Last week Opendoor and Offerpad resumed their activity after a coronavirus-related shutdown and now two other companies- Zillow and RedfinNow- announced last week that they will resume making all-cash offers to homeowners.
Redfin said that the company will immediately relaunch its iBuyer program, offering virtual home tours and open houses, starting in Austin, Denver and Los Angeles. Also, they will be bringing back 14% of their work staff that they furloughed following the start of the outbreak in the U.S.
Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said on an earning call last Thursday that the “issue for Redfin hasn’t been customer interest. We have never put anything on our website that homeowners responded to more eagerly than a cash offer. The issue has been just how we respond to that interest.”
Zillow also annonuced that they will be realunching their iBuying service, Zillow Offers, “likely within the next few weeks”, said CEO Rich Barton.
The company froze hiring, suspended marketing and discretionary spending as the coronavirus pandemic began shutting down many parts of the U.S. economy in March, which caused Zillow to cancel its revenue guidance and slashed expenses by 25 percent.
Barton also predicted a “great reshuffling” in the way people buy and sell home. The forced adoption of tools like virtual touring and digital paperwork were long overdue, he said.
