Zillow and Redfin at it again

It seems Zillow has their game plan laid out pretty clearly. First provide AVMs through out the county and gain strong site traffic. Then add home for sale listings by asking both agents and home owners to list their homes directly on the site. This will not only increase site traffic but put a dent in the Realtor.com foothold. Plus they don't need to be a licensed real estate corporation anywhere. Now when every home buyer and seller is going to Zillow.com, provide a transaction model that also does not require the need to be a licensed real estate company. It is very clear with the publication of Zillow's patent application for an online real estate auction site, that sometime next year we should witness this evolution.

What will be more interesting is to see how Redfin reacts to Zillow's implementation of 'Make Me Move'. Something that Redfin filed a patent application for last year. Either Zillow does not believe Redfin will be rewarded this patent or they don't care because they know Redfin's patent application is years out from being rewarded. If Redfin is rewarded the patent by 2009 that would be quick. Who knows where Zillow will be then.

It is just amazing how Zillow, Fidelity, Homekeys, and Redfin are changing the landscape for online real estate. The only guarantee is that something new will happen next week. The question is who will it be about next?