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- HomeSand.net, "White Picture"
- Contributions:4398
Do the function, which auto removes the listing which is more than 6 months old, even they are in the auto-feed, if the agents or the owners want to renew the listing, they can renew later.
- sunnyview
- Contributions:25139
I don't know enough about how the feeds come in to Zillow to know what might work,but hopefully the agents will have some good ideas about what would make it easier for them to manage listings on Zillow. I think that sending a reminder email to "renew" every 3-6 months or the feed/listing will be suspended sounds like a good idea. Agents manage a lot of feeds and sometimes they just plain forget to remove all of them beyond the MLS listing itself.
Or maybe Zillow could set up a system where if a listed house is recorded as recently sold, the email goes out and then no reply means that the feed is removed. Maybe a check in screen for agents when they log in that shows all current feeds for listings and asks for them to be updated or deleted might also help.
There are houses on Zillow that have been listed for years without any contact and I think it would be great if there was an automatic way to clean out those listings.
Or maybe Zillow could set up a system where if a listed house is recorded as recently sold, the email goes out and then no reply means that the feed is removed. Maybe a check in screen for agents when they log in that shows all current feeds for listings and asks for them to be updated or deleted might also help.
There are houses on Zillow that have been listed for years without any contact and I think it would be great if there was an automatic way to clean out those listings.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
I know this "solution" takes a lot more processing time and much more data space, but it is the only solution that will work... and processor time and memory space is now "inexpensive".
Track "every" syndicating feed for every listing separately in a "list" attached to the ZPID number. When ANY listing comes down on ANY syndicating feed, put a "stop" character in each of the lists, indicating which syndicator "removed" the listing. And then don't allow reposting by ANY syndicator, unless the data actually changed from BOTH the previous data by that syndicator AND the data by the syndicator that removed the listing.
And yes, for over 6 months old with no changes, auto block that syndication until a change is made. (The "stop" marker would be "stale listing" rather than a specific syndicating site). No Real Estate agent in their right mind will leave a listing over 6 months with no changes if it is not selling.
Also allow any home owner to place the stop mark by editing their home details page. The stop marker would then by "owner".
Track "every" syndicating feed for every listing separately in a "list" attached to the ZPID number. When ANY listing comes down on ANY syndicating feed, put a "stop" character in each of the lists, indicating which syndicator "removed" the listing. And then don't allow reposting by ANY syndicator, unless the data actually changed from BOTH the previous data by that syndicator AND the data by the syndicator that removed the listing.
And yes, for over 6 months old with no changes, auto block that syndication until a change is made. (The "stop" marker would be "stale listing" rather than a specific syndicating site). No Real Estate agent in their right mind will leave a listing over 6 months with no changes if it is not selling.
Also allow any home owner to place the stop mark by editing their home details page. The stop marker would then by "owner".
- Michael Emery, "MikeEmery"
- Contributions:7298
I had a listing that was on Zillow via postlets.com drop from Zillow because I forgot to 'renew' the listing on postlets. It took a couple of days to return, but it came back onto Zillow.
Obviously their method prevents the 'ghost postings' that have become so prevalent on Zillow. And 99 percent of the time Zillow is blamed for the errors of agents and other websites.
Obviously their method prevents the 'ghost postings' that have become so prevalent on Zillow. And 99 percent of the time Zillow is blamed for the errors of agents and other websites.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
Michael points out a small revision needed to the proposed solution I posted... If the Same syndicator that "removed" the listing puts it back, it needs to go back and the stop markers removed from the lists.
And "PLEASE" beta test these revisions on just a small sample before releasing it on the whole site. We have too much experience with the site revisions being released without sufficient code debugging.
And "PLEASE" beta test these revisions on just a small sample before releasing it on the whole site. We have too much experience with the site revisions being released without sufficient code debugging.
