When it comes to making a major decision like selling your home, every owner wants to make sure that their property is in the right hands. This applies during regular times, but during the pandemic, real estate, like almost everything else, has shifted much of the process online. Two platforms designed to help homeowners find the ideal real estate agent are Zillow and BidMyListing.com.
Zillow has been on the market for nearly twenty years and, combined with Trulia, is part of the largest online real estate platforms in the United States. BidMyListing.com, founded by entrepreneur Matt Proman and backed by Million Dollar Listing's Josh Altman, was created last year and promises to disrupt the real estate market. Set to compete with the Goliath that is Zillow, BidMyListing.com is the David of online real estate platforms.
So, how do you choose between a trusted real estate giant like Zillow and a new, innovative company like BidMyListing.com? Read on to learn the pros and cons of both platforms to see which one is better at finding a realtor who is the perfect fit to sell your home.
Listing Your Home
Zillow makes it easy for homeowners to list their homes online and is a recognized brand. Features like Zillow 3D Home offer virtual tours to agents and potential buyers alike, especially important during the global pandemic. However, as the site has grown, it has also lost one of its initial selling points: listing accuracy. Potential buyers have often complained that homes listed on the platform are "no longer available"-yet they remain on the Zillow website for weeks (and in some cases months) after being sold, leading to disappointment, frustration, and eventually, some distrust in the platform. The housing market has rarely been this tight, with demand for new homes far greater than the available supply of residential properties for sale; consequently, competition for viable property listings is intense among real estate agents. Homeowners can also be overwhelmed by the sheer number who contact them the minute the listing appears on Zillow. This presents the daunting task of sifting through dozens of online profiles to see which agent is best for you.
BidMyListing.com was founded with the intent to make it easier for homeowners to choose a reliable real estate agent by attracting those genuinely interested in putting their money where their mouths are. The sellers will be able to consider only the most motivated real estate agents to get the ball rolling to sell their property. The process of listing the home is easy, and the simple act of selecting a real estate agent puts money in the seller's pocket and saves them time and money. It's a win for real estate agents, too - they invest in an exclusive listing because once a bid is accepted, the listing is removed, and so is the competition for it.
Finding the Best Realtor for Your Home
Zillow offers plenty of resources to help potential sellers find exceptional real estate agents. Attractive features like Zillow Premier Agent or Best of Zillow allow people to find the best real estate agents on the platform. However, real estate agents who use Zillow are often required to sign expensive contracts to advertise properties and compete for listings - resulting in diminished returns on their marketing investment. This practice can also confuse the buyer and complicate the selling process - wasting time and money for the sellers and the real estate agents.
BidMyListing.com ensures that real estate agents pay only for the listings they have purchased. There's no confusion or competition about who is actually working for the homeowner to sell the property. Also, today's real estate environment makes it especially challenging for new real estate agents to compete for listings at the same level as established real estate agents or nationwide franchises who can put more money towards listings or have more experience. Most homeowners choose a real estate agent based on proximity, a referral from a friend, or brand recognition - but that agent might not be the right one for that sale. BidMyListing.com distinguishes itself from other platforms, including Zillow, because it offers any real estate agent interested in a property to compete for the guaranteed listing on a far more level playing field. It also winnows out those who are not truly motivated or interested in meeting the seller's expectations.
Leads vs. Listings
Zillow can take property owners from listing to sale and makes the process easy for real estate agents to show the homes online to potential buyers. A common complaint, however, has been that protections for intellectual property (such as photos, maps, and videos) on Zillow are limited and can lead to scam artists posting fraudulent listings as they steal the images and materials to make their own listings on Zillow or other even-less-moderated sites like Craigslist. Real estate agents have plowed through the thousands of listings before finding a viable lead, only to learn that it is fake.
Contrast that with BidMyListing.com, where listings are reviewed for authenticity. Real estate agents who bid have the opportunity to get an actual listing - not just a lead. The agent submitting the winning bid has the exclusive advertising rights to begin to sell that home once a listing contract has been signed. The real estate agent has already invested in the property, so the seller is assured of a mutually beneficial sale as quickly as possible.
BidMyListing.com vs. Zillow
Selling one's home is a personal and significant endeavor, and BidMyListing.com, as a newcomer to real estate marketing sites, will take time to develop its growing audience. As more real estate agents and homeowners discover BidMyListing.com and learn about how the platform makes it significantly easier for real estate agents to obtain guaranteed listings and for homeowners to find the best real estate agent for them, they will opt for the more accurate and less frustrating customer experience that BidMyListing.com provides.
Going with a one-stop-shop like Zillow has the appeal as a known entity, but it seems to have grown a bit complacent as the Goliath of online real estate. Weighing the pros and cons, BidMyListing.com, despite being a new and much smaller player, seems poised and able to take it on. It proves itself to be an ideal option for homeowners looking to sell because the platform promises to connect homeowners with real estate agents who have the same objective as the sellers - making the sale for the best price in a smooth, safe and efficient process. That's why we recommend BidMyListing.com, a site that matches the homeowner with the right realtor.
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