Ending 2008 With a Bang

8 Comments so far

1. zillow.com Announces Record Figures | Property Portal Watch on January 6, 2009 11:05 pm

   [...] “In the midst of a gloomy real estate outlook, and traditionally the slowest month of the year for real estate activity, we posted a record month at Zillow,” says the posting on the company blog. [...]

2. doug on January 9, 2009 7:11 pm

   Your site traffic is up, because it is the best in the space you occupy. Earlier this year your comps seemed high as the market was dropping, but for the last 9 months your comps have been the most exact. I recommend my students at http://optionbandit.com use your site over any other for fast accurate home values. Keep up the great work.

3. Joan Kinkade on January 13, 2009 10:11 am

   I spent a helluva lot of time in December 2008 on Zillow trying to correct faulty zestimate, more than 500,000 below formal appraisal and continual comparative market analyses performed by leading realtors in my community. This concerned a newly constructed house custom built on a tear down site. I would have rather spent the time with loved ones, but we are scarcely speaking to each other largely because of arguments and misunderstandings generated by the inaccuracy of Zillow zestimates. I suspect a LOT of your traffic was due to owners/sellers trying to correct faulty outdated info that have made your zystem notoriously unreliable. Before you pat yourselves on the back again, why don’t you stop to seriously consider whether or not Zillow has been more “part of the problem” than “part of the solution” in the real estate market. Publishing faulty zestimates is no service to anyone. If you would releasre your “captive audience” and allow owners the option of “claiming their properties” and then removing them enitrely from any coverage whatsoever on Zillow, I suspect you’d see a future FLOOD of TRAFFIC that would make your past December performance look like “pissing in the ocean.”

4. Drew Meyers on January 13, 2009 11:16 am

   Joan-
   Zestimate accuracy definitely varies by geography - what area of the country are you in? If you reply with the address of the home, we’re happy to look into the issue further.

5. Joan Kinkade on January 14, 2009 3:00 am

   Drew-

   Are you suggesting you don’t have complete access to my profile? That’s hard to believe. Zestimate inaccuracy varies by more than just geography. My home was appraised by AZ state-licensed appraiser in August 2008 at 1,875,000. I understand property values have been affected by foreclosures everywhere, but CMA performed by top salesman in leading agency in Fountain Hills helped me to determine my “fair asking price” in December 2008 — I went 50 thou lower than he recommended, accepting significant loss in market now to sell and move on rather than hold indefinitely, waiting for O’Bama to declare moratorium on foreclosures that could stop the real estate “crisis” nationwide. It is no help whatsoever that Zillow algorithm would keep f-ing owners over with a zestimate so faulty. Just look at the trend chart shown for 16807 E. Jacklin Dr in Fountain Hills. Now how do you suppose that plummet from 1.5 makes any sense at all when the home wasn’t even fully constructed or roofed in 2007, but appraised at 1,875,000 in mid-2008 by an expert who spent hours in the home, noting every room measurement and construction detail and amenuity? This is a custom-designed, custom-built luxury home in a community that Zillow apparently knows very little about. I am angry because I’ve been trying to accomplish something “constructive” here for the last several years of my life — just about as long as Zillow has been trying to get its act together. I don’t blame my neighbors for NOT PARTICIPATING in correcting Zillow’s misinformation about the value of their homes, but practically everyone on Jacklin Drive has extensively renovated in the last several years. One home went from 7,000 to 14,000 sq. ft. within 2008, but still shows as its “former self” when it sold at 1.3-6 years ago. People don’t want excuses for Zillow misperformance and malperformance, they want effective correction of error when they go to signifaicant trouble of making inputs. On ariel view, my home shows JUST A FOUNDATION after tear down of 1974 home we bought in 1998 at $359,900 JUST FOR THE SPECTACULAR LOT. Would it be that difficult for Zillow to update the ariel view? I don’t know why any owner would want to pay for “advertising space” on Zillow when Zillowites continually ignore the information owners go to pains to provide. Through our eyes, Frink and Barton look like guys in the photo attached to my “for sale” sign. This day I’ve deleted most of the descriptive info on my home from the Zillow listing. I’m tired of “playing Zillow’s game” in which only Frink and Barton “win” while I am obliged to argue with my boneheaded son-in-law and such others as to why my appraisal and the CMAs I’ve obtained are PROBABLY more “reliable” than their zestimate. I haven’t appreciated the alternately cavalier/smug-arrogant “corporate attitude” of Zillow that so many owners complain of — we are real human beings and Zillow has hurt many of us, consuming our precious and limited time. This is the LAST place I’d want any prospect for my home to visit. Zillow pulls up “similar homes” at 300-400 that were built many years ago and are in no way comparable to the one I have built. Date of construction is an important factor, as are quality of amenities (e.g., guest faucet at over $700 each). But thanks for the offer of what I must assume will be responsible attention — it’s the first kindness I’ve ever had from a Zillowite.

6. Joan Kinkade on January 14, 2009 3:16 am

   ps, Drew, you ought to check out option.bandit.com too — to gain further “insight” as to WHO and WHAT Zillow is actually serving, and why people like Doug are so happy about Zillow. It says worlds!

7. Holy January! Buyers are lurking… | Zillow® Blog on February 4, 2009 12:05 pm

   [...] in the form of our January site traffic measured by Omniture, seen in the chart below.  After a record-breaking December, Zillow’s January traffic hit an all-time high — 7.5 million unique visitors — a [...]

8. Zillow Turns 3! | Zillow® Blog on February 10, 2009 11:18 am

   [...] Fast forward three years and things couldn’t be better. OK, the housing market and economy could be better, but in terms of Zillow’s traffic and viewership, we are tickled. January’s 7.5 million unique users blew all previous numbers out of the water — including December 2008’s record numbers. [...]