- HomeSand.net, "White Picture"
- Contributions:4398
It is too easy to 'Hide' or 'Remove' the old listing, in fact Zillow already did as 'search 30 days old sold homes' '90 days sold homes'.
Just simple put something on the Web-page as:
if( ListingDays < 181 ) ShowTheListing();
else
{
Do_Some_Thing_As_Remind_The_Agent();
}
- Debra (Debbie) Rose, "Livingston NJ"
- Contributions:2736
Actually, I am quite confused as to how listings from the MLS are handled.
The MLS feeds to zillow. It shows up as a new listing...and any changes - such as reductions or closed sales should show, too.
But..........If the home becomes a pending sale, does that show? When it closes , does that show?
All of that information comes throight the MLS - does it feed to zillow?
If I "claim" the listing....does this interfere with the flow of changes that are passed along via the MLS?
One of my listigs closed months ago - it was reported promptly in the mls...yet it still showed as active here.
why?
Why does anyone have to claim a listing anyway, if it comes by way of the MLS? Doesn't the listing agent show as part of the listing?
I suppose it's allowing people to pay to list their homes, and be in control of that information, that can distort the data.
The MLS feeds to zillow. It shows up as a new listing...and any changes - such as reductions or closed sales should show, too.
But..........If the home becomes a pending sale, does that show? When it closes , does that show?
All of that information comes throight the MLS - does it feed to zillow?
If I "claim" the listing....does this interfere with the flow of changes that are passed along via the MLS?
One of my listigs closed months ago - it was reported promptly in the mls...yet it still showed as active here.
why?
Why does anyone have to claim a listing anyway, if it comes by way of the MLS? Doesn't the listing agent show as part of the listing?
I suppose it's allowing people to pay to list their homes, and be in control of that information, that can distort the data.
- Dunes....
- Contributions:3894
I may be wrong but I don't think it's a matter of "The MLS feeds to zillow."
My understanding is there are around 700 different MLSs Nationwide and only a small % of them Feed into Zillow...
Most Feed listings come from Brokerages/Agencies/Agents is what I thought...
My understanding is there are around 700 different MLSs Nationwide and only a small % of them Feed into Zillow...
Most Feed listings come from Brokerages/Agencies/Agents is what I thought...
- Dan, "the_country_hick"
- Contributions:4700
Since zillow does not get the listings directly from the various MLS systems nationwide they need to buy their way into all of those MLS systems. Yes. it would cost some money, it would be difficult or maybe impossible. It might require having a real estate license in every state to get it done and agreements or maybe not (ask the MLS people). Yet that is the only way to be as accurate as realtor.com. Your interface is much better than theirs. I would prefer to find properties from here.
As long as zillow (and other sites) do not get complete access to the complete MLS system their listings will always be out of date and incomplete.
Change the system so once a property is claimed that it does get removed automatically by the feeds. As I understand it now once the property is manually worked on the feeds stop removing the properties.
The only other thing I can think of is to remove all listings once a week (say Tuesday) except for paid for ads. Those paid ads expire when they expire. Sending out an email to all involved would ensure they have postlets (or whatever) resend the listings on Monday. The one day early reposting could remove all outdated feeds while allowing the current listings to remain. The computer sees a listing renewed and keeps it on the list. If a property is not reposted it goes away. That way no property would be more than one week out of date.
As long as zillow (and other sites) do not get complete access to the complete MLS system their listings will always be out of date and incomplete.
Change the system so once a property is claimed that it does get removed automatically by the feeds. As I understand it now once the property is manually worked on the feeds stop removing the properties.
The only other thing I can think of is to remove all listings once a week (say Tuesday) except for paid for ads. Those paid ads expire when they expire. Sending out an email to all involved would ensure they have postlets (or whatever) resend the listings on Monday. The one day early reposting could remove all outdated feeds while allowing the current listings to remain. The computer sees a listing renewed and keeps it on the list. If a property is not reposted it goes away. That way no property would be more than one week out of date.
