Zillow - API and Mobile Feature
Michael Arrington
17 comments »
Zillow, which just raised another boatload of cash, has announced a couple of new features recently. One, the Zillow API, will be embraced by legions of real estate agents desperate to get traffic to their websites. The other, a Zillow mobile feature, will let you get a Zestimate, which is Zillow’s estimate of a home’s value, by email/SMS.
The Zillow API is still being developed, although they’ve given some details on the Zillow blog. Yahoo is already using the API, as well as this test site from a company that build sites for agents.
The mobile feature allows you to obtain the value of a house by email/sms. To use it, text or email a home address to z@labs.zillow.com. I agree with SocketSite - Zillow Mobile you no longer have to wait until you get home from a dinner party to figure out how much your host’s house is worth. Another use, of course, is to check home values in a neighborhood when you visit an open house.
The convergence between devices and platforms is something most companies should look for. The integration between web services and mobile phones, for instance, was also used by Dodgeball, I think it was covered in Techcrunch as well.
This looks very promising. Combine this with http://www.cellulist.com/ and you’re set.
That’s so awesome, I just tried it and it works great.
I’m missing the SMS portion of this, it looks solely like email. SMS would require a shortcode and a service plan, both of which are a lot harder and more expensive than they should be.
Never mind Cellulist - Realtor.com already has the market cornered with thousands of the MLS’s in the country (not to mention existing relationships with the vast majority of brokerages). If realtor.com was smart they would introduce the exact same thing for their MLS listings. Not only could the person interested in the house get a text message with all the important details, two minutes later the listing agent could call and schedule an appoint to see the house - or create a function for that!
Meanwhile I could be using Zillow to do my research on the comp values and trends in the area.
Cool stuff! Wish I could invest now.
-pjc
PJ
Realtor shareholders are rather spooked or not as confident as you based on the share price of MOVE, formerly HOMS and owner of realtor.com
I would say you are wrong on this count of the market being cornered.
I would say, the market is about to be changes in a big way
just posted on it as well.
BlogReader,
You’re right - it does operate over e-mail. Luckily, most mobile phones support sending text-messages to e-mail addresses. Hope it works for you!
Arjun Banker,
Zillow Mobile Developer
Awesome, could definitely help them expand their market. Should be interesting to see how much it is used. Could be useful for agents scouting prospective homes to sell.
Nice site. A little disappointed that although my home of eight years appeared in the aerial image, Zillow said that there were no homes in the area.
Good luck, overall it looks like a winner!
Here is another company providing mobile requests for more information - they list several use cases beyond the real estate one shown here: http://www.kribsheet.com/
Cheers
Phil
Blogging on enterprise software usecases at: http://improving-nao.blogspot.com