Zillow Talk... What do you think about Zillow?

[Ryan Mullin]

I recently read the book Zillow Talk. Well… I really listened to it on iTunes, but anyways I liked it. I think its a must read for those of us involved in the industry. You can gain some really valuable insights from listening to 2 data nerds talk about trends in real estate. Fascinating stuff.

The book also got me thinking about Zillow as a company and how its grown on me over the years.  and really how often I use it and I don't even think about it! 

So my question is this… What do you think about Zillow?

Over the years I’m sure that every investor, agent, wholesaler, and lender have said something to the effect of:   that “zestimate” is waaaaaay off! Not even close.. ..as we shake our head in disgust.    Right?   

Well over the past few years I find myself pulling houses up on Zillow for immediate information. Usually its starts out as a google search of an address to pull it up on a map and the link to zillow pops up first… I click on it and then I find myself looking at beds, bath, sq ft, garage, etc. and It has a map, tax info, and a lot of other pretty useful stuff. A lot of times I can quickly rule out a property or realize I'm extremely interested in a deal just from Zillow. Of course when I do my real research I'm on MLS and realist, but Zillow gets me started. I use it in the field all the time going to auction and driving for deals. Sometimes it will have a FSBO thats not on MLS or craigslist… Ive bought quite a few deals that way... - wholesalers use it.

Recently I signed up to be a “premiere agent” with zillow. Basically I pay them to send me leads. I chose 2 zip codes that are investment heavy and when people look at deals there my profile pops up... and it brings in some good leads!

I’ve been using postlets.com to advertise rental properties for years. Zillow company. … also Hotpads.com. 

Lots of investors use trulia crime maps when researching out of state… Zillow owns it now.

My website is made from a word press template (Blogging software). The plugin software that runs my listings is Diverse Solutions (IDX Provider). a Zillow company.

So… Is Zillow turning into the google of real estate info?   What do you think about Zillow???