The Real Estate Wiki: For You, By You
By: Leslie Pandey, Senior Content Writer/Editor | December 11, 2006
Last week we launched some fabulous new features here at Zillow and one of them that we’re super excited about is the Real Estate Wiki.
I’m sure most of you are familiar with Wikipedia and other wiki sites. If you’re not sure what a wiki is, read our wiki definition (or add to it!). As we see it, a wiki is a shared source of information that anyone can contribute to. It combines knowledge from diverse resources, and is therefore richer than if it were the result of just one author.
For many people, the world of real estate can be confusing and sometimes intimidating. When I first started looking for a home, I had no clue how the buying process worked. And I didn’t want to screw it up — after all, this was the biggest purchase I’d ever made! I tried to read about buying a home, but after wading through articles filled with real estate jargon (escrow? lien? huh?), I came away more confused than ever. I did eventually find and buy my first home, but it certainly wasn’t as smooth as it could have been had I known more about the process before heading into it.
We’re hoping this wiki will help demystify this murky world by allowing everyone to share their real estate knowledge and experience, whether they are real estate professionals, sellers, buyers, or just people who are passionate about homes.
We laid the foundation of the Real Estate Wiki with hundreds of pages of basic information — a real estate primer, you could say — written by professionals and people just like you. There’s information on every step of the buying and selling process, from choosing the right agent to closing the deal. We also added glossary definitions, so never again will you have to wonder what the difference is between Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, and FHA.
Really though, this is just the beginning — and that’s where you come in! Do you have an expertise in a certain area of real estate? Go ahead and create a new wiki page to share your knowledge. Or add your thoughts to an existing article. This real estate wiki is yours. Yours to use, write, and edit. In fact, over a hundred new pages have already been added to the wiki since it launched, including some great articles on foreclosures, mortgage brokers, and increasing a seller’s property value.
Anyone can contribute to the wiki — all you need to do is register with Zillow and create a screen name. Get started by reviewing our guidelines, and then jump in!
- Stumble it!
- Categories: Real Estate, Real Estate Industry, Zillow
Comments
6 Comments so far
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Ross Reller on December 12, 2006 10:02 am
The commoditization of real estate data sans licensees is upon us and it is called Zillow. Judging by the speed with which other traditional venues have migrated to the web, is there anyone out there who does not see the impact Zillow can have on NAR, on commissions and ultimately on saving consumers huge amounts of time and money in driving down the cost of selling a home and driving up the data bits, sets and metrics available on line re: real property?
brad hill on January 10, 2007 8:10 am
I’m currently considering a home with fiber cableing. The guys I’m working with are called tennessee valley homes and FITHtech, they’re saying they can sell me a home that will be ready for the next 20 years of data inhancements, does anyone have any experience working with these two companies and/or have an idea if it’s worth having fiber cables run in your home?
ReBlogger on January 29, 2008 10:15 pm
Ed: SPAM deleted
ReBlogger on February 2, 2008 10:27 am
Leslie that wasn’t spam. The heading says “Speak your mind” and I all I did was to tell you about a great new service and you just deleted it because… you don’t like it. There was nothing bad in the article. I suggest you repost it back. My goodness Zillow what have you become.
David G from Zillow.com on February 4, 2008 10:37 am
ReBlogger
Unsolicited self promotion is SPAM and will be deleted. You linked your signature to the service you were promoting and so I naturally assumed that your comment was self-promotional and deleted it. Make sense?
ReBlogger on February 11, 2008 9:04 am
A brand new wiki for the real estate industry, similar to Wikipedia, has been launched. It is called Real Estate Wiki and can be found at http://www.RealEstateWiki.com.
It was launched on January 15th, 2008 (in beta) with the goal of helping real estate brokers and agents, homeowners, home buyers and sellers as well as renters by providing quality, objective and handy information about the real estate industry and the home buying process – the true objective if a Wikipedia. The site dies not take any listings, advertising of blatant self-promotion. It is an encyclopedia, a resource. Zillow agents should embrace Real Estate Wiki. It compliments Zillow and the two services hardly overlap on any important items. Each has a different focus and benefit to agents.
Real Estate Wiki is a privately funded and is a non-profit venture. They have no special allegiance to any one company and will not tolerate discrimination, slander, negativity or narrow-mindedness and any form as well as no pornography or sexually related material.
All brokers, agents, other professionals, vendors etc. are invited to participate in the real estate wiki by contributing information, adding their own profile, their company profile, uploading images and even videos. It is all about working together to create the largest real estate encyclopedia and a legacy for the next generation.