Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Offerpad
High-tech flippers such as Zillow are using algorithms to reshape the housing market
By Ryan Dezember and Peter Rudegeair | The Wall Street Journal
Armed with loads of cash and the latest in machine learning, investors are reshaping the $26 trillion market for U.S. residential real estate, starting in Phoenix, the petri dish for America’s housing experiments.
At the edge of the city’s stucco sprawl, a beige, three-bedroom house with a gravel yard sold last month for $240,000. The seller, Opendoor Labs Inc., paid $215,000 for the house in January, replaced carpet and repainted, and put it back on the market.
A computer told the company what to offer and how much to ask. There was no need to schedule a showing with a real-estate agent. Prospective buyers of Opendoor homes can download an app to unlock the door.
