In September 2021, Sean Gotcher, a Nevada-based real-estate agent, released an infamous TikTok video that ignited a tremendous amount of attention and criticism after alluding to a real estate iBuyer that may have been fixing home prices and engaging in market manipulation. Although many claimed this to be outrageous speculation, it would be a few weeks later when Zillow announced that it was shutting down its home-flipping business, Zillow Offers, after losing $381 million. Did Gotcher’s video accelerate the collapse of Zillow’s iBuying division? Find out how it went down in Episode 44 of The Great Fail.
Episode Sources
What Zillow’s failed algorithm means for the future of data science
Is Zillow Offers’ failure a sign there is something wrong with the real estate market?
Zillow is no longer buying homes. What does that mean for the house-flipping market?
Zillow Torched $381 Million Overpaying for Houses. Spectacular
The $300m flip flop: how real-estate site Zillow’s side hustle went badly wrong
Zillow lost millions in the home buying market. Here’s what happened
Zillow responds to viral Tik Tok video claiming housing market manipulation
‘Don’t Buy Zillow Homes’: A Tale of Failure, Mistrust and Hot Housing Markets
Zillow iBuying: What Happened and Lessons Learned
Special Guest
Sean Gotcher
Real-Estate Agent, My Home Group.
In September of 2021, Gotcher posted a TikTok video that garnered over 3 million views with some speculating it to have led to the acceleration in the collapse of Zillow’s iBuying business.