JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Real estate giant Zillow is offloading dozens of homes in the Jacksonville area.
This comes after the company said it’s no longer flipping houses. Action News Jax counted 58 Zillow-owned homes for sale in the area.
“The neighbors over here sold to Zillow, got a great deal,” David Shilby said.
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At least two Zillow homes sit in Shilby’s neighborhood off Kernan Boulevard.
Zillow is trying to offload the homes it bought back when it was in the iBuying business, in which companies make offers on houses using an algorithm to predict a home’s value.
“Zillow has over-purchased homes, and they have likely paid more for the homes than what they were worth,” Lindsey Denmark, a realtor with The Denmark Team said.
Denmark says Zillow is likely going to sell its homes quickly to try to recoup as much money as possible.
Vice president and managing broker of the Watson Realty Corp. Kevin Noel, who spoke with Denmark for Action News Jax, doesn’t expect Zillow to drop prices on its homes in an already over-priced housing market.
“It’s a seller’s market through and through, and they’re the ones that hold the cards,” Noel explained.
Denmark added that Zillow isn’t the only one overpricing its homes.
“We’ve seen throughout the marketplace that a lot of homes are overpriced... it’s what a buyer is willing to pay for a home,” Denmark added,” Denmark said.
If you’re a buyer, Noel and Denmark say the best thing you can do right now is make sure you’re pre-approved, and to look a little below your budget, so you can give yourself a cushion to go above a listing price and get the home you want.
As for Shilby, he’s glad he’s not buying a home right now.
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“I think the demand is gonna continue to grow for some time,” he said, adding that everyone wants to come to Florida.
Click here to read about the effect Zillow houses are having on neighbors’ property values.
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