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Thiz iz getting rediculouz

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Spotlight Realty

Well, I assume if zillow has your e-mail address, you were informed this morning of their big moveReal Estate Agents rejoice!!  As  Zillow continues to hammer it's own nails into it's own coffin.

So the problem/arguement is that the zestimates are innacurate, as well as some other issues like propagating lies. So I guess zillow sees the cause of their inacuracy to be a data entry problem.  So their solution is to let homeowners make adjustments to their own property, as the homeowner knows the property best, and that data will go into zillows database.

Knock, Knock, knock.... DID YOU HEAR (read) WHAT I JUST SAID (wrote)!?!?!?

Zillow is going to take the homeowners OPINION of value and save it to their database!!!

So lets start the logic train:

One of the primary reasons Real Estate Agents are needed is to get a fair UNBIASED opinion of value.  Homeowners almost ALWAYS overvalue their property because they know the blood sweat and tears that went into it.  They know that it's Italian marble, and bamboo floors, and imported whatever.  They easily mistake COST for VALUE.

Now let's assume that zillow takes over the Real Estate industry, and everyone uses zillow.  Sellers use it to find out what their property is worth. And sellers know that buyers will look at zillow to find out what a property is worth.  And they think that knowing that, the average seller isn't going to try to stretch that number as much as possible?!?!?!

"Now, not everyone is that immoral Jon." (yes they are)  But ok, not everyone is that immoral, but you have to admit, there is a faction that is.  Which leads us to the other problem is that even the moral and accurate Zestimates are still going to be derived by a fraction of innaccurate zestimates!

I think I'm officially sick with joy and annoyance at the same time.

Sara Lipnitz
Max Broock Realtors - Birmingham, MI
In my market, many homes have been knocked down and new homes were built.  Hence, Zillow is often sooooo "off" its silly!  I agree, the nail is in the coffin.
Sep 20, 2006 11:26 AM
Rick & Ines - Miami Beach Real Estate
Majestic Properties - Miami Beach, FL
We recently did a listing presentation and the sellers had made obvious adjustments to Zillow and chosen comps that were not at all comparables.  To make a long story short, the house would have been grossly overpriced and we advised the owner not to price it according to Zillow.  We ended up telling the seller to place a FSBO sign with that price and then to call us when they were serious about selling.  They called us the next day and listed with us at our suggested price.
Sep 20, 2006 11:29 AM
joanne Douglas
Terrie O'Connor Realtors - Ridgewood, NJ
I find that Zillows has a nice little product going there --- I don't think it will ever replace the comps that professionals can tap into and I don't think it's designed to replace the need for us professionals --- it's a cute place for the homeowner to start thinking about the value of their home and to see that their value is not necessarily the same as their neighbors!

Sep 20, 2006 11:59 AM
Lisa Dunn
Edina Realty - Minneapolis, MN
www.TwinCitySeller.com

consumers are hungry for information and will take it where they can get it.  If they've heard of zillow, they'll probably continue to play around with it.  Afterall, who doesn't like to have that kind of control?  I have a couple of sellers that would *love* to change the sale price of their homes in the MLS!!

Sep 20, 2006 01:05 PM
Roberta Murphy
San Diego Previews Real Estate - Carlsbad, CA
Carlsbad Real Estate and Homes

We have had buyers trying to use Zillow for offer guidance, only to find the results may be overpriced compared to current market conditions.

Sep 20, 2006 03:46 PM
Cheryl Johnson
Highland Park, CA

I like Zillow.  I have no problem with clients playing with Zillow all they want. 

However I do have a concern with this new idea of allowing property owners to enter their own information:

My little corner of Los Angeles is notorious for illegal additions. If the city record says there are 2 bathrooms, but the home actually has 3 bathrooms, there is a good chance that the third bathroom was added without proper building permits or required city inspections.

Unpermitted additions are a legal minefield for real estate agents as it is. Now we’ll have owner-entered info turning up on Zillow to confound the situation even further.

At least Zillow is displaying the owner-added information side-by-side with the city /county information.  But I do hope Zillow adds a large ~visible~ disclaimer about building permit status!

Sep 21, 2006 11:43 PM
Mark Flanders
Consulting - Silverdale, WA

LOL

Zillow certainly stirs up controversy! And that gets them attention.

Nothing has really changed though, we all still rely on an appraiser for provable value. The banks take no notice of Zillow. Maybe it would help to mention that to sellers?

Sep 22, 2006 01:52 AM