- Jeffrey Bowen, "BostonBroker"
- Contributions:155
Feed from the MLS only and not vlflyer, realbird or any other of the syndicators.
- Debra (Debbie) Rose, "Livingston NJ"
- Contributions:2736
Dunes - I think I stand corrected, and you are right - the brokerages who have agreements with zillow send their feed, and agents who pay..... not the MLS - therein lies the problem then. The MLS shoud be the main source of accurate lisintgs.
I am under the impression that once a listing is claimed, the source of the feed is overruled and is now in the control of the agent who claimed it - is that correct Russ?
I am under the impression that once a listing is claimed, the source of the feed is overruled and is now in the control of the agent who claimed it - is that correct Russ?
Stale or zombie for sale listings are the worst.
Owners can block listing from any source. When the owner wants to sell, they will remove it.
Zillow can override if necessary.
Owners can block listing from any source. When the owner wants to sell, they will remove it.
Zillow can override if necessary.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
Only 2 of the MLS' provide feeds to Zillow. All the other feeds come from agents' websites, sites like postlets.com, etc.
The biggest offender of the stale listings is the agents' websites, and the agents don't want to do anything to fix it.
Zillow polls all the feeding sites nightly for updates. Zillow does prioritize the order for polling to get the best information available, but that doesn't resolve stale listings. Even if something is removed from one site, if another still has it active, it is polled and put right back on Zillow. Thus the need to track every site individually for every listed property so that the logic for re-posting is the same logic that any normal person reviewing it would use. Zillow software for the polling HAS to be able to distinguish a stale listing from an altered listing or new listing or continued listing.
There is only one way to do it, and I already posted that. And no, it is absolutely not reasonable to try to get it direct from the MLS and ignore all the syndicating sites.
And if my suggestion is used, an agent could still override a stopped listing, but the agent would have to specifically post something different.
Now, for those unethical agents that post properties they don't represent just to change the statistics for their sales area... they need to have their license revoked,. and Zillow needs to help report them.
The biggest offender of the stale listings is the agents' websites, and the agents don't want to do anything to fix it.
Zillow polls all the feeding sites nightly for updates. Zillow does prioritize the order for polling to get the best information available, but that doesn't resolve stale listings. Even if something is removed from one site, if another still has it active, it is polled and put right back on Zillow. Thus the need to track every site individually for every listed property so that the logic for re-posting is the same logic that any normal person reviewing it would use. Zillow software for the polling HAS to be able to distinguish a stale listing from an altered listing or new listing or continued listing.
There is only one way to do it, and I already posted that. And no, it is absolutely not reasonable to try to get it direct from the MLS and ignore all the syndicating sites.
And if my suggestion is used, an agent could still override a stopped listing, but the agent would have to specifically post something different.
Now, for those unethical agents that post properties they don't represent just to change the statistics for their sales area... they need to have their license revoked,. and Zillow needs to help report them.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
David is probably right though; if an owner posts on their home "discontinue listing", and an agent continuously puts it back, the owner needs a more drastic option of "absolutely no listing" which only the owner or Zillow could remove.
That still may not solve the problem. My claim to my house was "stolen" by others at least 3 times, and I had to claim it back and repost all the content.
That still may not solve the problem. My claim to my house was "stolen" by others at least 3 times, and I had to claim it back and repost all the content.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
Debbie is also right that Zillow really also needs to add a "pending" option on the listings. Many other syndicating sites already have that. But agents don't know what to do with a pending listing; to keep it active on Zillow and other sites, or to mark it "sold" when it isn't. That shouldn't be that hard to resolve.
Also, many items on the "more" pop-up need to be moved to the main home details page, especially number of stories; and a separate filter needs to be added for those. (And the search summary needs to show # of stories). (I like 2 stories, but there have been many people posting that they are looking for 1 story, some even wanting at grade or ramp entrances instead of steps).
