The following is my 4th attempt to have my 100% honest review posted on Zillow. Zillow keeps telling me to change something even thought there is nothing to change:

Zillow personnel, I have edited this honest, detailed review 4 times. Nothing in it goes against Zillow Guidelines. Nothing. Feels a bit like something is not quite right as it appears that you are protecting a business from an honest review of a consumer. Details need to he exposed for the public to come to their own conclusion. Please either email me and tell me what, exactly, goes against the guidelines, and I'll be glad to fix it, or publish my review. Thanks.
I found the homes thru Zillow for my husband and I to look at. We sent the addresses to Chrissie in order to see the inside of each one. She was impatient with my husband and in some of them. For instance, I had grown accustomed to having a large country kitchen, and she told me I had to get over it. My husband voiced his concerns about a wooden floor that buckled in an area, and she did not encourage us to investigate the cause of the buckled area by checking the Seller's Disclosure. The same with the blocked off door in the living space family room in case of a fire since there is a wood burning stove in there. She rushed thru the final walk thru.

Neither the Originator of the loan (Ivan Viademaia), nor Barrick followed repetitive instructions made by my husband and I to have both of our names on the Title and Deed. If you gaped when you read that, so did we at the closing when we saw that my name was missing from the certificate, title and deed!

There was absolutely no remorse or spoken apology from Chrissie or the Originator. They both got angry with us at settlement when we called out their huge, costly [toward us] mistake. It was nothing short of a ruined, horrible, stress filled experience.

Chrissie became angrier when we demanded that she at least add my name to the homeowner's certificate to take home at settlement. She literally threw it at me across the table instead of handing it to me. My husband, Rich, and I had to figure out how to get my name on the title and deed ourselves. No help from Chrissie Barrack.

My husband is an Italian senior citizen that is hearing impaired, and I am a middle aged Native and Afro American. We help one another when it appears that others are attempting to not be fully honest and transparent with us in regard to business transactions. We told Chrissie at the initial meeting of his hearing being impaired, so to please speak loudly. We also shared at the settlement that Rich relies upon me to make sure he hears everything correctly before signing anything or responding vocally. Yet, Chrissie attempted to go thru the paperwork with him separate from me at settlement, and was visibly annoyed when I went over to sit with him as well to be sure he heard everything correctly since our trust in her was not there.

During the doc signing, Chrissie offered Home Insurance 3 times to which we declined. This appeared to irritate her as well.

We called a meeting to speak with the Broker of Berkshire Hathoway at 1444 Baltimore St, Hanover PA ******* to share our horrible experience with their Agent and vendor/loan originator. We have no idea if any reprimand was done.

What should have been a positive experience, Chrissie made a horrible one.

We highly do not recommend Chrissie Barrick.

More manipulation of internet content and how it is accessed/presented to us…
Now from Zillow/Trulia!

Zillow has separated FSBO listings (now known as "Other Listings") from MLS listings (now known as "Agent Listings") AND the "Agent Listings" are given priority…shown first, under an exclusive tab. Listings are also shown on two separate maps! This is a violation of the public trust and so dishonest…let me tell you why:

This change is misleading — in this curtent format, the different tabs are not noticeable; the "Other Listings" tab (for FSBOs, foreclosures) is very faded because it's in the background, and the MLS "Agent Listings" are automatically displayed first (and may be the only listings displayed if a user does not see the "Other Listings" tab and aren't aware of this change).

Before this change, MLS and FSBO listings were combined. I have been informed (and have a relative who has been a team leader at Zillow HQ for a number of years) that this strategy has been part of Zillow's business plan all along — that strategy being:

1) To first get Buyers and Sellers ‘hooked' on using Zillow by providing a free and easy way to research markets and obtain a huge variety of info and photos/maps of all kinds of properties…all at their fingertips and unfiltered (for use in conjunction with their Realtor or independently).

