(Since this post I have written a more updated list. You can find the updated post here. Zillow is now reaching 9 million people a month. Double that of when this post was written!)
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In my job at Zillow I meet with a lot of Realtors and have heard many creative ways that agents are using Zillow to further their business. Based on these comments, I have typed up the top 10 ways agents can get involved with the Zillow website and reach out to our 4 million monthly users.
1. Look up the home you are selling on Zillow. Know the Zestimate so you can be prepared if buyers want to discuss this number with you.
2. Edit the home's facts. Was there recently do a kitchen remodel? Do public records say that it is a three bedroom house, when really there are four bedrooms? Edit the home's facts to arrive at your own Zestimate which will be published next to Zillow's automated estimate.
3. Post your listings for sale for FREE. When a home's status changes to "for sale" on Zillow, traffic for that home increases over 200%. Post your listings (and as many photos as you'd like) for free on Zillow.
4. Create a personal profile for FREE This is your persona on Zillow-when you post a listing for sale, report a home for sale, ask a question or post an answer, or edit a Wiki page,. On your profile page, you can add a photo, self-description, contact information, web site address, company name and location. Any contact the Zillow community makes with you through this page is free.
5. Report homes for sale. Zillow is opening up the site to the entire community to tell us which homes are for sale and for how much. This is a great way to appear as an expert in a particular area of town.
6. Ask and answer Questions on home detail pages. On every home detail page users can "ask a question," or, if a question is already posed, you can "write an answer." To do this, you must just be registered with Zillow. All questions and answers link to your profile page. Home Q&A is about enabling real estate conversations online where they are useful and helpful for everyone, and lets you have an opportunity to showcase your knowledge and experience. If you're a listing agent and post your listing on Zillow, you will be automatically updated each time there's a new question or answer on one of your listings.
7. Contribute to the Real Estate Wiki. The wiki is a place to find up-to-date and relevant information on home buying, selling and financing, written for and by Zillow's community of users. Any registered Zillow user can add, edit, remove and change the content in the wiki, and you'll receive links back to your profile.
8. Look up For Sale By Owner listings and Make Me Moves (MMM) prices. Agents should spend time on the site to learn about the "Make Me Move" market that is available to them, whether their intentions are to prospect or expand the pool of homes a client could consider for sale. In competitive markets Make Me Move homes can be an alternative stream of available homes for clients.
9. Incorporate Zillow into your listing presentation. While a private home owner can post their own home for sale, there is value in an agent doing it for them and maintaining the copy, photos, and public inquiries. Show the home owner that you know how to maximize Zillow's marketing tools and that you will handle the process for them.
10. Buy an EZ Ad. Want even more exposure on Zillow? EZ Ads are a low-cost, self-service way for real estate professionals to reach local buyers and sellers on Zillow. EZ Ads will show up throughout Zillow, on our map and home details pages, in the particular zip codes the advertiser chooses. Advertisers are able to promote themselves, their company or a specific home in a specific zip code. You can see the performance of your ad in real time, including the number of times it has been clicked on and the number of times it has have been shown.
Please find an updated version of this post at:
http://activerain.com/blogsview/977541/10-Ways-Real-Estate-Professionals-Can-Use-Zillow-v20
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With regard to #9- While homeowners can do many of these things on Zillow, they do take time and there are obviously good and bad ways to describe a home and take photos. So it is valuable to a homeowner to tell them that you are going to take care of representing their home on all websites, and that you are going to use your expertise in writing a description and taking photos. Further, you will manage the calls/emails/questions that come from the online listing for them.
Any time you post a listing to Zillow or answer a question on a home, it ties back to your profile. With all this information on your profile, plus your personal marketing text, it begins to build a reputation or voice for yourself. By you listing a home on Zillow, verses the homeowner doing it themselves, they are able to leverage your reputation.
Not a lot of agents (and owners, for that matter) today know about ALL the ways you can use Zillow and if you come to the table looking very informed and knowing all the ins and outs of the site, it is going to make you look like a more informed agent overall, especially with regards to technology. These are important things to discuss in a listing presentation.
Yes, our coverage is a little spotty in Michigan. We are constantly working on ways to make the data better, especially in areas where we are light. I don't have an exact date for you, but I would say in the next 3-4 months our coverage will be better in the Midwest.
However, you can always post your listings for sale, even if there isn't a Zestimate or the home isn't in the Zillow database. You can create your own listing.
(For an exact list of the counties we cover and how good the data is: Go to the home page of Zillow. Under the address search box click on About ZestimateTM values and accuracy. Scroll down and click on your state.)
