Homeowners Find Zillow Data Intriguing

Posted on February 8, 2007

A Fortune article on CNN/Money explains how many people are using the Zillow.com real estate data site to find out not only the value of their own home but the values of their neighbor's homes as well.

This is what usually happens the first time you visit Zillow.com: You type in your address to check out the Zestimate, an approximation of your home's market value. It appears in a little pop-up superimposed on a photographic map of your neighborhood. The number might make you smile; it could make you angry.
Next, you realize that the information on your property is incomplete. What about the kitchen upgrade? Your new deck? The landscaping? All that work's gotta count for something. You've spared no effort to convince the assessor that your house is worth less than the official report, but now it's time to primp. So you tap in some modifications and watch your home's value rise.
Next, you check your neighbors' Zestimates. Then your childhood home, a best friend's place, your boss's house. Just as you open your address book in search of more targets, your spouse calls out from the bedroom, wanting to know what the hell you've been doing for the past two hours. "Nothing, honey," you say, shutting the laptop and trudging off to bed, caught red-handed in a loop of real estate yuppie porn.

The article says Zillow recently added a feature called "Make Me Move" that allows Zillow users to post the value for an offer on their own home that would "cause them to pack up and go." The article says the average Make Me Move figure tends to be about 17% above the Zestimate (Zillow's estimate price for a home).