2) Then as planned, once almost anyone buying or selling property is using Zillow in some way (Zillow listings are even prioritized in web searches, so people are taken to Zillow with one click via a web browser), Zillow separated and prioritized "Agent Listings"(MLS)…guess why…because Zillow has launched an additional product and brought "Agents" on board with them (as an additional service offering (?), at an additional cost). Interesting coincidence…?

I have absolutely nothing against Realtors, and I respect these and all hard-working, honest professionals…there is a place and enough business for anyone who delivers great customer support. FSBO is a viable option for some Buyers/Sellers, while a relationship with a professional Realtor may be a fit for others. As a FSBO Seller, I compensate Buyer-side Realtors and have worked well with them, always, and Buyer's Realtors do not mind in the least. I have used Zillow since 2004 to market and sell our various homes and lots (over this time, 6 of our 22 transactions included Buyer's Realtors, and we used Zillow to market all) and for finding properties to buy (with and without Realtors). As a FSBO, I do all the work, showings, questions, contacts, and contracts through certified Escrow Agents and Title companies — all Buyers and Realtors have been extremely confident in our relationship and the results.

Back when Zillow started, Realtors were up-in-arms — and now, FSBO Sellers are not provided equal opportunity/access to Buyers and Realtors…and vice versa. Actually, Zillow even has their "Call Agent" and "Message Agent" buttons below the FSBO listing heading and their "Contact Agent" information within the FSBO listing AND THERE IS NO AGENT, EXCEPT ZILLOW's OWN AGENT FORCE/RELATIONSHIP. The position of these buttons and tabs — along with the lack of a clear description that these are options, not required — leads users to believe that that's the way to make contact with a Seller. Zillow has their own tribe of "Agents"…great!

Now that we've all figured out how to use Zillow well, and all types of Buyers and Sellers and Realtors are getting along with each other and their "service," Zillow implements Part 2 of their strategy and hidden agenda — and we users even trained ourselves only to find that we're now generating leads and listings for Zillow's "Agents." I have to say, if FSBO Sellers wanted a listing agent, we would engage our local licensed Realtors (who are possibly our own friends/business partners) NOT use some random connection to a Zillow "Agent." If I were a Realtor, I would be extremely worried — Zillow has Agents…?

This is unethical on every level — a violation of Truth in Advertising and Real Estate Best Practices/Codes of Conduct — and we all took the bait (really, we were led on). This is just another case of a huge internet-based corporation that was made successful by "the people" now manipulating data and how information is presented to us, all for the almighty dollar! So much for professionalism and conducting business in good faith! The public "built" Zillow — and now they're almost a duplication of the MLS and using we, the public.

Zillow Offers is a scam. I only write this review to help others avoid my $27,500 mistake trusting this scam artist.

On 8/15/2019 I asked Zillow for an offer on my house. I needed to sell my house fast because I found anther house I wanted to buy and did not want to loose it. It was a great deal and was bank owned.

On 9/26/19 I finally received my offer. The offer was very low but I still wanted to close on the other house

On 10/13/2019 there was an appointment to go over the offer and how someone to look over the house.

On 10/15/2019 they made a final offer marking down anything they found wrong with the house. This could anything from wall plate not matching in color to them wanting to rip out my brand new expensive carpet that I just installed and installing cheap carpet instead. The reality is they are just trying to get the house as cheap as they can.

On 10/31/2019 I wrote Zillow to explain some of the crazy items they wanted to change. For example taking out built-ins and replace all outlet switches. They wrote back to me on the same day saying they would get back to me.

After trying every few days by phone to get ahold of them I wrote a email asking for a update on 11/18/19.

On 11/19/2019 I wrote them again begging them to get back to me on I will loose the house I wanted and my NON-REFUNDABLE deposit of $22,365 (My life savings). I only did this because Zillow was supposed to be a sure thing. Later in the day they got back to me saying they should know more information by 4pm.

The next day, 11/20/2019 I wrote them at 9:50am and 5:14pm saying I have not heard anything back.

