Comments on: Tracking Zillow’s Zestimates One Property at a Time

By: Leonel Pavlovic

Leonel Pavlovic — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:57:59 +0000

Thanks for posting this article. I’m unquestionably frustrated with struggling to search out germane and brilliant comment on this topic. Everybody today goes to the very far extremes to either drive home their viewpoint that either: everyone else in the planet is wrong, or two that everyone but them does not really understand the situation. Many thanks for your succinct, pertinent insight.

By: Real Estate Blogging » Blog Archive » Tracking Zillow’s Zestimates One Property at a Time

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 09:24:22 +0000

[…] Original post by berealct […]

By: Apella

Apella — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 01:00:07 +0000

David,

Thank you for pointing out the difference in you estimates and CMA’s or Appraisals. I would love to talk to you about how your company could work with those of us that actually inspect the properties.

Even if the numbers are on or off, no one can deny the interest that you have wrangled from homeowners or their responses.

What cat smell? At least in the winter your too cold from doing the exterior to worry about the cat smell most of the times.

By: berealct

berealct — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 01:23:18 +0000

No, Athol, we agents are the ones who get to relish the cat urine odor. Sometimes I wish I were a computer locked in a room in California so I wouldn’t count that as a life experience.

By: berealct

berealct — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 01:15:13 +0000

I hope they, the homeowners or buyers, do understand this. But we’ll see as time goes by if this proves to be true.

By: David G from Zillow.com

David G from Zillow.com — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 21:13:29 +0000

Hi, it’s David from Zillow.com

Great blog - thanks for reporting on your experiences with Zillow and your listings in general.

It’s important to remember that Zillow can never replace a CMA or an appraisal. Our site provides a useful starting point when researching house values but we’ve never visited the home — so buyers and sellers are not to view the Zestimate as the final word — and most of the homeowners I speak with seem to understand that.

By: Athol Kay

Athol Kay — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 02:18:49 +0000

Ooooh the condo vs residential home is a good pick.

The zillow zestimates have always been iffy. Not like it can see inside the house and see the brand new kitchen and bathrooms that were put in. Nor can zillow smell cat urine.

The Zindex stuff is better, and Zillow does generally show solds and prior tax information pretty well.

By: berealct

berealct — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 22:21:59 +0000

I think the concept of Zillow is great and noble but the execution is poor. Real estate is based on local markets and without local expertise, data and trends, their information is meaningless at best and at worst, harmful to the consumer.

By: Apella

Apella — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 20:52:48 +0000

I love the fact that you have been tracking Zillow in this matter! Not only are you right on queue with the major press but your independent study supports every thing that has been said about the numbers from the appraiser world and higher up financial reporters.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate a real estate sales/buyer professional coming out and making this fact be known. Some would take the number that the homeowner has got off of a site and run with it just to make life easy and gain a listing.

By calling the Z-thingy out you are showing that you’re a fair and honest resource.

If the numbers are off in one direction then they are off in the other.

I wonder if even has an appraiser working for them, or if they hire appraisers to do reviews of the numbers let a loan point out the difference in property type as you have in your article? But then again, who needs to pay money for a professional when you can go off the gossip found at every back yard barbeque.

Please keep up the Great Work!