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HOUSES WITH BLUE BATHROOMS AND MORE...

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Real Estate Agent with Douglas Elliman Real Estate 30HA0800896

HOUSES WITH BLUE BATHROOMS AND MORE...

Now, here is an example of what one of the biggest issues we have with Z, is all about:  "Homes with Blue Bathrooms Sell For More?". Not to insinuate that Z is an appraisal company, of course--but what can you think when they come up with their ridiculous Zestimates??? Where do they get the data that gives them insight to price properties??? This post may address those questions:

This interesting statistic comes from a press release written by Zillow to reflect their statistics claiming that they found that "houses with blue bathrooms get $5,400 more than others, the highest sales premium of all colors analyzed".  This statistic apparently came from a press release sent to Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel, Inc.,  about a color analysis from 2017.

There were pictures of Tim Geitner's home in 2009, where his house was listed with Zillow but did not sell---Geitner yanked it from the site after there was a joke about the blue bathroom on The Daily Show...Of course, this was during the last housing downturn in 2009 when Geitner was the Treasury Secretary in a very slow economy.

According to a quote from Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuels, Inc.:  "Like the Zestimate’s results that are presented to the nearest dollar, this type of presentation infers a market precision that does not exist. Labeled as “disrupters,” I think Zillow’s concept of “aggressively marketing an accuracy that is non-existent” is one of the biggest challenges facing real estate appraisers and brokers and in turn, the consumers. Numbers can be magic, especially when presented in an econ-sounding way. The consumer absorbs the results as gospel without challenge."

The humor may be lost on this, especially with the current antics of a company like Z who's sole purpose seems to be to disrupt the brokerage business right now.

They are obviously not expert at any of the "things" of real estate, its pricing and all its associated trades such as appraisals!!

 

Comments(37)

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Grant Schneider
Performance Development Strategies - Armonk, NY
Your Coach Helping You Create Successful Outcomes

Hi Paula - this is really so funny but there are people that will hang on this information.

May 19, 2019 04:37 AM
Jill Sackler
Charles Rutenberg Realty Inc. 516-575-7500 - Long Beach, NY
LI South Shore Real Estate - Broker Associate

"The consumer absorbs the results as gospel without challenge." This quote from Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuels, Inc.:  really is the bottom line when it comes to the whole Zillow controversy.

May 19, 2019 08:07 AM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

Hi Endre: You are so funny! He was a bit of a fool, now that I look back--And he thought his Blue Bath should have been a winner!! The Height of Narcissism! I think he did write a book but it was not a hit....much like his blue bathroom!

May 19, 2019 08:58 AM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

Hi Grant: Hang? I wouldn't go so far as to say they will "hang" but they certainly bought into it! Basically, because they don't know how to respond to such idiocy! That's the way I see it...who can challenge this? Pantone? Maybe they would have something to say...LOL.

May 19, 2019 09:01 AM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

Hi Jill: Jonathan is really something, isn't he. You may have heard he has taken on the whole idea of who has the right to "appraise" a property and who does not. There is a new law here in New York that was just passed that states, in effect, that unless you are a licensed Appraiser or a licensed agent/broker you can't give an opinion of worth on a property..We will see if the law sticks.

May 19, 2019 09:06 AM
Susan McCall - - Compass Realty Solutions

That is very interesting.  I would appreciate some follow up on where this is going and how it turns out.

May 20, 2019 10:34 PM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Crazy! I agree with Kathy, scratching my head here. 

 

May 20, 2019 09:36 AM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

Hi Sharon--Me too! It never gets boring though when you read it--the humor is literally falling out of the press release as they talk about the Blue Bathrooms as if that is actually a common color!! I think we are in a time warp and this crazyness is actually being perpetrated by a company who is trying to destroy brokerage!! In fact, they are merely showing their complete and total ignorance...They talk as if this is a fashion show or something just as off the mark! Thanks for reading and commenting...

May 20, 2019 09:46 AM
Susan McCall - - Compass Realty Solutions
Compass Realty Solutions - Portland, OR
Listing and Buyer's Agent

We will never know where the comment came from, possibly someone sitting in the "bull pen" or whatever it is called where "writers" scroll the Internet for something to post.  They are not looking for a bonafide article written by someone of authority in the industry, but just something to throw out for the quota of contributing something for the day.  Isn't there an old saying that negative publicity is still publicity?

