If you didn't understand the concept about buzz before, you probably have an idea about it now. Buzz is what marketers call the attention a product or service gets from the various forms of media as well as the general public. Zillow.com currently has a lot of buzz.
Zillow.com is a website where you can enter any property address and it will give you a Zestimate, or an estimated value of the property. In some cases, the Zestimates seem pretty close. In others, they seem way off. Regardless, the system is intriguing and the presentation is slick (the hybrid map is similar to Google Local's map, where you can scroll around the map in real time).
Zillow generates it's revenue by advertising, so you don't have to pay anything to use it. Heck, you don't even have to give your email address or any personal information at all. Just go to http://www.zillow.com/, enter your address, and it will give you a pretty impressive display of information.
From my perspective, you need to realize a few things. First of all, this is using government and (I believe) MLS data to generate a price. What it doesn't do is take in account factors such as upgrades (especially those made since the house was last purchased), condition, or view. You also need to realize that this isn't a suggested sales price. Depending on whether your market favors Buyers or Sellers, your pricing might be higher or lower.
One thing we noticed was that certain cities were more accurate than others. While I had a problem with the price it gave for one or two of the houses I looked up in Las Vegas (my personal residence included), many others were pretty close. In several cities in Texas, however, we noticed some pretty extreme variances from the prices we believe to be market value.
Another glitch that I'm sure they'll fix soon enough is that you can't have any spaces in between the words of a street address. For example, if you looked up 1151 Orange Meadow, Las Vegas, NV, you would have to enter 1151 orangemeadow in the street address, otherwise it can't find the property.
All in all, we see this as a good thing for the public. Anytime you can arm the public with knowledge, it's a good thing. I'm waiting for the time I take a listing and hear "Well, the Zestimate says the value of our home is $50,000 more than what you're suggesting," but I believe that once I educate the sellers on how to really go about pricing a home, it shouldn't be a problem.
I suggest you go check out this free and cool tool and see for yourself!
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