Hi Sara,
This is great. I'm featuring it on our Online Marketing group. One note about #7, all of the links on the Zillow wiki are nofollow, so you won't actually be able to get any kind of search engine backlink benefit, but the exposure is great!
Thanks again!
Sara,
Thank you for sharing. I use Zillow and another agent in our office also uses it. It is easy to list your homes on. I have heard that alot of people look at Zillow but I haven't had a client yet that has said they saw one of our houses on Zillow. I also list my listings on other sites. I figure the more websites i post my listings on, the more opporunity for them to be seen.
Paula - Thanks for posting. Zillow has permanent records on our site for about 70,000,000 homes, displaying such information as public record information and a Zestimate. However, you can always change the status of a home (for sale, pending, not for sale). You can edit the status at any time. Also, as an extra service, when you post a listing with Zillow, the site will email you about every 7-10 days asking you for an update on the status. It is a one click process to tell us if the home is still for sale, if it has a contract pending, or it has indeed sold. You are correct that we wouldn't want incorrect data on the site!
Michelle- Thank you for trying us out and posting! We are getting approximately 4,000,000 users a month to the site, so it is possible that clients are finding a home on one site and then researching it more on Zillow. Thus you plan of posting it as many places as possible is very complimentary to posting on Zillow. A few weeks ago we added page counters to the bottom of all home detail pages, so you can at least get an idea of how many people are seeing your listings.
Sara,
I have been on zillow for fun but didn't realize what a valuable real estate tool this really is! Thank you!
Regardless of my opinion of Zillow, it has become a part of my listing presentation. I now take my sellers to the site and show them how Zillow displays their property. Most of the data is dated or incorrect, so I make sure that my client's claim their property and update the information. Sadly, there is quite a lag time before Zillow factors this new information into their Zestimate, which can be a frustrating experience after checking week after week for several weeks.
My most recent example of this: I listed a 2250 square foot home with a swimming pool for $425,000. Zillow showed the square footage as 1560 square feet, didn't mention the swimming pool (even though it had been there for twelve years and was visible from the aerial photo), and valued the property at $397,000. A prospective buyer came along who loved the house, but having not bought a home before, couldn't bring themselves to write an offer for $425,000 because of Zillow's much lower estimation. Had I been the buyer's agent I would hope that I would have been able to explain the pros/cons of Zillow, then showed them relevant market data that supported the price. That gentleman tarried for too long - a few days later we had multiple offers, one that went over the listed price of $425,000.
A month after we updated the information on my seller's property, Zillow has yet to change their estimation. I'm aware of the other services Zillow has to offer, but I'm wary to attach myself to a site that provides mis-information. I'm not bent against Zillow, but their inability to re-evaluate data in a timely manner concerns me greatly. A lot of people are beginning to rely heavily on the information Zillow provided - until that information becomes relevant I think that we need to be cautious about using their services.
Thanks Sara,
Number 2, Edit the home facts, will be helpful since, (sorry), Zillow estimate is not always where my asking price might be. At least I can have my information along side the zestimate.
Regardless of your opinion of Zillow's estimates, everyday the public is using this website to value their home. Therefore, I agree its important to adress Zillow's estimate upfront. This way your client does not retain a false idea of what their house is worth.
Thanks for the good information. I'm going to give it a try.
Sandy williams - BRIO Realty
David- Thanks for asking and letting me set the record straight. Zillow launch in Feb. 06, a little more than a year ago.
From day one we have been a media company, meaning we make money solely from selling ads on our site. We have never taken a dime by doing any type of lead generation service and we have no intention of getting into the referral business or getting involved in the transaction. 100% of our revenue comes from people/companies running ads on the site.
Your misunderstanding might come from the fact that the person who started Zillow is also the same person who started Expedia. When Expedia launched they wanted to be an online agency and obviously shifted a lot of business from the traditional travel agent to the website. When Rich Barton said he was going to start a real estate website, a lot people thought that his intention would be the same, to shift money from the realtor to the website- but that is not true in the least. Zillow is a media company and wants to a create a vibrant online real estate community where constructive conversations about real estate are taking place. Agents should definitely leverage these conversations and this audience by doing the things mentioned in this post.
Please let me know if you need any more information on this subject, and I will be glad to provide.
Sara,
Investigating Zillow more as we speak. How do you do # 2?-- looking at my own house which is going on the market before too long, there is a mistake-- How do I correct this?
I've had lots of negative feedback on Zillow........I will definitely investigate its possibilities for our market.
