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Owners in Zillowland: We Want Out, Zestimates Removed

Published by Joseph Ferrara (2) October 23rd, 2007 in Home sales, Real Estate Marketing, Real estate and zillow. Comments

As any long time reader of this blog knows, we believe it is every homeowner’s RIGHT to decide:

  • where their property is listed for sale  (or not listed)
  • how it is marketed and advertised
  • not have false or misleading information attached to the home, and
  • who will list, advertise and market their home as their agent.

In our opinion, Zillow.com violates these homeowner rights:

  • Your home can be listed for sale on zillow.com without your permission or knowledge
  • Zillow.com allows anyone to put a “for sale” sign on your home with their contact info. And your home will be advertised according to Zillow’s rules — with a zestimate next to it– which may be grossly inaccurate.
  • An inaccurate zestimate of your home’s value is false & misleading, yet Zillow will not remove it—even if you, the homeowner, ask nicely. (The zestimate is not public information. It is a Zillow creation.)
  • You must “claim” your home if you object to someone else listing it for sale.

We have found a few owners (we didn’t have to search long) who want out of Zillowland and inaccurate zestimates removed. We have long advised Zillow to let owners op-out of the zestimate. Zillow stands firm that IT has the right to place an inaccurate estimate next to your home.

This homeowner says it’s his right not to be listed on Zillow.com. He wants his property removed.

This homeowner wishes he could opt-out:

This homeowner wants the zestimate removed because it is misleading:

This owner also wants the zestimate eliminated:

This person really seems upset about the inaccurate zestimate:

This listing agent was surprised to learn her listing was on Zillow (her client told her). The client (seller) was unhappy about it too. To overcome this state of affairs, the owner or listing had no choice but to claim the home. The other choice was to do nothing and let someone else get the calls on the home (and have an unhappy client).

When others list (advertise) a home for sale, without permission of the owner or listing agent, the homeowner (or the LA) is forced to claim it to have their name removed. This is a unique way to get owners involved in Zillow.com. (I guess it’s better than a baseball bat.)

As a listing site Zillow would be fine, if they let owners or their agents decide to list the property for sale– not any Tom, Dick or Brady :)

Source: Zillow unrest here, here, and all in here.

Related Posts:

UnZestimate My Home: Will Zillow Let Owners Opt-Out?

Is Zillow Using our Homes As Bait?

For more Zillow posts, check our Contents page under Zillow.

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  • Brian
    I've just noticed that in the Las Vegas area many of the recent sales data information has been removed from Zillow. I know for fact that this information was present as recently as a few months ago. For example a house that sold this past spring had sales information for that sale. Now the information has vanished and the last sale is listed as June 2004. Of course this was a much higher sale price. The specific area is Summerlin North, but I don't think that it is specific to this area. Is it possible that they were lobbied to remove information that might be misleading as a result of distressed sales??
  • That is very interesting. Will have to check it out. David Gibbons. Zillow are you hearing this?
  • That is very interesting. Will have to check it out. David Gibbons. Zillow are you hearing this?
  • That is very interesting. Will have to check it out. David Gibbons. Zillow are you hearing this?
  • Yes, Rhonda, I do recall that ping pong match-- the employees at Zillow are wonderful people and they welcomed us with great hospitality. And I really do like David Gibbons and Drew Meyers-- they are both intelligent, stand-up fellas-- and Zillow is darn lucky to have them (David & Drew should get combat pay for commenting here---and they do it with such class, always).

    --- I'd never pick a bone with the Zillow folks-- my gripe is with the non-industry corporate dudes who think they know what's best. But what is best for buyers should not be obtained by steppin' on home owners' rights. Besides, it is not best for buyers to have inaccurate zestimates-- sellers opting out of them would actually be HELPING buyers. Maybe Zillow does not trust sellers to be honest about inaccurate zestimates.

    David G does not dispute (yet) that the enumerated rights listed in this post are exclusive to owners.

    Rhonda, I think you offer a good suggestion. At least it allows owners a choice-- something they do not have now.
  • Tom,

    Directly responding to you - free speech is a human endeavor, and as such, subject to our individual strengths and weaknesses.It is best judged by the openess and depth of the discussion at hand.

