Zillow

It took 2 years for the Zillow algorithm to figure things out, but it finally did. We seem to be getting reasonable estimates now that align with the local human realtors. Yea!

I put my house up for sale and had plenty of responses. A lot of RE agents bothered me to list with them, but I saved $7000 for the trouble, and could have saved twice that if the eventual buyer was smart enough to contact me directly instead of contacting an RE agent to contact me. Put in the ad to be contacted directly, also invite agents to bring their clients capping their commish at 2.5-3%, then save half or even all the commish.

Thanks Zillow. Now if you could just objectively improve your RE agent reviews instead of making them a cheering section...

Although it's far from perfect, Zillow lists most homes for sale or rent all over the country. You can even see recent sales without going through the hassle of finding an area's property records. Not all of the information is 100% accurate, but it's a great way to view hundreds of properties online without signing up with a real estate company. Often those agencies request a telephone number and send annoying emails. Again, I wouldn't rely on it for accurate estimates, since it gets information from other sources, but overall it's a wonderful way to get an idea of the current market in multiple areas and find a real estate agent if desired.

* - UPDATED - Zillow has corrected the problem so I changed it from 1 star to 4 stars...
I am trying to sell my home and Zillow seems to be going out of their way to stop it. Something changed about 45 days ago and they changed their map where my house no longer shows up correctly. When you look at the map of the city, my house does not show for sale (that hurts while I am actively trying to sell it). If you type my address in, the for sale listing does show up, but the map is off by 2 miles and it shows the house is sitting in a lake. Ever since they changed their map, my house has dropped in value by $40,000 (probably thinking that since their map shows my house is located in the middle of a lake, it is a flood zone). I have called Zillow and had to leave a voicemail and they have not called back. I left a message on their "Report a problem with the listing" section of their website. If it gets corrected timely, I will change my review to indicate such.

After living in northern CA for over 30 years, my husband and I are planning to move back to Wisconsin, our home state. Our move is totally to be near family; it DEFINITELY NOT is because we enjoy WI's weather, humidity, bugs, snakes, etc. With us living so far away, Zillow is a good tool to use to help us find our new home. One thing I must mention is that WE ALREADY HAVE A REALTOR in WI, and we don't plan to use anyone listing a particular home. Along that line, PLEASE DO NOT PRESS THE BUTTON that says "I'm interested in this home" because you will receive many unwanted phone calls from agents! Otherwise, Zillow.com is a good tool to use to get an idea of a home you want. Zillow gives information on Facts and Features, Year Built, Square Footage, Room Sizes, Heating and Cooling (Central air is a MUST!), acreage, Taxes, price per square foot, schools, and much more. There is also a "Zestimate" that can tell you if the home is priced too high or too low. Zillow also gives "how many days" the home has been listed on Zillow, in addition to a history of the home's price increases or decreases or "taken off the market", which can help one ascertain whether a lower price might be accepted by the seller.
The negatives of Zillow are that pictures they show of the homes may be limited, and that if you don't already have a realtor, you take a chance on whoever is listing the home. Since we were already from WI, we have a realtor we know and trust.
But when you live thousands of miles from wherever you are planning to move, Zillow is a great site for you to get an idea of what is out there and how much it costs.

In our recent purchase, Zillow +Redfin+our buying agent were all necessary to get a great house. It was not the "lowest price" house, but the right school district+walkable location+ house with great bones+ right size. Mind you, Zillow is just "one" tool, however what else is available to buyers? The buyer's agent, while very experienced and on our side, is not perfect either. For us, having many reference points, such as our agent, city tax assessment, recent sales, Zillow's data were all necessary to make a better choice.

I love that it shows me the zestimate (Zillow estimate) of how much I would be paying a month and that it is easy to navigate and filter to what we need. My only complaint is that I have reached out in the past to agents and never got any responses except for one time and it wasn't the greatest interaction. Other than that it is easy and useful, I just recommend using a Realtor you know or local to that area.

Zillow leaves a lot to be desired but it's a good place to start researching. The visuals alone do that.

I wish they would add a feature that allows searches by the number of levels a house has--one story; two stories (or more); unfinished basement; finished basement, etc.

The thing is, a LOT of us are getting older and only want to consider a one-story home. Falls are a concern, but even more than that is the day-to-day difficulty of climbing and going down stairs.

If you want a great realtor on zillow michael presinger is the one.

My husband and I used Miller Laine for our possible investment. They were really nice and helpful. Very easy to talk to, and very polite.

UPDATE - Zillow sent me several links to get the problem fixed. One involved getting the agent to post the listing at NO charge, but after sending him the link and how to fix it, nothing happened. So I followed the link to re-post the house on my own- again - no charge. All the original listing information was there except for pictures, so after a few minutes uploading the pictures I wanted to show, the listing was back up. The only thing is that it now shows "For Sale By Owner"
Evidently there was a dispute between ListHub (feed provider) and the realtor. As the realtor himself could have fixed the problem for NO CHARGE, in less than 30 minutes, I am seriously thinking of upgrading realtors.
Though I feel that even if a listing has been pulled by a feed provider the status shouldn't be automatically "off market" unless there has been specific verification, I feel much better about Zillow.
Zillow refuse to show correct status of my house, which is FOR SALE. Zillow intentionally shows FALSE information by showing it "Off Market". I have tried to get them to correct this, but they refuse, and are causing me potential financial harm. I have reported them to consumer affairs, as they claim it is information in an MLS feed, which is FALSE. The MLS feed is received by all the realtors, and their sites are showing my house as "For Sale" and show proper price reductions. They should be required to show true information, not INTENTIONALLY show False information.

Perfect Business Real Estate place for seeking Home buyers, sellers and for rents.
You can get all the information related to home buying only on particular country on this site especially USA.

I find their service and response excellent. Other may had some issue but in my case they were fast helpful enough.

Thanks
Mandeep
http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.bestonrent.com

Zillow is great to get basic information about most homes. However, the valuations can be a bit off, either up or down. People make the mistake of using it as their only source for comps when house hunting. Zillow does not replace a Realtor. However, it does give you a great starting point.

Zillow can be just plain fun! Check out what it says about your house. Check out what it says about your brothers house. Even check out your nasty neighbors house. It can be very informative as to last sale price. Not all areas are covered. There is a real lack when it comes to rural areas.

Zillow is a great site for finding out area property information and values. The data regarding taxes and sales dates, etc. is very informative, however, their valuation of properties can be a bit off. Most likely they base their valuations on previous sales and their estimates are general. If you are looking for property valuation use Zillow for information and then check with several local real estate professionals for the true estimates of valuations. If you are searching for increasing values in a depressed market, the market can change for the better much quicker than reports on Zillow.com. Zillow does eventually catch up though.