Take It Back! (from Zillow)

Extremely interesting reading and viewpoints!

I agree with Cynthia Holiday's comment that Zillow (and other on line sites similar to it) want to replace us.  I see it everyday and I see buyers trying their darnest to get what they need from the Realtor and try to skirt around them when the listing expires.  While smart agents don't let that happen through Buyer's Agency agreement, it still occurs sometimes - and if you are busy and don't review all area sales in the county register of deeds, you sometimes don't even know it happened.

My wife took a call from someone who insisted the Zillow figure was correct. After trying to explain the inaccuracy the caller got mad and 'fbombed' her and hung up. This is what Zillow does to people. I stay away from Zillow as it's becoming a joke...

I tell ALL my clients to stay off of Zillow because their information isn't up to date. Just think if we ALL do the same thing and beat the same drum it will really deminish how the public views Zillow. I too agree with Cynthia Holiday, great post!

Agents: So this is what it has come to. Some agents love Z and others hate them. Look at your biz and decide how you can get to the ground level of your community. Build your list and know their persona and get prepared for a higher interest rate level in the future, you know its coming but will you be prepared?

Zillow and Trulia are blights that needs to be exterminated.  The starting point to taking back our lives from this incidious group is when you input a listing to a property, uncheck the box that allows the feed - if it is available within your MLS.

Cut the water off at the source.

Buyers and sellers become aware of Zillow misinformation when Realtors present current information from respected local databases including the MLS. As Realtors, it's our responsibility to inform people about what data is shared and what data is not shared by our local MLS and how that skews information on third party sites like Zillow. I do not pay for Zillow leads.  I do respond to dozens of potential clients who contact me directly from listings posted on Zillow.  Great post and interesting comments!

I like the post, but I don't think I'll be helping Zillow to make their site more accurate. I have enough to do on my own site. Some of the comments here surprised me. I personally have grown used to Zillow. It has its uses. I don't pay for leads, but the site is good and I use it when I'm on the go and need info in a hurry. Now that they get listing info directly from the Iowa City MLS it shows the same listing info as Paragon, with a much better App.

There is no way in hell I am correcting anything on their platform for them .....

I am been a Zillow & Trulia (they have merged so are the same company now) user for 10 years and always go on the site to claim my listings. I have had a great number of leads from both Zillow and Trulia over the years...

Sometimes the discrepancy they show is actually a good reason to convince the prospects to use a real estate agent. After I explain to them what the "Zestimates" come from, I think the people have a better understanding of our value proposition.

Aloha,

If you don't pay into Zillow, how do you get leads???

I have to say that I am a fan of Zillow...I drank the koolaid about 3 years ago and really haven't regretted it.  The bottom line to me is this, either beat em or join em and I couldn't beat em.  Unfortunately, even though they are not a Broker, they are turned to every day by those who are looking to buy or sell a home.  Zillow is how I turn clients into believers of Realtors and their inaccuracies actually help me.  Once they call I just get them on an MLS search and send them to my website that is accurate.   We can be mad at Zillow for "stealing" our data, but they really didn't.  The data was given to them by our own MLSs and Brokers.  So again, we can try and stop the bleeding, but it's too late in my opinion...so back at the beat em, join em thing lol.  I love the discussion though.  

In my area, you must spend a minimim of $500 per month to be able to even show up on the listing page.  That is $6000 per year, which I would need at least 3 deals to break even.  But they are good leads;  they are usually people who are ready to make a move.

Thomas, Zillow is like having life insurance. I will never buy leads from them but they do serve a very necessary purpose. All of the buyers are going there to shop for homes so if you are not following some of their rules your business may suffer from it and you might not even know it

This has been an interesting read. Zillow is here to stay so we need to learn to use to our advantage. 

(As a side note, Thomas you have done a great job on how you have answered the comments. One of the best I've seen at not creating a firestorm but addressing each concern with empathy and facts. Great job)  

Just now catching up on AR reading - what a great post and amazing responses to our comments!     

My favorite responses:    Brenda Mullen #71 "they are turned to every day by those who are looking to buy or sell a home.  Zillow is how I turn clients into believers of Realtors and their inaccuracies actually help me.  Once they call I just get them on an MLS search and send them to my website that is accurate.   We can be mad at Zillow for "stealing" our data, but they really didn't.  The data was given to them by our own MLSs and Brokers.  So again, we can try and stop the bleeding, but it's too late in my opinion...so back at the beat em, join em thing lol."

And your early on response: "It's already scambled eggs, so we might as well cook an omelet."

Thanks for the mention M.C. Dwyer :).  This is a great post with lots of terrific discussion.  Have a wonderful day!

Zillow can be hard to navigate and make the needed changes.  I appreciate the links.  I do not like them, but at the same time with the traffic they get I owe it to my sellers to make sure their home is on the site.  But I do want it to reflect reality. 

Thanks, Thomas J. Nelson, Realtor, CRS, for making this post.  I hate Zillow as much as anyone.

I have a listing that  exemplifies how bad Zillow can be.  See a blog post I made about it here. The celebrity cabin is in a very remote area where there are no comps and the cabin itself has features that Zillow cannot see.  The cabin is now listed including my own 78-acre lots that include a stable, well and on-the-grid electricity for $600,000 on a total of 97 acres. One of the "comps" Zillow used was a cabin shell on 7 acres that was barely weathered in.  

I am speaking as a Seller here as well as a real estate agent. The 78-acre horse property is listed at $160,000 and belongs to me. I bought it to re-sell it. 

I did not know how to improve the Zillow estimates but thanks to you and this blog post, now I do.

You have a very impressive profile!  I am now following you.