Comments on: Zillow Adds User Generated Home Information

By: Zillow Relaunch - Adds Its Own Q&A Service.

Zillow Relaunch - Adds Its Own Q&A Service. — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:06:45 +0000

[...] price, as well as additional information. This is an expansion on user-generated content features added last September. Previously only the 600,000 registered users who claimed their homes or over 150,000 real estate [...]

By: Zillow Relaunch - Adds Its Own Q&A Service.

Zillow Relaunch - Adds Its Own Q&A Service. — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:06:45 +0000

By: Zillow Real Estate Data Coming to a Site Near You » JenIT

Zillow Real Estate Data Coming to a Site Near You » JenIT — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 07:13:45 +0000

[...] In addition to its own data, Zillow now includes home information uploaded by home owners. The site also offers mobile access and a 3-D view of homes based on Microsoft’s “bird’s eye view.” If you haven’t tried entering a few addresses into Zillow before, I recommend doing it for fun if nothing else. [...]

By: Techcrunch » Blog Archive » Zillow Opens Real Estate Data API

Techcrunch » Blog Archive » Zillow Opens Real Estate Data API — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:29:22 +0000

By: Go-Beyond-MLS

Go-Beyond-MLS — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 01:08:45 +0000

It would be much wiser fo companies like Zillow to pare up with real estate agencies or maby to get deals from MLS so they can back their work with some solid market data. Even if I wanted to update the value of my property, will that change the market value? Probably not and I can bet that those who will update, will provide amounts much higher of what the real value is…. just another 2 cents.

By: » Zillow’s Recent Changes - Results for Realtors - Real Estate Blog

» Zillow’s Recent Changes - Results for Realtors - Real Estate Blog — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 04:37:56 +0000

[...] However, some people don’t like Zillow’s concept, and although adding user-submittable data may be an improvement, Zillow’s prices should not be considered as an appraisal. Greg Swann agrees; he’s against the site as a whole because its questionably accurate Zestimates are giving buyers what could be interpreted as a property’s actual worth. Sellsius is in the same boat: the “real word of Real Estate” requires the opinions not only of the owner and market data, but also of the broker and an appraiser. They, as well as the Charlottesville Blog also note that some owners may want to leave a low Zestimate (or push to raise their Zestimate) for other reasons, be it taxes or some other questionably ethical reason. On a related note, Zillow also has a “Google Gadget” that allows for you to see the Zindex for an area in your Google Personalized Page. It’s a neat concept… (Also noted on TechCruch. Don’t know much about Zillow? Check out this BusinessWeek article.) [...]

By: Akkam’s Razor

Akkam’s Razor — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 01:09:42 +0000

[...] Techcrunch » Blog Archive » Zillow Adds User Generated Home Information “On Wednesday morning they are releasing new features which will allow users to contribute updated and detailed information about their own homes to Zillow’s national database.” I’m going to bet that more data equates to a faster sale AND a higher sell (tags: Web2.0 realestate business housing ideas user) [...]

By: jf.sellsius

jf.sellsius — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 00:50:24 +0000

Should an owner be concerned that the local tax assessor will search zillow for homes whose owners have updated home facts (beds/baths/sq.ft) and improvements (pool, deck, etc) to then re-assess those owners and send them a higher tax bill? How could the owner object if it was the owner who upped the value?

I asked this question on zillowblog and got no reply. TechCrunch readers, do you have any thoughts on this?

By: mark

mark — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 20:01:18 +0000

I looked up information in my area and found it to be wildly inaccurate. I suspect their initial sources of information are outdated, as the newest house on their maps of this area predate mine by a decade. If I look at heat maps from this county and the adjacent county, there’s a clear division showing almost no data for the adjacent county. I’m seeing houses plunked down in the middle of undeveloped forest and industrial logging sites, so their map accruacy is off considerably. The only thing that was in the ballpark was valuations of some of the older homes in the area, which surprised me. I expected the valuations to be the least accurate element of the mix.

Overall it looks like they have a long way to go regarding data accuracy.

By: kaiju

kaiju — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:52:27 +0000

The house data on the site in accurate, what a waste of time.

By: Magnus

Magnus — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:31:03 +0000

[...] It seams that some people take credit of the new functionality added on Zillow (see the comments on the techcrunch post). Please, don’t underestimate the people at Zillow. I don’t know about their product roadmap but I’m absolute convinced that this has been on their horizon from the start. I also believe Ardell at Seattle Rain City Guide is on to the next step in her comment to this post… [...]

