It’s okay if you are blunt. As I said, I still think Zillow is trying to find its way. It may turn into a mortgage/home information resource, but it will never replace seeing homes in real time and knowing the real value of a home in the marketplace.

I’ll check Glyphius out. I read a very postive article about it on Copyblogger. Thanks for stopping by.

Thanks for your response. Kudos for the amount of traffic you get. As I mentioned above, Zillow has great information about the home buying and selling process. I think this information is of great benefit to the consumer.

However, it still seems the consumer is not as clear, as you mention, to viewing the “Zestimate” as a starting point.

I agree with transparency. The real estate industry is moving in that direction. In the near future, the number of “Days on Market” for a listed property will be available on public sites, again, giving the consumer more information.

“It would be great if I could see an “original list price” to “actual selling price” accuracy chart by agent in my area.”

Interesting you should mention this idea, as this is exactly what I do on two other blogs I write for specfic neighborhoods. It’s valuable information for home buyers and sellers. It represents what’s truly happening in their “neck of the woods.” When I report sales information in these neighborhoods, I report the original list price, the final list price, and the actual sales price.

http://westredmondrealestatebuzz.com/2008/06/20/weekly-real-estate-buzz-in-west-redmond-through-june-19th-2008/

http://kirklandhighlandsrealestatebuzz.com/2008/06/20/weekly-kirkland-highlands-real-estate-buzz-through-june-19th-2008/

I expect you have some great ideas in the works, as you say, and am looking forward to what Zillow will offer in the future. Good luck with the sale of your home.

Thanks for the email today and the link. These are interesting conversations here. I, and 5 million others every month, believe strongly that Zillow is much much more than a cocktail party conversation starter. In fact, a CAR study last year indicated that over 50% of buyers surveyed said they used Zillow as part of their buying experience. This was far away bigger than any site other than Realtor.com.

Consumers strongly value what we do. They value the zestimate – that is still the primary reason they come to the site. By and large, they understand it is a starting point. It isn’t necessarily an ending point. But, we track our accuracy versus most every recorded sale (millions a year) and we *publish* that accuracy on every page (in the form of the value range) and in aggregate on our accuracy page. We are not only transparent with the zestimate; we are transparent with our grade.

I continue to believe that it would be great if the industry was equally transparent. It would be great if I could see an “original list price” to “actual selling price” accuracy chart by agent in my area. My home, which I have listed, was priced at $1.59 originally and was a “sure sell”. Today I signed papers to take the price to $1.25 (after lowering to $1.475 based on advice of my agent). It’s a difficult market. I get that. But, I think transparency helps on all fronts.

I do agree that we will continue to find our way with services for consumers and real estate professionals. We have a number of great ideas in the works and we will soon be introducing a number of new ways for agents, brokers, lenders and other professionals to get guaranteed exposure to our audience (these will be ads).

Thanks again for having me and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly if you have further comments/questions about Zillow.

I’m looking forward to Blogger’s Connect.