    None of us make excuses for those that break the trust - we hold them accountable - in public, and usually in a painful way.

    Your own language indicates the lack of durability in your argument.
    If Zillow is poaching, they should expect to be treated as poachers.

    Obeoman

    steven.stearns@obeo.com
  • Thanks for your comment Tom.

    We support your right to choose Zillow and others' rights not to.

    That's what's great about having a CHOICE.

    ,
  • Free speech,unfettered and interpreted by the Supreme Court is held in the respect of public trust, journalists and the news media.

    Yes, we all know how ethical and reliable the media is. Dan Rather CBS-fake but accurate/NY Times with their quota driven plagiarists. Public trust indeed.

    The Texas data for Zillow is hamstrung because we are a non-disclosure state. It is illegal to post sales information in a public forum. I give Zillow a big thumbs up in providing a durable website that ultimately will be a benefit to all the participants. Don't want your listing poached? CLAIM IT!

    Of course as an agent at the "inscrutable" ERA, all our listings will be posted to Zillow. We love it!

    Tom Johnson
    Zestifarmer
    ERAHouston.com
  • Was I at this ping pong match at Blog Tour USA? ;)

    Maybe a seller should have the option of having the tax assessed value shows instead of the zesitmate...Zillow could have a different color house for those who have opted out...maybe grey or brown?

    Just a thought.
  • It is only a matter of time before some homeowner takes zillow to court. Then we will know if the group "need to know" a guess outstrips the owner's right to market their home as they see fit, without false & misleading information around it.

    Your point is well taken Metrowest-- allowing anyone to list your home for sale is like me going to your house and sticking a for sale sign on your lawn, with my contact information on it. Zillow is virtually trespassing on private property.
  • Very interesting discussion. I am of the opinion that nobody should be able to list anothers home unlees that person has given them express permission to do so. This seems like a violation of the code of ethics...never mind Zillows policies. How can an honerable agent take part in such a thing? I guess that is a different discussion all together. The lack of accurancy is annoying but no the endo of the world. Zillow is destroying their own credibility and word is spreading fast how inacurate the site is.

    It's too bad because there are other parts of zillow that work very well.
  • First of all, inaccurate zestimates do not serve anyone in the RE marketplace. Surely you must admit that. But there they are-- staring owners in the virtual face. And you say tough cookies-- others have a right to see those inaccurate values too-- and you say we're missing the perspective. Geez, find me a padded wall, I need to bang my head.

    David, Zillow is doing a good job in other areas--- it is a shame they are missing the boat on owners' rights. What Zillow fails to realize is owners DO have a say, a superior say-- regardless of what's good for buyers, advertisers, neighbors, other sellers, Zillow, VCs, etc. It's their asset, for gosh's sake!

    This is not a case of balancing what's good for the most people in the RE marketplace. It is about "rights" of the individual home owner -- which outweigh the group's desire to know stuff (leaving aside that no one needs to know an inaccurate zestimate-- that is totally without value)

    It appears clear to me (jf) that Zillow does not recognize the exclusive/superior rights of owners we set forth-- they use the group to override them. Can you address each right and tell us if you recognize that right?

    Do not focus on the others in the marketplace to justify what Z does-- focus on the home owner. And keep in mind-- Zillow DOES NOT EXIST without owners--- it is their homes which put money in Rich and Lloyd's pockets (well maybe not yet, with all the VC IOUs and such). It is their asset which draws eyeballs and ad money. That ought to be reason enough to merit them the HIGHEST regard.
  • Thanks for trying to be constructive but you are totally missing the perspective that the Zestimate value is not there purely for the owners' benefit. Read that again. If it were just an owner-facing service, we may well have considered an opt out from Zestimates but since Zillow is not exclusively providing this service to owners it makes no sense to retard the experience of all other site users (buyers, other sellers, neighbors, agents etc. etc.)

    Wake up guys; sellers are not the only participants in the RE marketplace.

    Seriously though; it's great that you've dived into Zillow Discussions and I look forward to bumping into you in this vibrant little community we're hosting. You should check out the Buying and Selling topics - just those two categories have attracted 50 thousand posts since we launched Discussions a few months back.
  • Yes, David we have covered this point in our discussions but we had neglected to listen to the ONLY VOICE THAT MATTERS-- the homeowner (or their designated agent). Do you agree that homeowners' have the rights we listed?

