Zillow outdated data…

In our last blog post about Zillow and the accuracy of Zestimates we touched on the way Zillow is known in the real estate community as having inaccurate data. In Zillow’s defense they have a lot of data to pull in. They are a gathering data on properties and tax information from all over the world. That is a lot of data to import and keep accurate and up-to-date. It is a well know fact that at least once a week a buyer will call and tell you they want to see a home they saw and can’t find anywhere else for sale on ZIllow. Once in a while it turns out to be a FSBO but usually it is not for sale or sold months ago.

Local real estate sites are much more accurate (usually)

People just love Zillow and Zestimates. After all the public loves to gather data. We are a data and information society. We also like that information right this second. That is great but what if that data was bad? Out of date, inaccurate or just completely wrong? When I a buyer does a real estate search in a specific area they get a ton of results on Zillow and then contact your real estate agent and ask him why he didn’t send it to you. It’s perfect because the Zestimate says it’s worth $175,000 than it is listed for. You found that unicorn! But did you? Your real estate agent searches the MLS (the broker’s back end) and tells you the home sold 6 months ago, for $175K less than the Zestimate. All the data was wrong so does it really make the data worthy of your time? A buyer should always use a local real estate search on a real estate agent’s website in the area.

Local Real Estate Sites Up Date Frequently

OrsonHillRealty.com has an update every 15 minutes. On those 15 minute update cycles a lot happens. Information is updated on all listings. If the listing agent changes the description it is updated on our site. If price or status is changed it is either updated or completely removed depending on the specific status change. It is absolutely crucial in this market to not waste time on homes that aren’t for sale and data that needs to be confirmed before it can be trusted.

How Zillow works

The thing the public is unaware of is the complex business model of an online lead gathering source of Zillow.  Zillow is just another information gathering data mining company. They basically sell your information to the highest bidder. Orson Hill Realty is a premier agent on Zillow. We are one of those companies that bought information from Zillow.