The Minnesota Fidlar eByte – August 2019
- Zillow wants to be in the business of buying and selling houses [As Zillow purchases more homes across the nation, their need to access land records becomes a larger part of their initiative.]
- Zillow received over 70,000 inquiries into homes they bought last quarter [Zillow buys houses cheap, invests in small amounts of repairs, and flips the homes for a profit in a growing number of areas – over 15 markets in 2019.]
- Monarch saves your office time and effort amidst an evolving recording ecosystem [Zillow has already integrated with Monarch and are enjoying the conveniences that Monarch offers, simplifying the interaction for counties who utilize Monarch.]
Fidlar Technologies Partners reside in the midst of an ever-changing digital ecosystem where new advancements and developments can present challenges for counties everywhere. The housing market continues to see change and Zillow’s new strategy is one that raises many eyebrows. Their new strategies revolve around purchasing homes in a growing number of markets, presenting counties with increases in records requests. While the world watches Zillow push further into home-buying, Fidlar stands ready to help counties handle that increase appropriately. Fidlar Technologies is proud to partner with counties and people across the nation, eager to face an evolving recording ecosystem together.
Zillow is a growing force in over 15 markets – with plans to be in more than 26 by mid-2020 – and presents an uncertain outlook for the somewhat-normalized home-buying ecosystem. Originally a real estate search and advertising website, Zillow has been growing beyond their bounds in recent years, entering the home buying market. Their Zillow Offers service purchases homes directly before investing in modest repairs and flipping the house for a profit. In fact, the company earned about 41.5% of its revenue from this service in a 3-month span ending on June 30, according to Zillow’s most recent earnings report. While total earnings reached the $599.6 million mark in the last quarter, $248.9 million of that came solely from their home-buying service. This venture is not yet profitable (the home-purchasing service lost $71.1 million last quarter) for Zillow, but it represents yet another evolution in the real estate market.
As the real estate and land records world continues to evolve and adapt, Fidlar Technologies embraces those changes in search of a better, smarter future for their partners. Services like Monarch, which Zillow has already integrated with, offer time-saving assurances that are hard to find in a world as fluid as the recording world presents itself at times. Monarch streams data and images, safely and promptly, to subscribers by transferring requested data directly to their systems. Whether the home buyer is Zillow or a private party, Monarch can provide necessary documents in the blink of an eye. Monarch eliminates the traditional process of data and image delivery, automating transfers in a hands-free experience for your office and the subscribers. Document images are protected through Fidlar Technologies’ innovative and dynamic watermarking feature, offering a much-desired additional layer of security and ease-of-mind.
“Zillow has started a new business where they want to buy and sell houses. As part of that, they need to analyze County Property Records to evaluate Owners and Encumbrances. This is why many states are seeing increased requests from Zillow.”
-Scott Moore, Vice President of Sales, Fidlar Technologies
Want to learn more about how Monarch and Fidlar Technologies can help you stay ahead of the curve? Contact Scott Moore at ScottM@Fidlar.com for additional information.