    So, we let the owners speak here. It is brand new stuff.

    (and for the record, we do credit Zillow for having a forum to expose their million dollar warts). Nonetheless, these owners want out of the zestimate-- they want to opt-out--- they say so. Many also object to letting others list their property for sale on zillow.com. Some agents don't event know the property was listed on zillow.com.

    So, here's the constructive criticism:

    1. Let owners opt-out of the zestimate. At least let them opt out if the house is listed for sale-- an inaccurate zestimate does more harm than good. And since it is an admitted first step, it is DISRESPECTFUL to owners and listing agents to put that 1st step zestimate anywhere near their LAST step "for sale" price.

    2. Only let an owner, or their listing agent, list a home for sale. Yes, it is nice that mortgage brokers can list a house is for sale and put their contact info there-- now why would they do that? business? hmm... you are using the owner's home as "lead bait". Stop doing that. The owner has the only right to say "list my house for sale on zillow.com". Besides the basic right to exclusively market their homes, which I'm sure you advocate (just so long as they claim it & help Z along), the zillow.com listing regime may not be to a seller's liking--- they may not like the inaccurate zestimate or someone's calling card on their home or the cartoon characters-- the bottom line is you either respect homeowners' rights or you respect only your right to sell ads around their asset.

    3. Run an owner poll--- ask the people who's most priced possession is being monetized by Zillow--- and see what the median response is. At least Zillow will get the transparent--free speech---feedback to make the site better--- better for owners, not just the corporate cats and advertisers.

    Re: public record-- yes, the public record should be available (ala Property Shark) BUT the zestimate is NOT a public record.

    Re: Owners wanting different zestimates. We strongly disagree-- they want the RIGHT to opt-out of listing and opt out of inaccurate zestimates. At least that's the way I read the comment "I would like to opt out"

    As always, thank you for playing.
  • To the point:

    As long as speech is free, the discussion has just begun.

    Saying otherwise seems a bit arrogant, regardless of who is saying it.

    Listening intently to your customers is the best you can do - the consumer is perhaps the highest life form, and ultimately they decide what goes in the market - and what stays.

    Free speech,unfettered and interpreted by the Supreme Court is held in the respect of public trust, journalists and the news media.

    Not by any media company.

    Free speech involves engagement and responsibility.

    Those who have the privilege of free speech extended to them should not passively or actively abuse any portion of that right.

    If the devil is in the details, let those who are speaking make sure they are angels,at least acting like them.

    Or perhaps listening for them.

    Obeoman

    steven.stearns@obeo.com
  • GoodCall - Thank you, your comment is priceless. We're adding more data coverage very soon. Please check the site again in a few weeks.

    Sellsius - we've had this discussion countless times. As I have pointed out, the far more common complaint is feedback like GoodCall's - i.e. "why is my home not on Zillow?" We listen intently to our users. Most people want their homes and Zestimates on the site and four million visitors vote for Zestimates with their mouse each month. You are wrong on this issue and every time we have discussed it, I have conceded that we've had some requests to have Zestimates removed from Zillow - so, you're not breaking any news here.

    I could introduce you to homeowners and professionals who are unhappy that their sale price and tax information is part of the public record. The first example you list above actually falls into that category. That doesn't change the fact that transparent and publicly available property records are good for society and that we as a society should not make random exceptions to this law.

    Transparency aside, do I need to point out that you are arguing against free speech here? Does it really surprise you that some people would like their Zestimate to be different?

    We listen to our site's visitors and have received had a lot of feedback from sellers and agents about Zestimates on listings. When a home is for sale its list price is FAR more important than the Zestimate value and user feedback has helped us to realize that. In response to this feedback, we've significantly redesigned the way listings are posted on Zillow to make the list price the primary value attached to the home. And we will continue to innovate for our sellers based on their feedback.

    If you have any constructive feedback, we'd love to hear it. This discussion however is getting old.
  • GoodCall
    Well I would probably have the same problems as everyone else buuuuuut, they dont even have my home in their database....lame zillow really lame. I can find it on other valuation sites but not the "largest or most popular" one, not cool.
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