Comments on: So Zillow Turned Three Last Week

By: dedrat

dedrat — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:26:00 +0000

Tony, What a great way to put a “spin” on Zillow. Now that the market has so drastically changed here in Arizona, it is even more frustrating when zillow is brought up. Outlying areas are so drastically off (high) because of their lack of freeways and infrastructure and inlying areas are too low. I will add that to my presentations both for listing and purchase! Thanks Tony-

By: Moises212

Moises212 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:54:54 +0000

I’ve always found Zillow to be inaccurate about the Zestimate values they place on properties, usually below of the actual appraised value. It is a good source to get an idea of values but I always add 25% to it. Have anyone else noticed this too?

By: SoFloReal

SoFloReal — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:43:37 +0000

I have a weighted insight into Zestimates, as I am an appraiser too. The fact is, that Zestimates are not enough but certainly can be effectively incorporated into a listing presentation.

This discussion reminds me exactly why I keep my appraisal business cards well out of sight when at any social gathering, emphasizing instead that appraisals – good appraisals that one can stand by – require a fair amount of work.

If an oral appraisal is to be avoided when it betrays the scope of work performed for the intended audience, then an automated estimate is certainly best accompanied by a grain of salt. The same way that the potential for human error exists, so too does the potential for automation to exclude factors that affect value. Just a thought…

By: SeattleM

SeattleM — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:31:23 +0000

Zillow has been out best friend. I just read an article from “Agents of Change” on the web that 70% of there users are not using a real estate agent. I was just going to write a blog about the same thing. We are not getting more calls to do video for FSBO’s, and they are paying for the higher priced packages. The Two common complaints about Realtors are they underprice their homes, and the “never” market or show them. This week, we are doing three of those.