Thanks for the info
Thanks for the information. Will check into the areas of Zillow you suggest. However, we too have had difficult experiences with Zillow. The estimates are simply not anywhere what the market is. For example I recently posted info about 2 of our listings on Zillow and the difference between the listing and Zillow is about $200,000!! with Zillow being low. The information on Zillow seems to relate to the time a couple years ago when homes in the area were being built. However even if that is the case, that number is low, as any of the homes that were purchased from the builder back then were higher $$ than the estimates, if the homes had any upgrades at all. The fact the estimates are so off on Zillow makes it difficult at times to work with a buyer who believes the data that is posted, making our jobs as real estate agents harder.
We hope there is a plan to update Zillow and make it more relevant to what is actually happening in the marketplace.
Carolin Benjamin
Bob and Carolin Benjamin - The Benjamin Team - Keller Williams Integrity First Realty - Gold Canyon, Arizona
Terry- If you are the owner, click the "owner" button on the homepage. If you are the seller, click the "professional" button and the site will take you through the appropriate steps. It won't allow you to actually change public records, but it will publish all your updated facts right next to them.
Teri and Carolin- Making the Zestimates as accurate as possible is a top priority at Zillow and an ongoing process. We know in some counties we are considerably more accurate than others. One tool that you can use when talking to the general public about the accuracy of what you see online is to use our accuracy charts. On the homepage, under the address search box, there is an "about zestimates" link. Click on that are can drill down to your county and see the accuracy for your local area. Using this "margin of err" percentage may help you in your discussions. We have also put links to this information every time we display a Zestimate now (new last month), and try to reinforce that for a more accurate representation of what the home is worth, they need to contact a professional.
Endea- Did you try changing the homes that the listing was compared to? Changing this can definitely have an impact on the updated value. Yes, unfortunately the amount of public record data available to us in DC is very light. However, you can still post any listing to site you may have, even if it isn't in our database.
I totally agree with #1. Know the Zillow figures for any property you're looking to SELL or BUY. This is part of normal preparation and be prepared to discuss why the number is or isn't inline with the market. Many clients are using this and it's bad to be caught off guard due to Zillow.
Zillow uses public record to get data. In our area, the bottom level of a tri-level is called "garden level" in public record though the entire level may be above grade. Zillow DOES NOT include this in square footage, which affects estimates, throwing off ALL tri-levels in our county. It took some exploring to discover that issue.
As consumers and Realtors update property values, Zillow will become more accurate. The days of being the expert because you can price properties are quickly coming to an end! You'd better be looking at ways to provide additional value to compete.
Thanks for the post Sara.
I have used Zillow in the past but have net kept up with it as much as I should have.
I can see where it would be useful to include in my list of ways I get the clients house "out there".
Kenny
Hi Sara
I am looking into Zillow as another avenue to place listings. I found the article in "Agent Direct New, May 2007 issue timely and informative "Alternative Listing Options" I am always open to new ways to market properties and especially now, with the market slowing down....we need to stay on the cutting edge. Thanks for the overview.
Thanks for the information... I'll have to see if this is available in Georgia or for other industries.
1-877-MattLocke (628-8562)
www.GeorgiaHomeInsurance.com
Sara,
Thanks for some great pointers on using zillow.com I had no idea it had so much to offer!
Warmly,
Shai
Hello Sara,
Thanks for your post. I've loaded our team's profile onto Zillow.com (a little cumbersome as there is no option for a team name instead of an individual agent name). We hope to enter a few new listings very soon...
Best of success!
John Slocum, Alexander ∞ Slocum Team
Clark County; Vancouver, Camas & Felida, Washington Homes and Real Estate
Sara- Last Friday I posted about my results using EZ Ads, which were not favorable, $2 per click through. I'm disappointed, it looks like you deleted my comment.
Here is the link to my blog post. http://activerain.com/blogsview/96436/Update-Zillow-EZ-Ad
I would hope that you don't delete my comment again. I would think that Zillow would want to respond to this, rather than hiding the issue.
Amy- I haven't deleted any comments from this post.
I looked up what it would cost to buy "west hartford, ct real estate" on Google, and they are charging approx $1.60 per click, so $2 is in the same ballpark. However we made the decision not to go with pay-per-click (like Google), and instead went with pay-per-view because agents told us that advertising their phone number and getting calls was important to them. By charging per view, it enables someone to advertise their number on their ad, whereas Google does not allow this to cause the click. EZ ads also has the benefit of branding, as your picture and information are prominently displayed and it is important for the public to see your face over and over again to cause action.
