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Zillow included in Time.com's "Top 50 Coolest Websites of 2006"

By Ken Stampe

Mortgage and Lending with iBrandPlan.com - Grow your e-Profile & Brand

December 28, 2006 05:52 AM

time_cool_websites

Time.com today listed their 2006 50 "coolest" websites and Zillow.com made the grade. While at times controversial and sometimes featuring inaccurate information the site has grown in traffic, listings and membership. It is a force to be reckoned with in 2007 and beyond.

Here is the write-up down on the Time.com site and links to Zillow:

HOME APPRAISALS
Zillow

This site uses tax records, sales history and actual amounts paid for comparable properties in your area to calculate an estimate ("Zestimate") of your home's worth. You don't have to identify yourself or deal with a broker to use the service. Check out the new color-coded "heat maps" of 17 cities that compare Zestimates per square foot by location. When you're ready to buy, consult the Mortgage Professor's Web Site, a site packed with useful advice from expert Jack M. Guttentag, a retired finance professor from Wharton who assesses lenders and offers tutorials, calculators and a glossary, while warning borrowers about the hazards of the current market.

Several Blogs on Active Rain have discussed the impact of Zillow on the Real Estate Community. You may want to revisit these great posts:

Christopher Farrell ~ Why I love Zillow - Sorta
Joshua Plummer ~ It is What it is, so Why Does it Inspire Such Hatred?
Matt Heaton ~ Zillow Now Allows Homeowner's To Modify Data
Roberta Murphy ~ Zillow Gets Zinged
David Gibbons ~ Zillow Wants Your Listings
Mary McKnight ~ Using the Zillow API to drive traffic and leads on your site

The Zillow.com Time-Line

7/24/2005 - Zillow forms board of directors
10/24/2005 - Zillow secures series A financing
2/28/2006 - Zillow launches BETA site of over 60 million home values for free
4/13/2006 - Zillow adds Microsoft's Virtual Earth platform to show "birds-eye" view of properties
7/19/2006 - Zillow teams with Yahoo! Real Estate
7/25/2006 - Zillow receives $25 million investment
9/20/2006 - Zillow.com opens database to homeowners
12/7/2006 - Zillow upgrades site to allow Realtors and homeowner's to provide listings for free

Ken Stampe

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iBrandPlan.com - Grow your e-Profile & Brand - Dallas, TX

iBrandPlan

Congratulations to Zillow. Active Rain didn't make it this year? 2007!

Dec 28, 2006 05:58 AM

Danilo Bogdanovic

Market Advantage Real Estate - Ashburn, VA

Real Estate Consultant - Loudoun and Fairfax County

I believe that Zillow made it because it's one of the only of it's kind. But I don't think that it's a "cool" site.

But give it time..."cooler" and better competitors are sure to enter into the game in 2007 and we'll see some serious competition going on, which I think is great for consumers and industry professionals alike.

And ActiveRain should definitely be on that list in 2007!

www.realdiablog.com

Dec 28, 2006 06:04 AM

Home Design

Alpharetta, GA

Home Design and Real Estate

Zillow's Zestimates are a joke. I have seen them up to 30% wrong on occasions. Infact my last home sold for 300k. The Zestimate was 240k. Whats the point of a website that doles out completley wrong info?

Dec 28, 2006 06:10 AM

Eddy Martinez

Nationwide Funding Group - Highland Park, CA

I agree with you zillows home value information is not very accurate but consumer do rely on the website for information. The other website i have seen quite a bit of is housevalues.com

Eddy - housevalues, trulia, google.move, etc. there will always be innovations in using the internet and database information to create content that people will be attracted to and others will pay advertising to partner with.

Jennifer - great question but I think that Zillow is and will continue to expand BEYOND "zestimates"

Danilo - everyone's free to their own interpretation of "cool" but I think Zillow puts listing information out there in a much more interesting way then ebby.com or remax.com or realtor.com for that matter. I really like the "birds-eye" view photos of the neighborhood. It's puts the listing in a VISUAL context which i happen to think IS cool.

ActiveRain for 2007? I vote for it!!!1

Dec 28, 2006 06:21 AM

Zillow included in Time.com's "Top 50 Coolest Websites of 2006"

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