May 20, 2019 10:40 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

That is insane. It's sad that an uninformed public has been led to believe that Z is the ultimate authority.

May 21, 2019 08:41 AM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

Crazy times!  Who could have imagined a decade ago that an algorithm would be trying to take over the real estate arena!

May 21, 2019 04:15 PM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

Hi Susan: Well, the press report that is a link above, in my post says that it came out in 2017 but the story behind the "Blue Bathroom" is an old one--from 2008, I believe. That is when Timothy Geitner, who's house was listed on Zillow with photos of his Blue Bathroom, pulled his home off their website because someone on the Daily Show poked fun and made a joke about it! That's about it--the bigger shock to me is that Z actually published a press release showing stats and "proof" that houses with blue baths get $5.4mil more than any other color! It is nothing short of insane that they actually think you can count sold houses and use bathroom colors as a statistic that affects pricing!

May 21, 2019 04:25 PM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

Hi Marte: You can say that again--to me, it is sum and substance of just how in over their heads they really are! The housing market will never be the same--and I just read where Redfin and Zillow have partnered up in 4 selling areas!! So, it is just a matter of time now...

May 21, 2019 04:27 PM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

Hi Myrl: It's AI--artificial intelligence being used as a wedge between two humans--the seller and the buyer--under the guise that those platforms are really improving the service that the public gets!! Somehow, I can hear Hal, the computer AI from Stanley Kubrick's film, "2001 Space Odyssey", in here somewhere, as he says to the owner of Zillow: "Rich, I know I've made some very bad decisions lately." as he takes over the running of the space ship...

May 21, 2019 04:56 PM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Hi Paula:

Well this was pretty entertaining, and as with so much I read about Z I am left shaking my head in wonderment, with a taste of dubiousness. Will we now start seeing more blue bathrooms?

Jeff

May 22, 2019 02:18 PM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

Hi Jeff: I haven't and I am sure that this was done by some AI --this study sounds so otherworldly to me....like from another planet! Apparently, there was no embarrassment on the part of Z as people began to make fun of the report. This was a press release from 2017 so if there was a "Blue Bathroom" surge, we all would have at least heard about it! LOL Thanks for reading and commenting, Jeff!

May 22, 2019 03:32 PM
Carla Freund
Keller Williams Preferred Realty - Raleigh, NC
NC Real Estate Transition & Relocation 919-602-848

Paula, who knows where they come up with this stuff. It's just something that makes people stop and read what they're writing. And, maybe blue bathrooms were selling because that was the Pantone color of the year? Or maybe HGTV featured a lot of blue bathrooms? Next year yellow bathrooms might be selling because that's the hot color of the year. Who knows? People change their preferences like they change clothes.

May 26, 2019 06:04 AM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

Hi Carla: The funny thing is that they actually did a study--using the photos that agents paid for and put on their websites and Z took those photos from properties sold and looked at the sales, by room, by color!!! they then looked at the price the property sold for and actually used the stats  (read the link on the post--first paragraph) You won't believe what they were using to validate their theory!!If it weren't so pathetic it would be laughable!

May 27, 2019 02:31 PM
Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089
Hawai'i Life Real Estate Brokers - Haiku, HI
Maui Real Estate sales and lifestyle info

It's just click bait, and they know how to work it. 

Jul 01, 2019 09:02 PM
Paula Hathaway, REALTOR, LBA
Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Southampton, NY
...A Local Expert in all The Hamptons

Hi Georgie: You can say that again, and that is all it is. The worse thing about it is, they don't give a crap that this kind of information may influence a homeowner to paint their bathrooms blue or worse even, they may send out a message that unless your bathroom is blue you are going to sit with that house! Meanwhile, I wonder how many buyers ran out to buy a house with a blue bathroom! Stupid on the part of a company who has such influence. All I can say is: This won't last long if they keep up the horses-ass kind of data offerings!

Jul 02, 2019 07:37 AM
Dana Hollish Hill
Hollish Hill Group, JPAR Stellar Living - Bethesda, MD
REALTOR * Broker * Coach

It is so sad. The public will believe anything if it sounds official. I was at a NAR conference today and when a presenter asked if the public is more educated today, the responses were "they think they are" and "they have more access to info, but are not more educated." It is often harder to untrain our clients who are used to reading ridiculous reports or national statistics and get them to focus on the numbers and trends that are local.

May 07, 2023 02:02 PM