Zillow - the new way to do real estate

Posted on February 9, 2006 No Comments

Took a quick look at Zillow this morning as it seems to be generating a LOT of activity in the “blogosphere”. If you’re into buying, selling or valuating homes, this one will definitely have to go into your toolbox. If you’re curious about how your home stacks up against comparables (recent sales) around you, then you want to visit. Will it replace folks in the real estate industry? I really doubt it, but it’s a nice little tool to have around.

Type in your address and get a satellite view of your neighborhood — your house will be hilited and recently sold homes around you will be outlined as well. There is just gobs of data here, but it is all presented in a very approachable way. Be glad I’ve only had one can of Dew so far as otherwise I’d be in full-on “excited raving” mode! Of course, you may find yourself a bit dismayed about some of the public data on your home (do I really want the world knowing what I paid for my house?). You can also just type in a zip code and get a feel for valuations in that area.
Long story short: This is slick. Very slick. And it likely has the real estate industry up in arms.

Note: This is a beta (what isn’t a beta on the web these days?) and as such, there are some rough edges. For instance, they don’t have coverage for all parts of the US.

Tags: real-estate, zillow