Found an interesting article here:
http://searchengineland (dot) com/080110-094206.php


According to the report, Zillow is now "officially" out of Beta.
(I now can sleep easier.) :P

If you read some of the articles imbedded in the story here, you'll note that they've "improved" their Zestimates so that a "mind blowing" 50% of their estimates are now within 10% of the correct value.

To put in layman's terms:
If you have a $1 million home - Zillow has a 50/50 shot of being within $100,000 of the sale price.

Which leaves the real estate agents to try and deal with the UNEDUCATED consumer who has a grossly inaccurate picture of the value of their home - BUT thinks they are educated as a result of the Zestimate.

(And Zillow wonders why a lot of real estate agents don't like them.)


Anyway, interesting read.

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Jennifer Karlen & Jon Karlen
Kentucky Horse Farms - Louisville Kentucky Real Estate - Lexington Kentucky Real Estate
Serving the Louisville KY metropolitan area including Jefferson County - Prospect Shelby County - Shelbyville Oldham County - Goshen, La Grange and the Lexington KY metropolitan area including Fayette County - Lexington Woodford County - Versailles Scott County - Georgetown Jessamine County - Nicholasville

Great quote from the article about zestimates:

With that kind of accuracy, I will be out of a job soon.

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Ryan Ward, REALTOR® - Keller Williams Realty Consultants. (404) 630-3187
Atlanta Real Estate - My featured area is Alpharetta Real Estate and it is where I call home. Read my Atlanta Real Estate blog.

They were off by that much on a home I recently sold in Redwood City. Sometimes Zillow can make you look like a champ LOL

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Sunnyvale Real Estate
Santa Clara Real Estate
Cupertino Real Estate

Well stated! However, I must admit your post in it's entirety made me laugh.

I get a kick out seeing the results from these websites. Texas is a non-disclosure state, in that only the mortgage amount is recorded at the courthouse... The sales price is not required to be recorded on the deed at the courthouse.

If one house has 100% financing and the house next door only finance 80% and another put $100k down, the estimates get all out of wack pretty quick.

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Randy Watson Texas Real Estate Agent
Mission Realty-San Antonio Real Estate
San Antonio Real Estate

Thanks for the links!


Just a side note for all of you that know Zillow is a competitor long term, but feel it's ok to visit ever so often.

"Frink notes that the EZ Ads Zillow sells itself go for $10 CPMs, versus $3 to $5 CPMs for backfill ads from ad networks."

Every time you visit a page you are generating income for Zillow to improve and expand it's reach....Just a thought.

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Always looking for quality unique content for our real estate agent blog, PM me if interested in writing a post.

My thoughts on the Sarasota Association of REALTORS actions.

Do buyers have a problem accessing MLS data now? Most brokerages/agents provide local MLS data and we already have realtordotcom.

This is all about getting content for their sites so they can repackage it for consumers and sell ads back to real estate companies/agents.

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Sunnyvale Real Estate
Santa Clara Real Estate
Cupertino Real Estate

@Ken-
I am with you on that (grin). Let's not be feeding the hand that bites us...They are (no matter how you slice it..) competitors.

@Malok- Thanks for the links on that...I don't plan on following them anytime soon, but they are HANDY for agents who ask about them and what they are.

Eric

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Eric Blackwell
Technologist, SEO Specialist and Consultant

Louisville Real Estate My Home Real Estate Site

Search Engine Marketing, Coaching & Custom WP Blogs Learn how to get the MOST out of your already awesome REW site.

Real Estate Industry Watch - Real Estate Industry News Blog Get up to date info on the Real Estate Industry

You have to love Zillow's accuracy.

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Ryan A. Martin - Windermere Real Estate / Whatcom Inc.

Your Bellingham real estate professional specializing in the listing and sales of Bellingham condos. Also check out my Anacortes real estate website for information about Fidalgo Island and Anacortes, WA

One time on craigslist, i saw a house for sale for $575,000 and the seller was saying Zillow's Zestimate was $635,000 so its a great deal. Whats funny it was probably really worth about $550,000. so I just looked up on how much it sold for and it sold for $530,000.

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Paul Caparas
Broker Associate/Realtor
Weichert Realtors Elite
San Diego Homes For Sale
San Diego Foreclosures
San Diego Real Estate Blog