And I'm still convinced that the keywords filter is not sufficient for some items that need to be able to be searched, and thus additional fields need to be added to the home details page, and separate filter boxes needed to be provided for searching those, specifically:
1) horse property
2) swimming pool (with 4+ options)
3) # car garage/carport
4) water front (type, size, and distance)
5) view (including what is in the view)
6) transit (type of transit available and distance to the transit)
7) paved sidewalks and curb-cuts (you wouldn't believe some of the problems I've seen for people accessing transit or shopping in wheel chairs due to having to travel gravel walks and cross freeway overpasses with no sidewalks).
The main reason these need to be separate instead of trying to use the keyword search the ability to search for NOT having the feature, and the difficulty specifying numbers for things that are not in the description.
Also, many items on the "more" pop-up need to be moved to the main home details page, especially number of stories; and a separate filter needs to be added for those. (And the search summary needs to show # of stories). (I like 2 stories, but there have been many people posting that they are looking for 1 story, some even wanting at grade or ramp entrances instead of steps).
And I'm still convinced that the keywords filter is not sufficient for some items that need to be able to be searched, and thus additional fields need to be added to the home details page, and separate filter boxes needed to be provided for searching those, specifically:
1) horse property
2) swimming pool (with 4+ options)
3) # car garage/carport
4) water front (type, size, and distance)
5) view (including what is in the view)
6) transit (type of transit available and distance to the transit)
7) paved sidewalks and curb-cuts (you wouldn't believe some of the problems I've seen for people accessing transit or shopping in wheel chairs due to having to travel gravel walks and cross freeway overpasses with no sidewalks).
The main reason these need to be separate instead of trying to use the keyword search the ability to search for NOT having the feature, and the difficulty specifying numbers for things that are not in the description.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
And Zillow also still has two major problems polling syndicating sites that have to be resolved, and that should be fairly obvious how to resolve, and they need to be fixed SOON!
1) The lease/purchase listings. According to the data I recently looked at for Pasadena, there are still several properties that are being listed for sale at the monthly lease cost. Zillow needs to read both those fields separately from the syndicating sites instead of importing the lease amount as the purchase amount. And Zillow needs to compensate for the careless posters that put the information in the wrong field. If the Z-estimate for the property indicates that the amount is only about 1/100 of the value, Zillow needs to use their present "monthly payment" formula backward to create the listing amount.
2) Lot size. It is still creating decimal place errors for larger size lots, and inflating lot sizes sometimes by as much as the conversion factor between acres and sqft. It also appears that some other units may be used by some syndicating sites. Many have pointed out that it is very difficult to search Zillow for large parcels due to this syndication error problem.
1) The lease/purchase listings. According to the data I recently looked at for Pasadena, there are still several properties that are being listed for sale at the monthly lease cost. Zillow needs to read both those fields separately from the syndicating sites instead of importing the lease amount as the purchase amount. And Zillow needs to compensate for the careless posters that put the information in the wrong field. If the Z-estimate for the property indicates that the amount is only about 1/100 of the value, Zillow needs to use their present "monthly payment" formula backward to create the listing amount.
2) Lot size. It is still creating decimal place errors for larger size lots, and inflating lot sizes sometimes by as much as the conversion factor between acres and sqft. It also appears that some other units may be used by some syndicating sites. Many have pointed out that it is very difficult to search Zillow for large parcels due to this syndication error problem.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
And then, there is the mapping/geocode issue. Although it may never be fully resolved for the "new construction" where there are "new roads", at least Zillow could automatically send an E-mail to the person syndicating the listing reminding them that Zillow doesn't have an accurate location for the property, and giving the agent... the instructions to correct the location on Zillow.
And Zillow needs to be contacting the U.S. Census Department for existing dwelling unit locations. From what the Census department told me 8 years ago, they were going to be redoing all their map bases for the 2010 census and going to be using GIS systems and portable computers with differential GPS for the Census survey walkers to verify housing unit locations. If they did as they said they would, that database should become "public domain" as it was paid for with U.S. tax dollars. And that database would be much better than any other means of geocoding a property.
