Anyone making use of the Zillow API with Excel?

[Brendan Carroll]

First post!

I really hope I haven't missed a discussion on this, I've tried doing a search on it here, and it mostly leads to discussions about how inaccurate Zillow is. :) Be that as it may, I am interested in using Zillow Zestimates, "Last Sold" values, and the most recent property tax assessment values, in a property analysis spreadsheet I am trying to put together.

Input: Homepath bulk .csv file
Output: Same file with the above Zillow information added.

I have come across a site that does this automatically, but the rates seem steep for what you get out of it. zim.ca. "Zestimates In Minutes".

I see a number of similar projects have been posted on freelancer.com, so I may just contact someone there to whip something up for me.

Looking forward to taking part in the BP community.

[Mike Jakobczak]

yea zillow doesn't have the greatest response on here. I wouldn't really ever pay for comps. Since I have agents I use on a daily basis to help determine after repair values for properties.

[Jesse Tsai]

Hi Brendan,

Something like what you described can be programmed quite inexpensively (I'd be surprised if you paid over $200) at rentacoder.com or any of the other freelance sites.

Thats a route I would recommend over zim.ca

[Brendan Carroll]

@Mike This tool would mainly be used for analyzing markets, not really "buying comps". Once I find an area that looks good on paper, I can engage realtors for real ARV comps. I then bring those values back into the tool, to properly crunch the numbers, and see if that area is still worth looking in to.

[Chris Clothier]

Brendan Carroll I do not know of an API for this, but while I applaud you for the in-depth research and obvious due-diligence you are performing, Zillow is not a very reliable source for data- especially their estimating algorithm. Unfortunately, Zillow cannot tell you the difference between two identical side by side homes even when one can be completely remodeled and the other can be completely burnt out.

It did not sound from your follow up post that you were using this for anything other than market identification, which is good, but I still think advice from fellow investors followed by local market research such as data provided by COC's as well as local property records and realtors associations may be the best accurate data you can find.

Just my .02 - All the best,

Chris

[Brendan Carroll]

@Chris I agree 100%. Purely a high level view.

Zillow should be pretty accurate when it comes to previous sale prices I would think (simply querying public record). By the same token, I am going to assume that it can grab the latest assessed value for tax purposes as well. These are handy tidbits to have (the former, mostly for marketing purposes).

[KC Zhang]

@Brendan, I am thinking about the a tool like this for few days. I even created a requirement document and plan to have it developed. Very straight forward program, input a list of properties information (address, # of br, # of ba, sqft, etc), go to Zillow and get Zestimate and rent estimate.

Programming efforts is very limited, since Zillow has open API. I will let you guys know if I have it developed.

Casey

[Danny Day]

I didn't use the Zillow API, but what I did do was create a list (sorted A-Z) of all the neighborhoods in the zip codes I'm interested in. Then, I created two columns next to it stated 3/2 and 4/2. I went through the MLS and pulled rental comps for each neighborhood for a 3/2 and a 4/2.

I went back to the original SFR rental analyzer spreadsheet, and would input the information into the house I wanted to look up. Neighborhood, bed, bath, etc. Then I would use the vlookup function to pull the rental rate for the specific home in the neighborhood.

Works great, takes a little time up front to get running but I love it.

[Shan K.]

For any property I analyze I like to quickly calculate the CAP. As a part of my 5 minute analysis for the property I need to leave the spreadsheet and go to Zillow for rent estimate . I wish I could have the spreadsheet figure this out automatically.

If this feature was available I would be more productive . I am seriously looking into investing in a tool like that.  

@KC 

@KC Zhang have you made any progress on this ? Would you like to team up ?

If anyone interested in brainstorming and coming up with a set of requirements , please contact me.

[Eric P.]

@Brendan Carroll @Shan K. @KC Zhang Yeah I'd be interested in this as well, but wouldn't it be more helpful to also extract the crime rating & school rating from Zillow or Trulia? Otherwise you're just gonna find amazing rent ratios in ghetto areas which isn't really helpful

[Shan K.]

Let's make list of features that community members like to see. Then we can crowd source the development. 

I would like to see

1. Automatic rent estimate using zrentestimate , plus couple of other sources 

2. Automatic zestimate , realtor.com estimate

3. School ratings -TBD Sources 

4. Crime rating - TBD sources 

5. Demography - Sources 

6. Automatic CAP calculation using estimates

[Sam Yi]

I'd also be interested in this tool as well. I'm not sure about getting anything useful coded on rentacoder for $200. I've used several of these sites and have found all of them very underwhelming. Unless all you're looking to do is a simple logo.

[Jose Guevarra]

The biggest problem I've found is the input data itself.  zillow doesn't let you search by APN through its API.  Assessor address data is a organized a little differently in each county and each county's addresses have to be processed differently when using it to search zillow. I'm sure you would have the same issue when pulling data from other sites. 

[Tony Rumans]

Hey everyone! I've developed using the Zillow API (I have even had a call with the CEO!). If this is a tool I could use for myself then I don't mind putting in the development time and sharing it with everyone. That's a win win for everyone: Everyone gets a free tool and I get to make some friends in the process. Please let me know if this is an option you all would consider

- Tony 

[Sam Yi]

What are you planning on building Tony? Please keep us posted on your plans. I'd love to help in any way I can.

