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A warm welcome to Spencer Rascoff

Yesterday, a pretty significant player in the real estate industry showed up at ActiveRain with a bang and hit the floor running with three posts. Spencer Rascoff, the CFO and Vice President of Marketing for Zillow.com joined our illustrious ranks. We believe that Spencer has a unique perspective on the real estate market based on his duties at Zillow. It looks like the Arms Race is on between him and Sara Bonert to see who will be the most visible Zillow voice.

Before joining Zillow, Spencer was vice president of lodging for Expedia. He was also a co-founder of Hotwire.com. We at ActiveRain wanted to take a minute to welcome Spencer to ActiveRain and let him know we look forward to his participation here.

Do you care what I'm doing and thinking? (I can not for the life of me imagine why) If you do, you can find me on some of these places........but remember, if you are offended by anything you see or hear, I didn't force you to follow me!!:

Posted by Bob Stewart - ActiveRain on 10/30/2007 02:46 PM

Comments (46)

spencer rascoff, zillow

Originally posted at: ActiveBob.....It's always Raining!: A warm welcome to Spencer Rascoff

46 Comments on A warm welcome to Spencer Rascoff

OCT

2007

Bob, thanks for this announcement. I'll go check out what Spencer has to say. Sounds great!

Thank you for delving into a little of Spencer's history. Sounds like we are going to be in for a real treat.

Thanks for giving us the Heads-Up about Spencer. Now everyone knows where to send the hate mail.

(just kidding!!!)

Spencer, Welcome to Zactive Zain!....

Bob--Thanks for the heads up!

Bob,

This should add a nice touch to a already growing Site. I am thrilled, thanks for the info.

Tom Weiss

I'm looking forward to reading his articles/posts. Thanks for letting us know Bob.

I didn't know Zillow was in real estate; they proclaim to be an advertising firm

Bob,

Thanks for introducing Spencer. I'll go visit his blog. Apropos of Brian Brady's comment, see Todd Carpenter's blog today on Lenderama about Zillow getting into the lending business.

Mike in Tucson

Thanks for the heads up Bob! I know we all have thoughts on Zillow. I just wish they would put a more noticeable disclaimer that Zillow can be wrong and your Realtor has more data and knowledge. It would have saved me a few headaches this year!

Yes, Jim. Zillow has some real problems in valuation in our area also.

Bob, thanks for the heads up - I'm a Zillow lover and glad to have him here.

Thanks Bob. Yes, I've (finally!) joined the AR party. The response so far has been pretty overwhelming -- I have no idea how I'll keep up with the stream of comments. The good news is that I have a lot to say, so I'm glad that now I have a place to say it.

My wife, for one, will be pleased that now I have an outlet (other than her) for my random real estate musings.

Let's keep this simple; Complaints go to Spencer. Compliments come to me. OK ? :-D

Welcome to A/R Spencer!

Lets see waht he has to say. I've found there prices to be very off for my area.

Hi Bob,
It will be interesting to read Spencer's posts, thanks for the heads up. I see David has his strategy in place early on.

Hi Bob, I think someone should "MeMe" him so we get to learn all about him!!! Good Job, we can always use another voice.

LOL @ Rich! Welcome aboard Spencer!

I'm on record with my opinion of Zillow in our area. That said, welcome Spencer. What exactly is your new role here???

Jennifer - no new role for me. I've been CFO & VP Marketing @ Zillow for 2 1/2 years -- I was employee #4 or something like that. (We have about 165 now.)

I'm just new to blogging on AR. But i've been lurking for a long time...

Bob- I see how it is.. pitting me against Spencer... good way to get more out of both of us! :) Guess I am going to share my limelight now. Haha. Spencer's voice will be an awesome addition to the AR community!

Brian- We most surely are a media media site and this article that just came out this week we released more information about our ability for advertisers to target like never before! http://www.zillowblog.com/available-today-zillow-home-direct-ads/2007/10/

Mike- No, we are not trying to become a Lender. However, we are working on an interesting opportunity for Lenders to get exposure on the site. More to come.... http://www.zillowblog.com/a-new-opportunity-for-mortgage-professionals/2007/06/

Alright, thanks to this comment I am now 25 more points ahead......

Bob,

I must say you're doing a great job!! You seem to be everywhere - making changes, listening to feedback, and even recruiting new talent. Keep up the good work and welcome to Spencer.