On 11/22/19. I finally heard from Zillow. They will not reduce any of the fixing they wanted to charge me. (taking out built-ins, Changing all light switches, that are all in great condition, for example). At this point I had no choice but to take the offer as is or loose my deposit and my dream home. I wrote them back and said fine. One hour passed and they said because of the time has passed we will have to start all over again. Explained the problem to them and said how fast can we get this done.

End of day 11/22/19. They wrote me one last time saying they just changed what homes they are buying and my home is too large for them. They are no longer going to buy my home. I was forced to sell my home on a fire sale with the MLS or loose the dream home and my deposit for the home.
In the end I sold the home 30,000 less then Zillow's final offer because they backed out. I also had to pay a realtor about $30,875 to sell it. If I would have just sold it on the MLS from the beginning I would have had the time to do a lot better instead of trying to use Zillow and having them shift the price they were going to give us and ultimately backing out of the deal costing me $68,875.

Beware
Trulia, there so many fake sellers there who will offer you house rent, I lost $3000. 00 USD but luckily I was able to recover $1000 back through a recovery agent. Please beware, if anyone has a similar issue, he can go through quicker. Discovery ATdellj4001gmailDOTcom

I've been on Zillow for 10 years, have used it (cautiously, and verify comps) for work and for my real estate investments personally. I decided to start researching for my own home about 4 months ago, considering a sale. The day I decided to do so, I posted photos. When I did this, the "algorithm" plunged my value by over 10%, or $60K overnight. That was 3 weeks ago, many email and phone calls (no human ever answers). Email responses say things like, "the zestimate is not a replacement for comparable sales, only a start - however, when you go to the site, they tout "Zillow Zestimates are a good start for prospective buyers, and that "accurate information helps attract interest"

There are two values on the user profile, one cannot be seen by the public (typically) that is the appreciation value. A straight line increase based on appreciation from the purchase price. This value is not used on the MARKET Value, profile (but carries some weight in the calculation they tell me) However, my home - no other on my street - is taking ONLY the appreciation value, which is significantly low, as I bought on an OPTION. My purchase Price was negotiated a year before I closed, when the house appraised at purchase close, it was $65K more than purchase price. Market on my home, conservatively is between $610K and $630K Zillow Zesitmate shows $555K.

So, I list it as a "Make me move" - this is the Zillow "note":

"The list price and Zestimate for this home are very different, so we might be missing something" -

When I wrote to them, to tell them what they were missing, they told me it could take 8 weeks for my zestimate to catch up to market again since the photo add, edit facts must have messed with my algorithm. Nothing they can do.

Can I remove my house altogether? No.

So, essentially, I am FORCED to have my house, my INVESTMENT, reflecting a FALSE value to the public.

I see attorneys in my future.

This review is to be as factual and impartial as possible; I am writing it 2 weeks after the fact so that I am calm about the information and my options I state. I recently had Zillow make an offer on my house without a Realtor to represent me. Below is listed the numbers they provided.

Paint the exterior of the house to cover all

Discolorations caused from age and exposed

Elements.

Sand and paint or stain cabinets in the kitchen to

Cover any scratches and make them appear as new.

Whole house touch up of any dents or holes in the

Drywall and match the texture to the current texture of drywall

Room by room paint touch ups of any faded,

Scratched or chipped paint, best matching the current

Color.

Paint $135 per 5 gallon, 5 Gallons covers 2000sqft. Repaint Interior and Exterior 50 Gallons. Over Estimate. Total $1350 x3 to include labor cost. $4050

Remove and replace front door with fiberglass

Standard. Replace damaged service door with new

Door, weather stripping and casting at bonus room.

Replace damaged French doors in the bonus room.

French Door to replace old door. $642 x3 to include labor $1926

Replace Front door $961. X3 for labor $2883

Purchase, deliver and install new dishwasher and

Microwave.

Dishwasher. $399.00 x3 for install labor $1200

Microwave. $249 x3 for labor $750

Estimated cost to do repairs without hiring someone. $3600 (all items found on Lowes)

Estimate cost to do repairs with hiring someone. $******* (Contractor Cost is an estimate)

Zillow's estimate. $*******

All Items listed on the repair sheet are classified as upgrades in the Real Estate field.

