You are TOTALLY RIGHT about access to information. That’s great. We need to know the “facts”. But zillow takes it a step further by taking those facts (which may be wrong), giving a range value & then picking a number in the middle & saying that’s the estimated value—even if beds & baths are MISSING. Come on now. That’s where the problem is. Think if a person gave you a report & left out your beds & baths & said: hey Vlad your house is worth X. I dont know what you’d say but Id say WTF you dont even know my beds & baths son. You didn’t didn’t even look at my house. How can I trust that number?

It’s NOT the information Vlad, it’s whether is ’s correct & what you do with the info. Should I believe zillow knows what my home value is better than an appraiser or realtor who “comes to my house” & checks it out? It’s that simple. You can go with zillow, most pros go with pros. We tell it like it is, but you dont have to believe us. It’s your choice.

Secondly, Zillow as a “starting point” valuation tool is not a threat to anyone other than appraisers—their job is strictly valuation. How can it be a threat to real estate brokers, title companies & attorneys? Buying or selling a house has a beginning, a middle and an end. You can’t negotiate, sign a contract, get a loan & close on a house armed with just a zestimate under your arm. You need people–professionals are best unless you know what you’re doing. So I don’t see the threat. Valuing property is not all a pro does—I think you know that.

Besides, no real estate broker or blogger I’ve read says don’t use zillow.
They all seem to say there is something BETTER because number crunching a house value with public data is imperfect & can result in a value that’s way way off. Plus there are unzilowable factors the computer does not pick up from the public data. You must realize this possiblility. Read the blog comments from people like steve olshin (aug 25 -elvis house valuation post).

And what’s wrong with people saying one service is preferable to another. Free speech is still cool isn’t it? Coke says it’s better than Pepsi—do you write a letter to Pepsi & say hey stop picking on Coke? It’s just normal business. Zillow is a big boy—they don’t complain–in fact they have a blog just for that reason—to have people complain. So others choose to make their complaints somewhere else—like on a blog. What’s the difference?

And you should know that public data is not 100% `accurate. I used to work for the government & I can tell you they make mistakes all the time. Have you never complained about your tax assessment being wrong? That’s the info that goes into the zillow calculation.

Bottom Line: Ask yourself this: without looking first, would you sell your house to someone at the zestimate price? I think not.