And Zillow needs to be contacting the U.S. Census Department for existing dwelling unit locations. From what the Census department told me 8 years ago, they were going to be redoing all their map bases for the 2010 census and going to be using GIS systems and portable computers with differential GPS for the Census survey walkers to verify housing unit locations. If they did as they said they would, that database should become "public domain" as it was paid for with U.S. tax dollars. And that database would be much better than any other means of geocoding a property.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
And two more issues, both related to address and property look up...
1) Where new construction is assigned a new address, but Zillow is using the original address, there is presently no cross reference between the properties, and the home details pages are duplicated with the one with the present address not having the county records data. It is not clear if Zillow should change the address to match the new address or not, but at minimum, Zillow needs to link these home details pages between each other.
2) Where Zillow doesn't properly reconcile an address from a syndicating site or from a "post a listing" creation on one's profile page... a duplicate home details page is created, often not removed. We've seen some properties with as many as 5 home details pages, such as agent Jon's in Long Beach. There are means of reconciling the addresses better. It just takes a little bit more programming and data look-up. Where an address cannot be reconciled, it should be "rejected" with an automatic e-mail to the agent... trying to syndicate the listing.
1) Where new construction is assigned a new address, but Zillow is using the original address, there is presently no cross reference between the properties, and the home details pages are duplicated with the one with the present address not having the county records data. It is not clear if Zillow should change the address to match the new address or not, but at minimum, Zillow needs to link these home details pages between each other.
2) Where Zillow doesn't properly reconcile an address from a syndicating site or from a "post a listing" creation on one's profile page... a duplicate home details page is created, often not removed. We've seen some properties with as many as 5 home details pages, such as agent Jon's in Long Beach. There are means of reconciling the addresses better. It just takes a little bit more programming and data look-up. Where an address cannot be reconciled, it should be "rejected" with an automatic e-mail to the agent... trying to syndicate the listing.
- Annette Lawrence, "Palm Harbor FL"
- Contributions:28
Russ, as you can see there is not sufficient information to make a valid recomendation.
Is z getting listing from Realtor.com?
Is z gettting listings from all (or specific) MLS?
What is the revision hierarchy among the syndicated feeds?
My solutions would be Z receives NO listings from any source without paying the creators of the source data (that would be the real estate agent) for the right to publish the data the agent gathered, edited, posted and published. Would not the originators of such data have greater incentive to keep their data accurate if the data were not actually stolen; used without the express written consent of the agent?
Is z getting listing from Realtor.com?
Is z gettting listings from all (or specific) MLS?
What is the revision hierarchy among the syndicated feeds?
My solutions would be Z receives NO listings from any source without paying the creators of the source data (that would be the real estate agent) for the right to publish the data the agent gathered, edited, posted and published. Would not the originators of such data have greater incentive to keep their data accurate if the data were not actually stolen; used without the express written consent of the agent?
- sunnyview
- Contributions:25139
"Would not the originators of such data have greater incentive to keep their data accurate if the data were not actually stolen; used without the express written consent of the agent?"
Can you explain a bit more Annette? Zillow does not "steal" listings from agents. Agents send listings to Zillow on automated feeds here for free or submit them manually for a listing fee. As far as I know, Zillow does not "scrub" websites for listings or post listings on the site that are not submitted by agents or owners.
Submitting listings to Zillow on a feed costs the agent nothing. Agents don't have to post listings on Zillow, but doing so benefits them and gives their listings exposure. The bulk of the problem on Zillow comes when those agents fail to remove their listings when the house is sold or removed from the market.
It would be nice if there was a consolidated site where agents could manage ALL listings so that they could all be removed automatically when the main MLS listing was removed.
