Whistleblower

This tech company that will show you real estate listings and tell you how much your house is worth and had a brief foray into the real estate market has a whistleblower who has proof that several CEO’s of tech companies bandied together to try and buy as much real estate as possible and then not sell it or rent it.

They wanted to corner the market to drive rent prices up to the point where they could control their workers again who would be afraid to quit and also would need jobs and accept lower salaries just to be able to find a place to live.

Zillow

Zillow’s home-buying debacle shows how hard it is to use AI to value real estate

In February, Zillow appeared so confident in its ability to use artificial intelligence to estimate the value of homes that it announced a new option: for certain homes, its so-called “Zestimate” would also represent an initial cash offer from the company to purchase the property.

The move, touted by a company exec at the time as “an exciting advancement,” was intended to streamline the process for homeowners considering selling to Zillow as part of its home-flipping business. Zillow promoted this option as a way to make it convenient to sell a home while minimizing interactions with others during the pandemic. Just eight months later, however, the company is shutting down that business, Zillow Offers, entirely.

The decision, announced last week, marks a stunning defeat for Zillow. The real estate listing company took a $304 million inventory write-down in the third quarter, which it blamed on having recently purchased homes for prices that are higher than it thinks it can sell them. The company saw its stock plunge and it now plans to cut 2,000 jobs, or 25% of its staff. – Source