From Zillow to Opendoor to Offerpad … and many more, homeowners are being bombarded with seemingly to-good-to-be-true deals from iBuyer companies offering to buy their house, hassle-free at a fair price. The truth is sometimes these offers are a good solution, but often times iBuying companies cost home sellers more money and time. The Byron Williamson Team recently helped a client determine if an iBuyer offer they received from Zillow was the best option for selling their home.

When Megan and her husband came to us to discuss the sale of their 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom home in Roswell, their priorities were selling the home quickly with minimal money and time spent on preparations. Megan was expecting and the couple needed to settle in their new home without quickly.

While in a great location  the home itself was fairly unique, so we knew it was could be  a challenge to find the right buyer. Megan and her husband asked about Zillow Offers, as the convenience and cash offer sounded appealing. Given the circumstances, we encouraged Megan to find out what Zillow would offer. If the money’s right, that might be a good solution for them.

Zillow’s initial offer was for $561,700, which was much lower than the initial calculations and estimations from the BWT. However, after the Zillow inspector visited the home, their final offer came down to $499,400, $62,300 of which totaled concessions & commissions.

“Zillow seemed to lack knowledge of the local market, and didn’t consider factors like neighborhood appeal in their offer,” said Megan, “so ultimately we decided to move forward with Byron and his team.”

Keeping Megan and her husband’s goals in mind, we kept listing preparations at a minimum, understanding that we could always adjust for items that would arise during inspection. In the end Megan and her husband spent a total of  $1,200 on listing preparations.

We listed the home for $590,000, and in less than three weeks received an offer for the asking price. After the listing preparations and seller concessions & commissions, Megan and her husband walked away with, $545,810, more than $46,410 over what they would have received from Zillow Offers.

“Working with the Byron and his team felt like more than just a transaction. He provided a lot of guidance, asked the right questions, and was sensitive to us not wanting to do more to prepare the home than was needed to sell,” said Megan. “At the end of the day we just had fun.”