Zillow wasn’t fixing them up, though. They were putting minimal-effort, superficial changes with zero care or actual investment, and then resisting for a higher price.
They were scalping housing.
They were scalping housing.
"Scalping" makes zero sense in this context. Scalping exploits ticket mispricing and asymmetrical access to the market (waiting in line). Houses are bought at auction; you can't "scalp" at an auction. Try it at Christie's sometime.
They were literally scalping properties. And, like a scalper who has too much inventory, they’re now selling at a loss.