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Zillow's Rich Barton Says Make Me Move, Please

Zillow Co-Founder Richard Barton may be the famous Expedia maven, but just like many of us, he’s having a tough time selling his Seattle home. It is currently listed for sale on Zillow at $2.85 million. Here are the stats: 4 beds, 2.25 baths*, 3,740 square feet, DOZ (Days on Zillow): 85. DOM: 290.

* Mr. Barton corrected his baths to 3.5, yet Zillow does not reflect that truth in the description (I guess even the owner can’t mess with the “policy”)
The following information was provided by a Deep Throat.

June 17, 2006: the home is listed at $3.475 million
September 8, 2006: priced reduced to $2.995 million
January 7, 2007: listing expires
January 16, 2007: home re-listed by same agent. The price is reduced to $2.85 million

The home appears to be in a nice neighborhood and in excellent condition.

What’s your opinion why the home hasn’t sold? Could it be failing to price the home accurately? Area comps? The local market? Interestingly, the tweaked zestimate home valuation is only $2,596,700. Could pricing too high above the zestimate have something to so with it? Gee whiz, maybe his home is just plain ol’ Unzillowable.

Our Zillow Archives (for your dining and dancing pleasure):

The Human Listing Site: Zillowfying Your Privacy Under the Guise of Transparency

Is Zillow Using our Homes as Bait?

Did Zillow Actually Listen To Sellsius?
Discrimination by Zestimation: The Law of Unintended Consequences
Has Zillow Spiked the Google Juice?
Is Zillow Betaproof?
I See, Said the Blind Man to the Deaf Lady
Mining The Elusive Unzillowable
Realtor.com v. Zillow Video
Realtor’s Allan Dalton calls Zillow Carnival Act (warning: selltoon)
Sellsius Conversation with NCRC
The Truth Is: Zillow has a Right To Exist
Unzestimate My Home: Will Zillow Let Owner’s Opt Out?
Unzillowable, To Coin A Phrase
Will Listing Your Home Above the Zestimate Turn Away Buyers?
World’s First “Unzillowable” Listing
Z-Day: Z for Zendetta
Zillow Confesses…
Zillow, Dem’s Fightin’ Words
Zillow Housing Reports: The Statistical Lie of Estimate Truth
Zillow’s Real Prey: It’s Not Brokers
Zillow: Truth by Association
Zillow Ultimate Poll (the only Zillow poll, as far as we know)
Zillow Poll Results
Zillow Zapped with FTC Complaint
Zoophole: Only Humans Have to Post Conspicuous Disclaimers
Will Zillow Let Listing Owners Opt-out now?

Technorati Tags: Zillow, zestimate, Rich Barton, Unzillowable, Home pricing, Sellsius

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Posted by rudy bachraty on 04/07/2007 01:49 AM

Comments (14)

zillow, unzillowable, sellsius, real estate, rich barton, zestimate

14 Comments on Zillow's Rich Barton Says Make Me Move, Please

APR

2007

Hmmmmm, I wonder where Mr. Barton is moving? I for one would hate to be subjected to such public scrutiny, but I guess when you are running such a high profile company, it comes with the territory. This story reminds me of the well publicized story of a guy who I think was a former president of NAR who overpriced his home in suburban Washington, D.C. He got greedy and ended up taking a bath when the market turned South. Perhaps Mr. Barton should pay more attention to his Zestimate. Or maybe he is in more of a Make Me Move mindset?

You really have compiled a great list of Zillow links. Please consider publishing to the Zillow Discussion Group. Thanks.

APR

2007

Homes in this price range can be challenging, especially now. I checked out similar homes in this area and there is some strong competition. A couple have been on the market longer, but more have recently come on the market. To be fair, the sold comps show that houses on the market for a couple of hundred days is not uncommon.

Tough position to be in. Interesting to see the new Zillow features being used for his house.

This is weird. The listing states there will be a Broker's Open on 7/15/07. Guess they don't expect to sell it anytime soon.

-----

There's two photos with snow in it. It got to 80 degrees in Seattle today.

Very funny.

What are you guys up to with this article? I didn't even know you had an Active Rain blog.

Awesome commentary! Most interesting! When Zillow bites the hand that feeds it....

This should be interesting to follow - guess if you're going to be as public as Zillow is, you've got to expect to be publicized.....kind of like zillowized....

Love Chris' comment: "When Zillow bites the hand that feeds it....."!

Interesting to see that not everything is rosy with Zillow or should I say at Zillow.

I guess even the BIG-GUY at Zillow can have challenges when trying to sell a home!

I find it interesting that Zillow will not take an owner's word for it that the baths have been misrepresented and post the accurate info.

Mr. Barton says its 3.5 baths, yet Zillow tells the public it's only 2.25. This should be corrected. Any inaccurate info is unfair to the seller. The listing agent should object. After all, his client IS one of the owners of Zillow.

hi guys!

great comments.

a deep throat made us aware that mr. barton was having a little trouble selling his home and thought that others should know. maybe someone can help him find a buyer!

rudy.sellsius°

3 reasons why a house doesn't sell.

1 Location

2. Condition

3. Price

I'll bet it's in a good location and in good condition. So, what's left. The price.

Hello... or Zillo

jay - indeed! the key to selling a home is pricing it correctly to begin with = based on comps, current market condition, a walk thru, unzillowables, etc......bargain hunters love homes that have been sitting on the market for months.

here is an interesting zestimate stat on mr. barton's home:

95% of homes in the 98112 ZIP code have a value lower than this home.

30-day Zestimate change: -$124,603 Last updated: 03/27/2007

http://www.zillow.com/Charts.htm?chartDuration=1year&zpid=48770961

maybe it's the three different prices that are confusing buyers

Rudy - Yeah, I'd bet that 'special' pricing certainly doesn't help any buyers, especially when it's listed like what you've shown above. If that doesn't show the Z-group that there's a tiny little problem, what will? "Houston, we have a problem....."

Ann

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