Items Tagged with 'online home listings'

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It’s now been a few days since Zillow sent the housing business into a bit of a fervor when it announced that it was getting into the home-selling business with its “Instant Offers” program, and more details about how the program will work are beginning to emerge. Now, another of the participating investors has revealed itself.

In many ways, Zillow was one of the leaders in the online real estate revolution, helping to democratize the home buying process and enabling prospective buyers to search for their next home from the comfort of their current home. And now, Zillow wants to revolutionize the way that people sell their homes as well, as the online real estate giant announced this week that it is launching a pilot program called “Zillow Instant Offers.”

Opendoor, an online marketplace that buys homes direct from homeowners, announced plans to expand beyond the two markets where it’s currently available thanks to a round of funding that reportedly values the company above $1 billion.

Every one of us with an interest in the mortgage business, whether it be a vested financial interest or otherwise, has to be wondering what the future of the industry is going to look like. It’s pretty clear that the complete homebuying process from selecting a home through the entire mortgage process is moving online. How we get there, on the other hand, is a different story.

Ten-X, the company formerly known as Auction.com, announced Thursday that it is promoting Rick Sharga from executive vice president to chief marketing officer. In this role, Sharga will utilize his “unique blend” of real estate, technology and consumer marketing experience to lead corporate marketing, branding and corporate communications for Ten-X, the company said.

Auction.com announced Monday that it is moving beyond auctions and rebranding as Ten-X, which the company says represents its transition into an “online marketplace where buyers, sellers, and the agents and brokers who represent them can easily and efficiently buy and sell high quality residential and commercial real estate.”

The site also utilizes “proprietary technology” to simplify the real estate process by giving customers the ability to list, price, search, bid, and negotiate in real time from their laptop, desktop, tablet or smartphone, with the assistance of licensed real estate agents and professional support staff, the company said in a release. And it does all of this for a commission rate of 1% of the sales price.

In the battle for dominance in the ever-evolving real estate information and online listings space, Zillow and Trulia have emerged as the big dogs on the block.