's proprietary data, technology and industry partnerships put Zillow at nearly every major point of the home shopping experience, helping consumers search for and get into their new home faster. Zillow now offers a fully integrated home shopping experience that includes access to for sale and rental listings, Zillow Offers®, which provides a new, hassle-free way to buy and sell eligible homes directly through Zillow; and Zillow Home Loans, Zillow's affiliated lender that provides an easy way to receive mortgage pre-approvals and financing. Zillow Premier Agent instantly connects buyers and sellers with its network of real estate professionals to help guide them through the home shopping process. For renters, Zillow's innovations are streamlining the way people search, tour, apply and pay rent for leased properties.

In addition to Zillow.com, Zillow operates the most popular suite of mobile real estate apps, with more than two dozen apps across all major platforms. Launched in 2006, Zillow is owned and operated by Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z and ZG) and headquartered in Seattle.

Zillow and Zillow Offers are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements regarding our operational plans for Zillow Offers in 2020. Differences in Zillow Group's actual results from those described in these forward-looking statements may result from actions taken by Zillow Group as well as from risks and uncertainties beyond Zillow Group's control. For more information about potential factors that could affect Zillow Group's business and financial results, please review the "Risk Factors" described in Zillow Group's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and in Zillow Group's other filings with the SEC.

SOURCE Zillow