Outside of these items Zillow did no breakdown the cost for me as they stated they would in phone conversations. The only cost breakdown I got was in reference to overall cost.

Initial offer was $*******, which is a good price and fair value.

Initial Estimate of all cost was $*******. This included all closing costs, fees, and an estimated repair cost. Comes out to about 9%. Average Realtors in my area costs cover about 8% so very competitive.

After their home inspection the new offer that came back was still $******* with the following fees added.

$******* for Service

$******* for Seller Concession ("repairs")

$2596 for Closing Cost

I would walk away with $*******, I bought the house for $*******. I would walk away negative $9000 after my house value went up $*******.

After receiving all the information, Heather Barrera was rude once I told them how absurd their offer was. Additionally, they sent over 2 documents after I told them I was not interested in selling to them for their end price. The first was the overall sell of the house for my review if I wished to change my mind. The second document they sent was a document for me to agree to use them as my Realtor, this was not explained to me by them in any way or was I warned this document coming. My Realtor read all the documents Zillow sent me and informed me of what each document was. I have copies of all the documents, and I am more than willing to share them to those that ask. (email *******@yahoo.com)

Overall unless your house is perfect and you owe nothing on it, I highly recommend you take the time and use a licensed Realtor in your area to sell your home and get a fair and full value of it. If you are in a rush and money is not an issue feel free to use this system.

The sales people exaggerate on how many leads you get. The leads are almost all worthless. It's a 6 month contract with a 2 month buy out fine to get out of their"contract". They instantly break the contract the first month into it because I never got the 18 leads that they promised me.

Where do I start with Zillow/Trulia! I have been advertising with Zillow as a premier agent for months now, and I can tell you that it is 100% a scam. I needed a new place to allocate some advertising dollars and decided to give Zillow a try. The sales rep, Kevin **, told me the number of leads per zip I would receive (18) for the spend I was willing to do ($1400 a month). Zillow makes you sign a 6 month contract, and I was a bit hesitant to commit to $8400 for 6 months worth of advertising.

Over the first few weeks, I realized that I made a terrible BIG mistake. I would say 90% of the leads are absolutely worthless. I was receiving rental leads and I told the rep that I needed leads for home purchases ONLY. That's how we make money-selling homes and not renting them! He respond that he was a are and that they would refund me and never fit credit me or refund me! Second off they were advertising properties that were not listed for months or that were sold months ago... TOTAL SCAM AND TOTAL DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING! Not sure how they are still around and how this company Is not shut down yet. I have had several real estate agents go on there a click the lead and then tell me they are agents wondering about the property for sale that was not for sale on our local Realtracs website! Of course it's not on MLS because ZILLOW WAS FALSY ADVERTISING THIS PROPERTY.

At the end of the day that lead was counted against my leads as a one of my leads- It's a TOTAL SCAM- DO NOT ADVERTISE WITH THESE SHARKS! It is a SCAM. I asked the rep, Kevin, to see if he can cancel my first week into it and of course he could not. He asked me to pay 2 months to buy out of my contract! WOW! I asked him if I get leads for those 2 months and he said NO- that month buy out (2800) was to get out of their scam! I want to get the word out to everyone in the real estate business so maybe I can save you from getting scammed and ripped off. DO NOT ADVERTISE ON ZILLOW or TRULIA! I am filing a class action lawsuit against them for so many reasons. If you would like to join me- send me a message.

They falsely advertise homes that are not available as a form of bait and switch and they send you this lead. The client calls wanting to get this home that sold months ago for the lower price and you have to instantly advise them that zillow does not update their system for months and by that time- you lost the potential client interested in buying a home.

They just need to be taught how to market and to get the correct adverting so that they have a good product to offer. There are so many bad reviews on zillow doing this to all Real estate agents all over the internet. Please help me take these people!

