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Replies (16)
- HomeSand.net, "White Picture"
- Contributions:4392
Those foreclosure websites's purposes are try to make the money, no matter what their informations are right or wrong.
Even though Maria Casanova ended her RealtyTrac subscription not long after enrolling, an ad that appeared on the foreclosure listing site led to her being billed $44.95 a month for another service.
E-mail Print Share Text Size Maria Casanova, an assistant professor of economics at UCLA, toyed with the idea earlier this year of buying a foreclosed property near the Westwood campus. She signed up for a prominent listing service called RealtyTrac.
Casanova, 31, canceled her subscription not long after. Yet a few days ago she discovered that some other real estate company she'd never heard of has been billing her almost $45 a month for the last eight months.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus4-2009nov04,0,6055724.column
- Lauren Cassill, "laurencassill"
- Contributions:59
Like many internet scams, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't. ALWAYS read the entire terms and conditions. Many of these add-on subscriptions appear in the small print. Keep a careful watch of charges to your credit cards.
- Sam DeBord, "SeattleHome.com"
- Contributions:3472
I'm not so much worried about the foreclosure company itself--most of us are aware that there are a lot of those scams out there.
I'm more concerned that it's being implicitly verified by Zillow as being reputable, as it appears to an outsider that there is a business relationship. This gives credibility that the site doesn't deserve.
I'm more concerned that it's being implicitly verified by Zillow as being reputable, as it appears to an outsider that there is a business relationship. This gives credibility that the site doesn't deserve.
- Terri Linnell, "DebtsNMesses"
- Contributions:6728
According to Zillow, my house has gone up 60K since I bought it, yet I KNOW it's gone down 120K. I doubt foreclosure.com could do worse. lol
- Tiffany Bond, "TiffanyBond"
- Contributions:3010
Foreclosure.com is a pain in my rear (as is realtytrac). Clients are continually sending me listings from there (which I have to figure out with my keen reasoning skills since there is no way on the planet I am giving them a card number). It usually takes a round or two of telling people that the site doesn't provide reliable information (in my humble opinion) and that those "great" deals are non-existant. Some real gems lately have included 700k-800k houses "available" for around 10k. Buyers get so excited when they think they have found their made for tv story.
- Tonya Brobeck, "Tonya Brobeck"
- Contributions:637
I used realtytrac for a long time before they went down that road. They used to be a good resource/network for the public & professionals. As soon as they went down that road it was pure craziness. Not much was accurate after that.
- Tonya Brobeck, "Tonya Brobeck"
- Contributions:637
I also found when realtytrac listed a house as a foreclosure and it said it was only 10k to buy it was the 2nd loan only......
- Sorin Adamovici, "SorinRealty"
- Contributions:25
I totally agree Very Misleading I don't think listings on zillow should be for selling paid subscriptions. This can't be good for the data and credibility of zillow. This is another great argument that you should always contact your local real estate agent for the most current information. I recommend usa-foreclosure.com this site is 100% free
- Nancy Lee, "An OrderLee Home"
- Contributions:1195
I considered the foreclosure sites as being good comedy when I had a few minutes to kill. I didn't think of the 'touched by the same brush' impact on Zillow - although there certainly are enough questions about those feeds. Good catch, Rob.
- Spencer Rascoff, "spencer"
- Contributions:2093
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I agree that it can be frustrating to see incomplete listing information on a foreclosure listing on Zillow.
Good feedback. We hear you.
Good feedback. We hear you.
- MrsNBender
- Contributions:1
I went thru a nasty divorce a few years ago...my ex completely stopped paying the mortgage and we began receiving foreclosure threats from our mortgage company (Countrywide--btw--they were horrible to work with and now have been bought out by Bank of America; the jury is still out on whether this company is any better)...anyhoo I digress. Until the financial situation of the divorce was settled, the mortgage payments were held up. The home never went into foreclosure and the divorce ended 6 months ago. However to my shock, I explored this Zillow site for the first time the other day and saw my house listed as a "Foreclosure Home" with the nice little paragragh advising potential deal makers to buy now for a good price. Not only was the "Foreclosure" status incorrect, but the # of Bedrooms/bathrooms/school district etc. were all wrong!
I totally agree with everyone here that the relationship with this foreclosure site is misleading and damaging to Zillow's site credibility.
I totally agree with everyone here that the relationship with this foreclosure site is misleading and damaging to Zillow's site credibility.
- Christiaan Bourdrez - REattle.com, "The Seattle Realtor"
- Contributions:6
I agree, the data on foreclosures needs to be cleaned up, perhaps Zillow needs make one (or many) person at their offices check on the data and make sure it is accurate. I think this is really damaging the market and prolonging the downturn as our clients think the info is accurate and don't know what to think of price and market conditions if they don't talk to a professional. Most people want to figure out the market on their own, I recommend they talk to a Realtor to get the facts.
- driveusa
- Contributions:1
Here is a turn for you. I currently have a home listed for sale. Zillow has posted the information on Foreclosure.com and is showing it as a foreclosure. As this is definitely affecting my ability to sell my home I am wondering what legal recourse I have. The discription they have posted says it is a bank owned foreclosure and they show a picture of my backyard. They do not list the house number but the street only has 5 homes on it. If someone looks at my house on zillow the second listing for Foreclosure.com comes up at the bottom of the page. This will definitely lower the value of my home and it is due to this unfair business practice. Zillow you should be ashamed.
- Michael Emery, "MikeEmery"
- Contributions:7296
Zillow has posted the information on Foreclosure.com
It's the other way around. Foreclosure.com posts the information on Zillow.
And without a specific address, and an aerial photograph of your neighborhood, perhaps one of your neighbors homes is or was in foreclosure.
It's the other way around. Foreclosure.com posts the information on Zillow.
And without a specific address, and an aerial photograph of your neighborhood, perhaps one of your neighbors homes is or was in foreclosure.
- Sam DeBord, "SeattleHome.com"
- Contributions:3472
Driveusa, Mike is correct, your issue is with foreclosure .com. The fact that Zillow reposts it is irritating, but they are not the source of the problem.
Foreclosure .com "Listings" - Misleading or Not?
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- 4.9/5.0
- (5 reviews)
Contributions:3472Look at the listing for this house:
http://www.zillow.com/hom ... 378_zpid/
They hide the address, give a price, and then hope you'll pay for the subscription fee. This home is already listed by an agent and is on the MLS. There's already a buyer under contract. If the regular MLS listing was used, a consumer could have gotten this information for free.
That's one of the good "listings". Look at this one:
http://www.zillow.com/hom ... 160_zpid/
No price, no address, no bedrooms, no baths. "It represents a great time to strike a deal with a homeowner who is no longer meeting his or her monthly mortgage obligations." Sure, if we had an address, and any guarantee that the homeowner actually wanted to sell.
Some of these "listings" even make up a "price" by using the value of the loan on the home--again, not helpful.
We can't even see a picture of the home until we pull out the credit card. Does this make you trust foreclosure .com enough to pay for a subscription?
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