I received a call yesterday afternoon from a potential Seller. We discussed the value of their home and how much to list it for.
The FSBO seemed satisfied with my opinion.

He started asking me if I knew anything about Zillow.com.

Apparently he tested Zillows new system by placing his home on their site.

He received a dozen calls asking him the dumbest questions. One caller was a mortgage company that wished to place a sign on his front yard with their 800#, another was from a family with a credit score of 510,one family wanted to rent the home for two years, have the seller deduct $300 per month from the rent towards the purchase price.
They wondered how as a Realtor we handle these type of callers.

Without revealing to much information about Zillow.com, I politely explained that the FSBO market attracts many Buyers who "Feel they can Steal" a home rather than buy a home.

They agreed with me. The home is located in Coral Springs, Florida and is worth $445,000-$455,000.

For all the good Zillow.com advertises it can`t do what we in the profession are able to. Zillow can`t qualify a buyer, it has no idea who`s looking on their site and worse, the Sellers have no way of comprehending who, what or where these people calling are!

I smell potential lawsuits rolling down the road.Some of these FSBO`s who as many of us realize are unrealistic to begin with! One day, a buyer will convince an unsuspecting FSBO to sign on the dotted line, only to be ripped off or the possibility that their home won`t close. They`ll somehow figure it`s Zillow.com fault for advertising their home...Naturally, this is just one possible scenario....

My attitude is that Zillow.com will become another "Flavor of the day or soup de jour" it`s 15 minutes of fame seems like "Time is up"....