Zillow needs to take down their estimate of home values. Zillow is hurting sales and making it harder to sell homes. TAKE DOWN ZESTIMATES.

I wrote a letter to Zillow "consumer advocate" to ask why our house went down $ 61,000 in one day after I reported a home improvement we made. Their response was the standard "algorithm" excuse without explanation why our house went down instead of up. I am publishing my letter here to show how unreliable their Zestimates are as well as their forecasts and to show that they do not even know the difference between addition and subtraction.

Dear Leslie B.,

7/22/17

We request an explanation how our Zestimate decreased almost $ 61,000.00 in just one month after we made home improvements! Almost every time I claim the house and update the info, showing improvements we have made, the Zestimate went down instead of up. I believe that if I had not reported our home improvements, our Zestimate would have gone up like our neighbors.

Another faulty thing about your website is that your Zestimates claims "Your Zestimate has increased!" but then knocks it down to a lower number. This happened on 11/3/16,3/17/17 and 6/20/17. Does your algorithm even know the simple difference between substractions vs additions?!

Yet another faulty thing is your forecast. On 9/20/16 your forecast for our Zestimate in one year was $ 653,440. Now, nine months later, you knocked down the price in one month by almost $ 61,000 so that the present Zestimate is $ 553,534. In other words, your projected forecast is off by almost $ 100,000.00! We have lost all faith and respect in your website.

I have been following our Zestimates for almost one year now because we originally intended to sell through your website. These are the Zestimates you gave:

9/20/16 $ 632,015 PROJECTED FORECAST IN ONE YEAR $ 653,440
10/12/16 $ 629,880
11/3/16 $ 614.435 CLAIMS IT WENT UP $ 14,673 IN LAST 30 DAYS
11/25/15 $ 620,782
1/18/17 $ 618,478
2/21/ 17 $ 620,308
3/17/17 $ 619,849 CLAIMS IT WENT UP $ 714 IN LAST 30 DAYS
4/24/17 $ 618,376
6/20/17 $ 614.323 CLAIMS IT WENT UP $ 8936 IN LAST 30 DAYS
7/19/17 $ 553,534

I request that you restore the Zestimate of our house to last months of $ 614,323. Besides the two lawsuits that are currently pending against Zillow, various internet websites where angry customers report their negative experiences can be very damaging.

LC

I have had three children attend Mission Montessori, but sadly I have had to remove all of them from the school. If it wasn't for the teachers in the Pre K classrooms - we would have never stayed as long as we did. They are warm, caring and have great hearts. However, the administration and the policies at this school is where this school has lost our family.

This last year we had to abruptly withdraw our 2 children because Mission was not adhering to a high enough standard. The classroom has become overcrowded and this has left a huge strain on the staff. One day 2 assistants were sick (there are no substitutes) and this left one overwhelmed teacher to to teach many 3,4 and 5 yr olds! Playground time is often taken away for the ENTIRE class if the are to many disruptions. Why should my 3 year old miss out on play time because somebody else is not following the rules? That is absurd. There are so many kids in the room unsupervised that kids frequently use the restroom with the door open, which is unacceptable. Also, during lunch the kids cannot speak during the entire lunch period. I could go on and on, but the final straw came when my 4 year old son came home with his Curious George shirt turned inside out without even the courtesy of an explanation. To us this is unacceptable. No adult should be allowed to remove the clothing of a child for any reason beyond a potty accident.

We prepaid our tuition and were denied a refund for the remainder of the school year, citing a 30 day notice that we did not give.
It has been clear to us that this schools number one priority is making money. Adding more and more students to an exhausted teaching staff They are very adept at turning a deaf ear to the concerns of parents.

Let me repeat, the Pre-K teachers and assistants were terrific, but your kids will get lost in the classroom. Once we transferred to a different school with more appropriate class numbers, it was like we had brand new kids that could not wait to go to school in the morning! We received frequent updates through email about their day and even had a chance to chat with the teachers after school! What a difference. Mission Montessori had a good thing going, but the desire to cash in has led to a huge decline in their campus.