[Tony Rumans]

I was going to go off of community requirements. If someone wants to put together a detailed requirement I can get started on something. I'll start with 1 piece of functionality and keep going from there. Whether it's working with data from an API or building some sort of form for doing calculations I'll get something started at least.

[Matt Murphy]

Shan's list was a good start.  Is there also a good means to see what have been sold in an area in the last x days and figure out a $ per sq foot range?

I'd definitely be open to contributing towards development of a tool like this.

Here is what Shan called out above.

1. Automatic rent estimate using zrentestimate , plus couple of other sources

2. Automatic zestimate , realtor.com estimate

3. School ratings -TBD Sources

4. Crime rating - TBD sources

5. Demography - Sources

6. Automatic CAP calculation using estimates

[Shan K.]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for expressing interest in developing a tool that will automate the deal analysis process. Here is updated somewhat refined wish list.

1. Start with Zestimate , redfin estimate. For members with MLS access do accurate MLS CMA analysis

Source:Zillow/IDX( Broker Reciprocity)

2. Estimate the rent

    Source: zrentestimate/rentometer 

3. School ratings 

      Source: greatschools.org

4. Demography , Determine Neighborhood rating A,B or C 

    a) Crime

    b) Median income

5. Estimate Expenses

    a) Estimate property tax data

    b) Estimate Insurance cost

7. CAP rate using 50% rule

8. Estimate COC

Additionally thinking about a google chrome plugin which will automatically hot-link the property address on any webpage. When link is clicked it will take you to the page with above analysis. 

@Tony 

@Tony Rumans , @Matt Murphy, @Sam Yi and others I need help , support to make this happen.  

[Matt Murphy]

Definitely, let me know how I can help.  I've got a pretty solid IT background, though I am not a programmer/developer.

[Shan K.]

I have created a ppt with initial spec and proposal to crowdfund. Let me know what you think

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tKrxGk7EvA...

[Tony Rumans]

That looks great! Of all of the points listed there, one of them stood out the most to me: May be required to pay third party data access fee. 

On one project I worked on a while back I quickly learned that there is not really one single source for MLS data. Some sites have tried to combine data from all of the MLS sources but there are some limitations and the API access is not cheap. www.ihouseweb.com has 531 MLS sources and they still don't have them all. Plus, even though they may have access to a single MLS source, you may still have to pay that MLS source directly in order to get the data. 

I have worked with Heartland MLS (Kansas City area) in the past and one way I've found to help get me closer to what I want is to create data exports within MLS (to csv format) and import them into a database. Once they are there I identify each field (Address Line 1, Zip, HOA fees, etc.). Below is what I've created in the past:

And once selected:

Everything you see there is a link to some external source which passes either the MLS# or the address to a Google search. Basically all of the data that was exported is imported back to my site and is searchable and calculations can be done. Development didn't get much further than what you see but it was a start. I was thinking that I could plug in some numbers that I found from those external sites and it would do the calculations right there on the page, instead of trying to automate it all. The level of effort to get something like that going for an unlimited # of sites is just too high. Again, this was being built for my own use.

It is also capable of pulling in data from the Zillow API but per Zillow's API terms & conditions, none of the data can be stored in the database. An API call has to be made for every request and those requests are limited to a certain number per day and anything over that you have to pay for. And since you can not store their data you can't really get historical data (archiving/data warehousing) to see what has happenned with a property over time.

Having said all of that... I think we should start small... Baby Steps (any What About Bob? fans?) Maybe a simple calculator that can address one piece of this puzzle and then build up from there.

Please let me know your thoughts!

 - Tony

[Dan Mau]

I created an Excel VBA Spreadsheet with code to do something similar to what is being discussed, but my focus has been on locating MF properties for buy-and-hold CF (attached screenshot).

The goal of the spreadsheet to was quickly analyze a large amount of potential listings to locate those with the highest CF potential.

Since I am working with a Realtor, I developed the analysis spreadsheet to start with a predefined MLS search.

It works like this:

1 - Set up MLS searches for interested areas/property types

2 - Plug the MLS search URL into the spreadsheet

3 - The analysis sheet scrapes the MLS results, pulling addresses, prices, number of units, etc...

4 - The analysis sheet then runs each property through Rentometer.com, and returns the estimated rent per unit

5 - The spreadsheet has built-in formulas to calculate/estimate expenses, NOI, CF, CAP, COC, etc...

The Zillow APIs seem to be limited to returning queries for single properties, so it should not be too difficult to develop a similar spreadsheet using API calls to quickly analyze individual properties.

[James Mc Ree]

@Dan Mau - Can you share your creation?

thanks, Jim.

[Michael Kennedy]

I second that! @Dan Mau please share are you wouldn't mind. 

I found my way to this page because I was considering creating a VBA Excel spreadsheet to click through my county property records GUI to copy, format, and paste all of the relevant data for each property in the county so that I could easily look up properties for varying purchase prices and dates of purchase as a means of quickly sorting and evaluating properties as is being discussed in this forum. Is anyone aware of a source for the information applicable to this type of tool, as it would save me some time? (My VBA is a little rusty...)

[William E.]

depending on the county, they will sometimes expose the database online.

not to give away my secret to the world, but in my area i have access to all the records and it is updated every two weeks. they even provide a sample database to plug in the information.

http://pdata.hcad.org/download/

[Matthew McCall-Stillman]

Did Dan or Shan ever get any traction on these things? Very interesting stuff here.