SEATTLE, March 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting today, home sellers in Riverside, Calif. can use Zillow Offers to request a cash offer from Zillow to buy their home. Riverside is the first California market where Zillow is buying and selling homes.

Zillow Offers is designed to give home sellers more control and certainty in the home-selling process. With the California launch of Zillow Offers today, potential home sellers in the Riverside area will be able to request a free, no-obligation cash offer from Zillow to buy their home. Once the seller accepts the offer, they are able to pick a close date that works best for them.

"Today, everyone expects an on-demand experience for all parts of their lives, and from the early success of Zillow Offers over the last year, this expectation in now a reality in real estate," said Zillow Brand President Jeremy Wacksman. "Launching Zillow Offers today in Riverside, our first California market, is an important step in our efforts to make this service available nationwide. Zillow Offers delivers greater certainty, convenience and control in the home selling process. We are thrilled that Riverside homeowners now have the ability to decide on their terms and on their schedule, one of the largest transactions of their lives, selling a home."

Timing the sale of a home with the purchase of a new one is a top concern for sellersⁱ, and according to Zillow's latest research, 61 percent of sellers are buying a new home at the same time, which adds significant stress and financial complexity to the process. Zillow Offers is designed to accommodate all types of sellers, whether they need to close quickly for a job across the country or want to close on a longer timeline to search for their dream home.

Riverside is the eighth market where Zillow now directly buys homes, prepares them for showings and quickly lists them for sale. Zillow Offers first launched in Phoenix less than a year ago and already receives a request for an offer every 5 minutes, which translates into an estimated $100 million in demand value per day.

Zillow Offers is also available for sellers in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Denver, Charlotte, Raleigh and Houston. Zillow has already announced plans to be active in Dallas, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, Orlando and Portland by the fall of 2019.

With Zillow Offers, home sellers will be able to sell their home without having to prep for showings and host open houses, avoiding the extra work and time associated with a traditional sale.

Buyers who purchase a Zillow-owned home will be able to pick a move-in date of their choice and have the confidence of moving into a home that's been fully inspected and move-in-ready. Additionally, Zillow is piloting a new feature that will allow home shoppers the ability to tour a Zillow-owned home whenever they want, with no appointment needed.

In every market where Zillow Offers is available, Zillow works with local agents and brokers on every transaction. Zillow pays a commission to local real estate agents when it buys and sells each home, and agents remain at the center of every transaction Zillow is a part of. A local Riverside broker will represent Zillow in each transaction.

The Zillow Offers program also gives local brokerages and Premier Agents the opportunity to acquire new for-sale listings by connecting them with motivated sellers who have taken a direct action to sell their home. Sellers who request a Zillow Offer, but decide to instead sell their house traditionally with an agent or do not receive a Zillow Offer, will be connected with a local brokerage or Premier Agent.

Zillow
Zillow® is the leading real estate and rental marketplace dedicated to empowering consumers with data, inspiration and knowledge around the place they call home, and connecting them with great real estate professionals. Zillow serves the full lifecycle of owning and living in a home: buying, selling, renting, financing, remodeling and more. Zillow Offers provides homeowners in some metropolitan areas with the opportunity to receive offers to purchase their home from Zillow. When Zillow buys a home, it will make necessary updates and list the home for resale on the open market.

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 (NASDAQ:Z and ZG) and headquartered in Seattle.

Zillow is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc. Zillow Offers is a trademark of Zillow, Inc.

ⁱ According to the 2018 Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report.

SOURCE Zillow