Can you explain a bit more Annette? Zillow does not "steal" listings from agents. Agents send listings to Zillow on automated feeds here for free or submit them manually for a listing fee. As far as I know, Zillow does not "scrub" websites for listings or post listings on the site that are not submitted by agents or owners.
Submitting listings to Zillow on a feed costs the agent nothing. Agents don't have to post listings on Zillow, but doing so benefits them and gives their listings exposure. The bulk of the problem on Zillow comes when those agents fail to remove their listings when the house is sold or removed from the market.
It would be nice if there was a consolidated site where agents could manage ALL listings so that they could all be removed automatically when the main MLS listing was removed.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
Annette, I'm completely confused by your post. Zillow has made it perfectly clear how syndication works and what sites are providing data, and what are not, and how they pay 3rd party data collection companies to make county record data available to Zillow in an electronic format that Zillow can use.
Are you really saying that a Media company should PAY advertisers for the privileged of running their classified advertisement?
In other words, NBC should pay Coca-Cola to run a Coca-Cola advertisement?
No matter how good Coca-Cola's advertisement is, that is not the "content" that "brings the viewers" that pays the bills.
And since when did the MLS ever pay you to post a listing? Or since when did NAR (and Realtor.com owned and operated by NAR) every pay you for anything? Don't they both charge you an annual membership fee?
If advertisement data is wrong and deceptive now, it would only get worse if the providers of bad content were paid for it.
Are you really saying that a Media company should PAY advertisers for the privileged of running their classified advertisement?
In other words, NBC should pay Coca-Cola to run a Coca-Cola advertisement?
No matter how good Coca-Cola's advertisement is, that is not the "content" that "brings the viewers" that pays the bills.
And since when did the MLS ever pay you to post a listing? Or since when did NAR (and Realtor.com owned and operated by NAR) every pay you for anything? Don't they both charge you an annual membership fee?
If advertisement data is wrong and deceptive now, it would only get worse if the providers of bad content were paid for it.
- Sam Robbins, "sam28"
- Contributions:132
I believe you must invest some new resources in the problem, come up with an auto notification to agent to remove the listings, better yet have your system do this after 3 months of the sale being recorded. As long as you have access to that information, this should be the process.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
"It would be nice if there was a consolidated site where agents could manage ALL listings so that they could all be removed automatically when the main MLS listing was removed." -
It will never happen as all those sites are in competition for the same market sector for advertisement views and paying advertisers.
If an agent only uses one site that syndicates, they already have that ability; but in addition to their "company site" they use other sites to try to get more exposure for the properties, and many of the sites that are syndicated to by syndicating sites syndicate to other sites, so there is a "tree structure", and the "links" can be broken leaving a branch that people forget about. Even Zillow has indicated that if you alter data on this site that was syndicated by another site, that it will break the syndication link to prevent the revised data from being over-written by the next polling of the syndicators.
It will never happen as all those sites are in competition for the same market sector for advertisement views and paying advertisers.
If an agent only uses one site that syndicates, they already have that ability; but in addition to their "company site" they use other sites to try to get more exposure for the properties, and many of the sites that are syndicated to by syndicating sites syndicate to other sites, so there is a "tree structure", and the "links" can be broken leaving a branch that people forget about. Even Zillow has indicated that if you alter data on this site that was syndicated by another site, that it will break the syndication link to prevent the revised data from being over-written by the next polling of the syndicators.
- Vince Curtis, "SoCal Appraiser"
- Contributions:4699
Have a dedicated HOT LINK, a one step submit button to have anyone submit an address of any stale listing, then correct it within 24 hours.
Thats what is expected from the customers POV. From your POV, you just have to figure out how to do it.
Having stales listings on your site cuts down on your credibility in the eyes of visitors who dont frequest the site often or at all, and those are the people you need to satisfy the most.
Thats what is expected from the customers POV. From your POV, you just have to figure out how to do it.
Having stales listings on your site cuts down on your credibility in the eyes of visitors who dont frequest the site often or at all, and those are the people you need to satisfy the most.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
And that last post brings up another issue with syndication for stale listings not addressed in my suggestion for the only fix that will work...