By: Jackson

Jackson — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:04:58 +0000

I’ve found Zillow’s data, at least in San Francisco, to be dramatically inaccurate for most properties I look up. Other than when you’re getting ready to sell, I’m not sure why anyone would volunteer information about their property to this database.

By: rudolph d. bachraty III

rudolph d. bachraty III — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 18:29:56 +0000

do you think owners should have the right to Opt-Out of their zestimate?

should zillow have a conspicuous disclaimer on the home page and next to their 2 estimates?

see our poll here:

http://blog.sellsiusrealestate.com/?p=2114

By: markjones

markjones — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:28:26 +0000

Great idea if you are looking to be robbed! I think there is a middle ground, remember you can’t be an anoun (like craigs list and ebay) on zillow.

Im not negative, I like Zillow for what it is

By: Gloria White

Gloria White — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:13:09 +0000

Interesting….Let’s see how this plays out once the real esate mania dies down over the next several quarters.
The next step would be to allow home owners to post photos of their home and may be the next step after that would be to disintermediate the realtors by allowing a ‘For Sale’ thing for a nominal fees.

By: BB

BB — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:59:35 +0000

Is there any motivaiton for me to update my home’s information if I’m not selling it? Why would people do this?

By: hoy

hoy — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:48:18 +0000

I think this is a well-intented idea to remedy the issue of inaccurate zestimates…however, after signing in and trying out the process myself, I think there might be some issues — it dertermines whether or not you are the owner of the prop by asking you to select from a list of possible owners, the list seems accurate but there are no verification built in to check whether I am the acutal owner or not, the only thing you’d do is check a box that “promises” you are not lying I can’t imagine this honor system won’t be abused by some but on the other hand, the only option to verify owner identity probably would have required SSN…maybe something for zillow to consider whether it’s an option or requirement.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:03:45 +0000

While I think more and accurate information is a good thing, it wasn’t clear on how accuracy was being achieved. There is always the possibility that an owner could misrepresent his/her property in order for the Zestimate to be higher. Additionally, what prevents a non-owner from adding/changing data?

In fact, I would think that there could be more potential for non-owners to add data, especially potential buyers who have already seen the property. I’ve just started house hunting myself, and I have a massive database of houses that I’ve seen, with very detailed notes and information.

The question is what’s the incentive to be accurate or not, and what parties can provide such information.

By: Zillow.com bites the wrong bullet: In preference to telling one simple truth, it will propagate thousands of tiny lies . . . | BloodhoundBlog | The weblog of BloodhoundRealty.com in Phoenix, Arizona

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:43:28 +0000

[...] That shoe finally dropped last night. Rich Barton, Zillow.com’s chairman and CEO, made the announcement on their weblog: Homeowners can now add remodel information, update or change facts (like beds/baths, square footage, etc), or add more specific stuff like a waterfront view, finished basement, or type of parking. This is a milestone release for the company as it represents our first step in opening Zillow up to our customers, inviting them to add to and improve Zillow for everyone. [...]

By: Erik

Erik — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 13:34:48 +0000

That’s a good move on Zillow’s part. It’s about time someone started embracign the massive amounts of homeowners who want to input data on their properties. PropSmart does this to some extent.

There is a database war in the real estate application market that’s going on - whoever wins the crowds and opens up the system will win.

By: Zillow Ads Customization of Properties at Realty Thoughts

Zillow Ads Customization of Properties at Realty Thoughts — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 13:26:42 +0000

[...] TechCrunch is reporting that Zillow has made the move to allow real estate property owners to update information on their homes. So, if you were to look at your house listing and see that it stated you had 2 bathrooms, when you really have 3 now, you can change it. [...]

By: Howard Lindzon » Zillow continues to grow

Howard Lindzon » Zillow continues to grow — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 11:34:10 +0000

[...] TechCrunch has covered Zillow often and well and has a good update on a new feature. In a nutshell: [...]

By: TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » Zillow, ユーザーによる物件情報追加機能をリリース

TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » Zillow, ユーザーによる物件情報追加機能をリリース — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:10:28 +0000

[...] [原文へ] Zillow [...]

By: Did Zillow Actually Listen to Sellsius° at sellsius° real estate blog

Did Zillow Actually Listen to Sellsius° at sellsius° real estate blog — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 06:27:02 +0000

[...] Hot off the presses - Techcrunch announces that Zillow will allow homeowners to update the facts about their home. Wow! Did the sellsius° and the rest of the blogging community actually have some influence in zillow’s change of heart? We know our data isn’t always correct, and now we have a way for you to fix it. You can set the record straight by editing the facts about your home. [...]

By: jf.sellsius

jf.sellsius — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 06:21:07 +0000

I meant David of Zillow