Welcome Spencer and Bob...what can I say. You're Bob...Mr. Nice Guy.

Well, if nothing else, my curiosity is piqued. I guess I'd better go check him out. I'll see if he meets my approval ;) J/K Welcome Spencer!

Bob, it would be great if we all had a good understanding of what everyone does or doesn't do. That way we know who to contact about what. Not sure what Spencer will be doing but I welcome him just the same.

Spencer welcome to AR, I look forward to learning more about your take on the real estate industry.

Spencer - This is sure to be interesting. I have lots of questions and concerns about Zillow and hope you will be shedding light on those concerns.

WELCOME!!!!!

OCT

2007

Spencer,

So glad to have you here. Now we can complain directly to you about your Zestimates and you can continue to tell us about your unzillowable algorithms.

Somebody better tell Rudy and Joe you are here, they will probably want to super-poke you. Oops, that's DeFaceBook, isn't it?

So, is Zillow lining up to buy Active Rain?

Hell I figured everybody wanted to know but didn't want to ask. I'm not shy. So, are you?

Yeah, Welcome to Active Rain, lol..........

Welcome aboard Spencer! Expedia, hotwire, now Zillow wow!

Welcome, I'm sure we will all enjoy reading your posts!

Bob - Thanks for the heads up. I will check out what Spencer has to say. Love what you've done on the stats page. Keep it up!

Gena,

I'm not sure what to take from your comment? I was just welcoming Spencer to ActiveRain as a participant because I think his role at Zillow will provide a unique perspective. If you were referencing what everyone does or doesn't do at ActiveRain..............you can direct all questions to me :)

Laurie,

Glad to see you back. I'm going to call you today........I've missed you around for the last couple of days. No, Zillow is not lining up to buy ActiveRain.

Everyone Else,

Thank you for welcoming Spencer to AR. I'm sure you will all have some great feedback and questions for him in the days, weeks and months ahead..............I would imagine he looks forward to engaging you.

David and Spencer.............I MeMe'd you guys...................(I didn't know what it meant the first time I heard it, let me know if you need some direction :) ) Our members would love to get a little of the scoop on you.

Sara, you obviously saw it already.........looking forward to yours as well. :)

Welcome,
why is my house priced so low?

Welcome Spencer.

So is Spencer just a participant, or an employee of AR? If employee, what is his job descrription?

Georgina,

Spencer is just a participant. He has a pretty substantial role at Zillow right now that I'm pretty sure keeps his days full :)

Thanks for making the introduction. It's nice to know what someone is doing and their background - adds to our understanding of their posts. Thanks.

NOV

2007

Bob,

Been travelling across the country all day, just got in, try me tomorrow.

Bob, so testy! Just a simple question. Now, that you've explained it...we all can see that Spencer is simply an Active Rain member. Welcome Spencer.

NOV

2007

**** Zwelcome Spencer! ****

...Couldn't help it! : ) Nice to have you here on AR.

In all fairness to Gena, Brian started it Dad :)

David G.

You definitely needed a "person to take the heat". You are the Quintessential PR Guy!!! Keep smiling :)

NOV

2007

For all the bad rap that Zillow gets, I think its great. Its another tool for us to use, like a hammer, you don't use it to build the whole house. I think the progress that Zillow has made in user friendliness is awesome, and for FREE its a great value. Welcome to Spencer, and look around and you will find some direct feedback on what the industry feels is needed on your site. Enjoy AR like we do!!

NOV

2007

Hi Bob, I "passed" on this post when you first put it up, but I came back for the comments. Very interesting. I've read Spencer's first two posts. I was hoping for something from him more on topic. Oh well, we'll see what comes. I think I will also subscribe to Sara's blog for comparison and balance.

Bill Roberts

NOV

2007

Can't wait to read his post and welcome him to AR. Thank you for introducing him; I wouldn't have known his name from "Adam"!

MAR

2008

I was, at first, disappointed in what zillow.com offered. Bear in mind, Utah is a non-disclosure state, meaning we don't record our sales prices with any government offices. So when people looked up their homes on zillow.com the estimated valuse were off by several hundred thousand or more.

Then I realized how much my clients began to value my local real estate knowledge, market trends, and pricing strategies. In a nutshell, zillow.com adds to my value, rather than taketh away.

Thank you everyone for your kind and thoughtful comments.

- Spencer

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