When an agent alters the data directly on Zillow after syndication, there needs to still be a way for the data to be removed when the syndication stops... but Zillow still needs to keep the revised data without allowing syndication to alter revised content.
So, the additional programming needed to address this is that when content is altered, it doesn't place a "stop" character in each of they syndicating lists, but an "altered" character in the syndicating lists, and the new syndicating data still gets added to the lists even though not altering the data on the site. And when data from the syndicators comes in altering a field different than the ones edited on the site, the syndication is still allowed to alter the data (such as price reductions) that the agent or owner didn't specifically edit on Zillow. And for "removal" of data, when the original site that syndicated the listing stops syndicating, the "stop" character is inserted in all the syndicating lists, and the listing comes down as discussed in the earlier posts, with only the same 3 provisions for allowing re-syndication.
When an agent alters the data directly on Zillow after syndication, there needs to still be a way for the data to be removed when the syndication stops... but Zillow still needs to keep the revised data without allowing syndication to alter revised content.
So, the additional programming needed to address this is that when content is altered, it doesn't place a "stop" character in each of they syndicating lists, but an "altered" character in the syndicating lists, and the new syndicating data still gets added to the lists even though not altering the data on the site. And when data from the syndicators comes in altering a field different than the ones edited on the site, the syndication is still allowed to alter the data (such as price reductions) that the agent or owner didn't specifically edit on Zillow. And for "removal" of data, when the original site that syndicated the listing stops syndicating, the "stop" character is inserted in all the syndicating lists, and the listing comes down as discussed in the earlier posts, with only the same 3 provisions for allowing re-syndication.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
I like Vince's "hot link" for removal of a listing by any site visitor that knows a listing is stale, but I would be extremely concerned about agents or consumers sabotaging others' listings for spite or competitive edge or something.
It can't be that simple without it being abused. There would have to be some kind of security measures to prevent malicious vandalism.
It would help if Zillow did a 2-step registration process with an authorization code emailed to the email address given for registration prior to completing the registration so that Zillow would have a way to trace users if there was a legal issue, and so that Zillow could contact users that were creating problems...
How about only "verified" users could use such a hotlink, and instead of taking the listing down when the hot-link button is used, an E-mail is sent out to the agent or owner responsible for the listing stating that the listing has been flagged by a user as "stale" and that if the agent doesn't respond to have the listing remain within 3 days that the listing will automatically come down? And how about tracking when such E-mail is sent so that when the "hot-link" button is pressed multiple times by multiple users that the agent only gets one E-mail notification instead of hundreds?
And how about providing a second similar button for "wrong listing data" to flag the agent or owner in a similar manner, but in 3 days, the listing doesn't come down, but only the questioned data item, which would then be left with a "?" since it would be considered unknown and unverified information? This would require some creative programming for the hot-link button pusher to correctly tag the data field they are questioning.
It can't be that simple without it being abused. There would have to be some kind of security measures to prevent malicious vandalism.
It would help if Zillow did a 2-step registration process with an authorization code emailed to the email address given for registration prior to completing the registration so that Zillow would have a way to trace users if there was a legal issue, and so that Zillow could contact users that were creating problems...
How about only "verified" users could use such a hotlink, and instead of taking the listing down when the hot-link button is used, an E-mail is sent out to the agent or owner responsible for the listing stating that the listing has been flagged by a user as "stale" and that if the agent doesn't respond to have the listing remain within 3 days that the listing will automatically come down? And how about tracking when such E-mail is sent so that when the "hot-link" button is pressed multiple times by multiple users that the agent only gets one E-mail notification instead of hundreds?
And how about providing a second similar button for "wrong listing data" to flag the agent or owner in a similar manner, but in 3 days, the listing doesn't come down, but only the questioned data item, which would then be left with a "?" since it would be considered unknown and unverified information? This would require some creative programming for the hot-link button pusher to correctly tag the data field they are questioning.
