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Full Episode Transcript: What Zillow and Realtor.com Aren't Telling You — And How It Could Cost Heroes Their Benefits
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Welcome back to Buddy Blake Real Estate's podcast. I'm your host, and today we're diving into something that, honestly, a lot of people don't realize is happening to them right now.
We're talking about what Zillow and Realtor.com aren't telling you and how it could actually cost you thousands of dollars in benefits you didn't even know you qualified for.
Buddy, thanks for being here. Hey, thanks for having me. So look, this is something we see all the time, and it's honestly pretty wild when you break it down.
When buyers go on Zillow or Realtor.com and they click schedule a showing or fill out a form, they think they're just requesting to see a house, right?
But what's actually happening in a lot of cases is they're signing a full buyer agency agreement without even realizing it. Hold on.
So they're signing an actual legal contract just by clicking a button on a website? That seems, I don't know, that seems like a lot of people wouldn't catch that?
Exactly. And here's the thing. When you sign a buyer agency agreement, you're legally committing to pay that agent a commission.
Now, ideally, the seller pays it, right? But if they don't, guess who's on the hook? You are. And most people have no idea.
They just sign that. They think they're just looking at houses. Oh, wow. OK.
So that's bad enough on its own, but I feel like there's another layer to this that's even more sneaky. Tell me about what Zillow and Realtor.com are actually doing with that commission money.
So here's what people don't realize. When you sign through those portals, a huge chunk of whatever commission you or the seller pays, that agent actually goes right back to Zillow or Realtor.com.
We're talking 30%, 40%, sometimes 45% of that commission. They've got billions of dollars to advertise. So they're capturing that money on the back end, and the consumer has absolutely no idea that's happening.
That's wild. But OK, so you mentioned something earlier about Homes for Heroes. I think that's the real kicker here.
How does that program work, and how are these portals actually blocking people from getting that benefit? Right, so Homes for Heroes is this amazing nonprofit program where military, veterans, law enforcement, emergency responders, teachers, nurses, doctors, all these heroes, they can get a rebate check from our commission after closing.
We voluntarily give back part of what we earn because we think it's the right thing to do. We've given back hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years.
But here's the problem. If you've already signed a buyer agency agreement with Zillow or Realtor.com, you don't qualify. You're locked in with that agent, and that rebate money, it doesn't go to you.
It goes to the portal. No kidding. So you're telling me that a veteran or a teacher who could have gotten money back is instead just losing it to Zillow because they didn't understand what they were signing?
That's exactly what's happening. And we get one, two, three inquiries a week from people near Camp Lejeune who heard about this program and want to take advantage of it.
But then they tell us they already signed something with Zillow or Realtor.com, and boom, they're disqualified. They don't realize they just locked themselves out of thousands of dollars in benefits.
OK, so what's your advice here? Like, how should people be protecting themselves, and how does your team do things differently? First, slow down and actually read what you're signing.
Don't just click through. On our team, we do something called live video screen sharing, where I literally go through every single document with you before you sign it.
We record it, send you the video so you know exactly what you're getting into. And here's the thing. If a client decides they want to work with someone else, we let them out.
No charge. That's our policy. But a lot of other teams and agents, they're going to hold you to that contract.
You're stuck paying them whether you want to or not. I love that approach, honestly. So for people listening who might be eligible for Homes for Heroes, or who just want to understand what they're actually signing, where should they go?
They can check out homesforheroes.com, affiliate Buddy Blake, to learn more about the program. And if they have questions about what they've already signed, or if they want to work with someone who's going to actually explain things to them, they can reach out to us.
We're happy to help. And honestly, there are some national lawsuits happening right now because of all this. So it's worth paying attention to.
I think that's the big takeaway here. Just be aware of what you're signing. Don't assume that clicking a button on a website is no big deal.
Buddy, thanks so much for breaking this down. This is really important stuff. Thanks for having me. And seriously, if anyone out there has questions about this, just give us a call.
We'll point you in the right direction. It's confusing for buyers. And honestly, it's confusing for agents, too. So let's just make sure everyone understands what they're getting into.
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