Finally, (and I don't have any facts to back this up at this time since we are still working through the feedback we are receiving) when people search on real estate sites, they are typically looking for houses, not people. I wonder if the click-thru rate would have been better if you advertised a home verses a personal ad? Just a thought.
Zillow - needs a lot of work.. dated information, omitting a pool whenit is there. sq ft records updated at public records but not at Zilow...etc,.etc.. time is money and driving people to a website with so much inaccurate data is irresponsible as it misleads the consumer. Agents may be able to deal with the growing pains, but this is just one more obstacle to overcome when meeting with buyers and sellers.
I will continue to use my trusted Title companies for public record info , the MLS and an appraiser.
Title companies are not always updated quick enough but I'd rather trust their information first, since it their business to be on top of things. I am have written a couple of blogs on some of the things that title companies offer and they are useful tools.
Zillow.com is another source and it is pretty good. I just don't like that there are so many opportunities for a potential buyer to go to my website and then click on zillow and end up going with another agent that is right there on my page! So it does have it drawback. But FREE is just that, getting what you pay for.
Happy Tuesday!
Sara, good points, especially about being prepared at the listing presentation.
I have a question. Some homes with Realtors have the zestimate removed, do you know how to do this? My home still has the zestimate.
great information....will use some of your ideas....thanks for sharing
bob
Gary I'd like to know how to remove that zestimate too. Especially since it is lower than what I have my property listed for and less than the comps I pulled. If you find out before I do, please let me know.
Gary/Rosemary- Thanks for commenting. Zestimates can not be removed from a home detail page. If one is not on the page, it is simply because we didn't have enough information to create one. There are some states where information is very rich, and some where it is very light, so that can make a difference.
As an owner of a home, you can create an "owner's estimate" which will appear along side the automated one, and include more details about your home. As the realtor, obviously you can publish whatever details needed to describe the home.
Sara,
not very smart of Zillow, not to remove zestimate from homes listed with an agent.
Zestimate values are a starting point in researching a house's value but they're not the final word. We do not allow owners or listing agents to remove the Zestimate because Zillow's goal is to be a consumer-centric real estate destination and that requires treating buyers and sellers equally, and not giving more power to one or the other. The 4+ million buyers and sellers who visit Zillow each month do so because of the transparent access to information on Zillow.com. We think the smart thing to do is to publish Zestimates ... on every home ... and then provide a forum for sellers and buyers to discuss them.
Sara, I understand Zillows stance to provide consumers information.
From a consumers point of view, if I was interested in the home priced at let's say 200K and a zestimate of 180K. I doubt the consumer would ever offer more than 180K for the home. That's because we are conditioned to want a DEAL. I personally use Zillow and two other consumer sites to justify my lower price at the listing presentation, just for this reason.
As such, the Code of Ethics might prevent an agent from marketing the home on Zillow, even when the information indicates an update. It would not be beneficial to the home seller.
Rosemary- If you really want to know everything about Zestimates, we have a "what is a zestimate" reference page on the site at http://www.zillow.com/howto/Zestimate.htm. But yes, basically it comes from raw numbers (transactional data, tax assessor data, etc) and then fed into an algorithm. No, we would not know that someone upgraded a kitchen or built a new porch. This is why we let home owners and agents post any relevant data to the site and create their own estimates. We consider the zestimate a starting point, and then let the experts build on top of this. How would consumers know this? We post a link to the above link whenever we display a zestimate, and on the homepage right under the search box we link to a page that very transparently shows our accuracy across the country, http://www.zillow.com/howto/DataCoverageZestimateAccuracy.htm (this is a good tool for an agent to use when talking to someone about why the zestimate is off). Zestimates get people to the site and keep them coming back. The more users that are on the site, the bigger the audience that we can expose your for-sale to, working out good for both parties.
Sara -
Is there a Zillow contact person/rep in Minnesota?
Chris
Sara: Got ya. I like zillow listing but I wasn't too hot on the zestimate because it always appears lower than the listed price and I wonder why. I probably would have asked the question if I had not read the post. But it is a good point. I have had sellers and buyers ask me about that zestimate. I understand that the data is only as good as what you gather but it does make it a little harder seeing the lower estimates on the property that you list. I learned something that my remarks must be beefed up so show the difference.
Thanks for your answer.
Hey all, Wanted to let you know I revisited the concept of this post and wrote an updated list. We have had a lot more cool stuff launch since this post was written a year and a half ago.
10 Ways Real Estate Professionals Can Use Zillow, version 2.0