Zillow is the brokerage and they take fees when they buy the home from their users and depending on how they sell it they often take fees on that side of the transaction too. So when you see that Zillow "bought" a home at $500,000, the seller actually gets closer to $450,000 on average. They of course want the $500k price tag to hit the MLS records though, since it supports the endlessly appreciating housing market narrative.
It's not as simple as a buy-low sell-high home flipping strategy.
> "Altogether, Zillow Offers fees can add up to as much as 22% of your home’s sale price — much more than you’d pay while selling on the open market."
It's not as simple as a buy-low sell-high home flipping strategy.
> "Altogether, Zillow Offers fees can add up to as much as 22% of your home’s sale price — much more than you’d pay while selling on the open market."
[1] https://www.realestatewitch.com/zillow-instant-offers/