- Dunes....
- Contributions:3894
Improve Listings....
One thing that would Improve Listings, immediately benefit Legit Agents, Consumers, bad listings, credibility is addressing this Situation/Issue pro-actively..How did another agent put their info on my listing?
One thing that would Improve Listings, immediately benefit Legit Agents, Consumers, bad listings, credibility is addressing this Situation/Issue pro-actively..How did another agent put their info on my listing?
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
One thing that would "help" minimize such illegal listings would be to have an "illegal listing" button on the home-details page (with similar safeguards as recommended for the other "hot link" buttons), that would send a notification to the agent that it appears that there is a licensing or code of ethics violation, and if not addressed in 7 days, an automatic E-mail will be sent by Zillow reporting the violation to the state licensing department and to the local real estate board, and that the E-mail will have contact information to Zillow's general legal council for providing evidence of the violation.
The Realtors® would stop this unethical behavior very quickly if they knew it was going to be reported and they knew they would lose their license. And those people pretending to be licensed agents that don't have licenses would stop pretty quickly too if they realized they were going to have major fines, and maybe even prison time.
The Realtors® would stop this unethical behavior very quickly if they knew it was going to be reported and they knew they would lose their license. And those people pretending to be licensed agents that don't have licenses would stop pretty quickly too if they realized they were going to have major fines, and maybe even prison time.
- Pasadenan
- Contributions:21466
Also on the ethics and legal listings issue, it would help if all listings would provide the license number of the listing agent, and if there was a prominent place to provide the user's license number when registering on Zillow as an "agent". It would also help if Zillow did automatic look-ups of the agents' license number in their state, and would remove the agent tag automatically if it was determined the license number was fraudulent or not in good standing. And such users should get an automatic E-mail stating that it is illegal to use license numbers that don't belong to them, and it is illegal to represent oneself as a Real Estate agent in any state without having a valid license and a valid broker. The broker's name should also be required to get an agent tag on the user name and should also be posted prominently on any listings that are not "for sale by owner".
(And that professional directory really needs to be "cleaned up", and better search provisions provided, and a means to get beyond page 25).
(And if an agent is licensed in multiple states, Zillow needs to provide a place for each license number, and needs to look up each).
(And that professional directory really needs to be "cleaned up", and better search provisions provided, and a means to get beyond page 25).
(And if an agent is licensed in multiple states, Zillow needs to provide a place for each license number, and needs to look up each).
- Tamela McSwain, "Tamela_McSwain"
- Contributions:51
As an agent...we can become overwhelmed with keeping up with all the websites our listings land. Is there an option to set up a auto email from Zillow to the listing agent inquiring about the listing after 4 months/6 months? In the email provide a link to remove the listing if it has sold/exp/off the market.
I for one would love Zillow to send me an inquiry rather than running down over 300 website feeds!
I for one would love Zillow to send me an inquiry rather than running down over 300 website feeds!
Zillow Asks: How do we improve listings quality?
We're all very aware that Zillow, and sites like ours, must improve the the "quality" of our listings. Every day brings new reports of "My home sold back in September but still shows as For Sale on your site!", or "My house isn't for sale but Zillow says it is!", and so on.
Obviously, in order to be successful in what we're trying to accomplish and so that we can create win-win-win situations all-around, we need to figure this out. And we have and continue to invest ample resources into this. It has been and is a corporate priority. If we can't grow as a reliable source for this information there is just no way we'll be around for much longer.
We have lots of ideas, we have many plans and we have improvements in-progress every week. But I'd like to ask you for your thoughts on how we can solve this. In particular, the case of "stale" listings: Home was for sale, sold(or was taken off market), but still shows as For Sale on Zillow.
Be candid and let's just throw the ideas out there ; )
Thanks so much!
Russ
Zillow Customer Support
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