Stop Buying Homes

The YouTube Creator Academy:

The Housing Market By Zillow And Redfin:

Websites like Zillow, RedFin, and OpenDoor have recently launched an “iBuyer” program that allows homeowners to get instant cash offers if they want to sell their home. But in this case, since Zillow and other websites have detailed information on where buyers are searching, where price trends are increasing, and how much every property sells for…they could, theoretically, target the most up-and-coming neighborhoods…buy up the inventory at discount…and then, when they own enough, they effectively “control” the market and set their own prices at a profit.

Redfin responded by saying this was not true, they would rather broker the deal than own it…they never intentionally under or overpay for a home…and only 5% of homeowners prefer convenience to a traditional listing.

But, as far as the TRUTH behind these claims…here are the facts:

First, the TikTok videos claim that iBuyers are lowballing homeowners for convenience…but, the real data says otherwise: Zillow claims that the homeowners who turn DOWN their iBuyer offer receive an average of only 0.09% MORE on their home sale by going the traditional route...and, more recently… it was found that iBuyers actually pay an average of 4% MORE than the homes market value…while dropping their fees alongside with it…meaning, in a way…they’re actually paying more than the home is worth just for the sake of getting to buy it….so, right there…his first argument is completely false.

Second, he mentions that, IF a company like this was able to buy up all the homes in the area…they could pay $30,000 more for that last home and THAT would lift up the value of every other house alongside with it…except…that is NOT how the real estate market operates.

The average homeowner stays 8 years before moving. For a company like Zillow to accumulate enough real estate to create a monopoly, this would be a decades-long phase of accumulating and holding houses…without any guarantee of actually buying enough to make a difference on the market. But, even if they WERE able to buy up all the homes…they would also need to buy all the homes at a discount, which - as we can see…isn’t happening…and, they’d still need to raise the market value of that last home…which, is impossible.

Instead, these programs only seem to be interested in buying homes for two reasons: one is growing marketshare, and two is gathering data. Since they do generate a SIGNIFICANT amount of their revenue from advertising…they can SELL active seller information to third parties for as much as $1875 each….meaning, even if Zillow or Redfin doesn’t make profit iBuying homes…they’re gaining marketshare, they’re gathering a more targeted set of data …and, long term…they’ll probably make a lot of money….but, not by raising the cost of houses in your area.

My ENTIRE Camera and Recording Equipment:

[BFordLancer]

Want to be honest. I hate how almost every video title and thumbnail lately is so negative. I know it prolly gets better views and CTR, but for me it’s a turn off. Just some feedback.

[coltsnation]

I completely agree with you. Housing prices are continuing to skyrocket and house buying is becoming harder and harder as time goes on. The price of living continues to scare me.

[TrangVergara]

My offer was finally accepted to my first home here in United States. I watched all your home buying videos because I didn’t know anything coming from Vietnam. The process was really stressful but thanks to this channel, I was more confident and knowledgable going about the process. Thanks Graham <3

[Dj.MODÆO]

The price of real estate and rent rates are so inflated that I don’t even know how the hell anyone’s going to be able to afford it anymore. Seriously a 4 four bedroom that rented out for $1600 last year now goes for over $2200 a month. Who the hell would be dumb enough to rent for $2200 a month when you can buy at $1200-$1400 a month????

[beninformato]

@Graham Stephan : There are companies buying up neighborhoods of single family homes. The NBC Nightly News just did a segment about it the other day. Companies like Blackrock will buy full blocks of new construction before they're done, then rent them out. Zillow isn't the problem, they're small fish. It's the deep pocket investment firms that are buying up homes to rent them out. This is the problem that's occurring in real estate market right now and part of the reason inventory is low.

[johnklaus]

No Stephen. Buying all the excess homes manipulates the price by creating an artificial floor.

You correctly identified that they cannot pump and dump super effectively.

But they can effectively enforce a pump, accelerate it, than profit from the overheated market, which is effectively the same thing.

Overtime this creates artificially high prices for consumers who are either priced out or bankrupted.

[cassy_c]

Thanks for saying this. I work in housing in a large city. I’ve seen how crazy the prices have increased since January of 2021. It’s been a crazy year for housing. As soon as a home became available, it was snatched up within hours. I would like to see more people who are headstrong against the rise in housing prices. We will not be buying a home in our current, beloved city on principle. We will be leaving in about 2-3 years to purchase a home.

[amorton]

For those that haven't been to Casa Bonita, picture the worst mexican food you have ever seen but in a cool building with a cool atmosphere. Seriously, their food makes Taco Bell look gourmet.

[Ediwan]

Different neigborhoods compete with eachother and if prices rise too much in some area, other cheaper areas get more popular according to the actual quality/price ratio of the area. Also areas with less rental properties are typically more safe and stable. If a big company owns too much its either rental or ghost town.

[CreativeCashflow]

When you stop learning, you get left behind. Never stop educating yourself.

[dfginmia]

There are several problems with your arguments regarding the purchase of homes by Zillow and other ibuyers and their ability to manipulate the market. They do not need to own 100% of the houses in a given neighborhood to change prices. For example, a neighborhood with 1000 houses will average 125 sales per year, assuming the average homeowner moves every eight years. Zillow need only purchase 30 or 40 homes in that neighborhood to effectively move the market in a given year. They could easily afford to raise the price they pay for five or even 10 of those houses to move the comps. They then sell the remaining homes for the higher price. Also, companies like Zillow have a conflict of interest. They are estimating the market value of homes they themselves may buy. So anyway you look at it, they are manipulating the market.

[joycebarnett]

Love your upbeat personality and your videos

[experiencetv]

We just have to accept the fact that there’s inflation and also accept the fact that house prices will never go back to pre 2019 levels. Just get you a house that suit your income and make it home .period.

[Noah-jrsh]

My parents said work hard and get a good job but if I got a job at taco bell and bought a house 10 years ago I'd be less stressed and better off

[MatanColl]

Can we just take a moment to talk about how the post notification came at the same time my math teacher posted all of our work for this week

[ellenole]

Graham you saying the right thing because I don't see where the fund is coming😂

[tysalerno]

Zillow and real estate companies of its ilk will be regretting this once the market takes a hit soon when there is no demand/buyers

[therealistseb]

Fun fact: Zillow CEO sold his house way lower than what he expected because he did not take land value into affect for listing price. Big dummies are at the top lol

[jhongarcia]

Zillow and said companies make their money upfront on service fees and concessions.... they can buy high on the back end, doesn't matter if they buy /
high, they have already made their money, they can sell those homes for 1k more and still make revenue. It is a VOLUME game. How do yall not know that

[chenlee]

The US Dollar will lose it’s value…. Yeah, that’s been going on for decades.