There’s a lot of talk going on about the new mls rules regarding blogging about homes for sale. The same new rule can prevent agents from posting their listings on Zillow, or any site that has Zillow or another “AVM” feature as a complement to the information available on the same site as the home listing. Basically sellers will now opt in or opt out of these categories separately, when they list their home for sale with an mls member.
Below are links to conversations already happening regarding the new rule that will shortly go into effect. No one has answered my one question yet in any of these conversations. Does the “new” rule pre-empt the old rule 190? In other words, if a seller clicks “yes” to allow his home to be blogged about, does that “yes” apply to ALL bloggers OR only the listing agent. If I see in the mls a “yes” as to blogging allowed by the seller…do I still need the listing agent’s permission per rule 190, in addition to the seller’s permission?
Seems to me the rule should have more options like “yes MY agent CAN, but no other agents cannot”.
None of these changes impact me or the way I currently blog, but given there is so much being said on the topic, a simple re-direct to these online discussions via the links below, should give you the complete picture. My guess is large brokerages will choose FOR their sellers by company policy, and the actual seller making the opt in and opt out decision will not really come to pass. So much ado about nothing.
- NWMLS looks to crack down on AVMs, real estate blogging as told by John Cook on Tech Flash with quotes from Redfin’s Glenn Kelman.
- Power to the Seller: The Unzillowing of Real Estate by Joseph Ferarra on Sellsius Real Estate Blog
- Revised rules may forbid real estate blogging by Marlow Harris on 360 degree digest
Can they make it any harder!!
If I’m a buyer searching through homes for sale, and I see that a seller has elected not to show the Zillow Zestimate, then that would make me suspicious and curious as to what the seller has to hide, and send me right to Zillow to look it up for myself. Zillow’s Zestimates aren’t perfect but I have yet to meet one homeowner in the Seattle area who does not know their Zillow Zestimate.
Jillayne,
The impact has more to do with a broker who has a direct feed to Zillow or an agent with a Zestimate “button” on their site or a Brokerage site that automatically pulls the Zestimate up as a feature of their site. We are using Zillow as the example, but there are less reputable AVM companies out there, and the rule is not about Zillow, but AVMs generally. What if one was known to be ridiculously incorrect? Might you not as the seller want some control over your home for sale “ad” showing next to it?
To see the issue in appropriate perspective, you might want to consider if you want your agent to put a For Sale Flyer up in the men’s room at the Strip Club. The question is does a seller have any rights as to where and how their “advertising” is conducted?
Marvin,
Growing pains…
Jillayne has a point.. everybody is aware of their estimate.. not seeing them does look weird, although I do agree sellers are entitled to control their own advertising. We have to assume that in the majority of cases, they are paying for this advertising and have no expectations of it “going viral” per se.
As I said in the post, the “new rule” doesn’t change the way I might do things. I have never thought it appropriate to blog a listing, or to put a property in Zillow as “for sale” if the asking price and zestimate were miles apart. In fact in a post I did on Zillow when we were first able to add property, I blogged that agents should have the seller’s permission to do that.
That doesn’t preclude someone from looking at Zillow or the Assessed Value in the County Records or comps of nearby homes, etc… But showing the Zestimate with the Asking Price has the impact of “range pricing”, which I never thought was an appropriate tool for the seller of a home.
I’m wondering if Brokers who have a direct feed to Zillow will be able to command that the opt out sellers not feed through…or if adding property to Zillow will revert back to the previous manual process.
Hi Ardell,
Spencer from Zillow here
I spent much of the day yesterday talking to our brokerage partners, including several that are on the Board of NWMLS, trying to wrap my brain around these new regulations. Let me explain the situation, as I understand it.
First, please remember that Zillow is not a member of NWMLS. We once were, but we never displayed NWMLS listings on Zillow. Our membership was sort of like a Chamber of Commerce membership — we joined because we were trying to be good members of the local real estate community. But when we realized that our membership was causing brokerages to be suspicious of our intentions (specifically, our membership made brokers worry that we had designs on becoming a discount brokerage), we dropped our membership.
The NWMLS rules don’t directly affect the listings on Zillow because we don’t have an IDX feed or a NWMLS feed of any kind. All of the Seattle-area listings on Zillow come directly to us via our brokerage partners like Windermere, Coldwell Banker Bain and RE/MAX Northwest, or directly from agents or sellers. In other parts of the country, we do indeed have listings from MLSs — about 200 in total — but not in the Northwest.
What the NWMLS rule does do is dictate what else can appear on the listing page of any site with an IDX feed. So for example, Redfin has Zestimates (and other valuations) on the listings pages that come to them via their NWMLS IDX feed. Because of the new NWMLS rule, if a seller opts not to have an AVM displayed on their listing in the NWMLS, Redfin will have to take off the valuations from that listing page. This does affect Zillow, because it means the Zestimate won’t appear on that listing page on Redfin, so we won’t get the traffic (or the branding) from that listing on Redfin. But it has nothing to do with whether or not that listing appears on Zillow itself because that listing isn’t coming to Zillow via an IDX feed from NWMLS. It’s coming to us directly from its broker’s feed. As a result, the listing will still appear on Zillow and it will still have a Zestimate. If that listing broker wants to take the listing off of Zillow, that’s up to the broker. But that decision is independent of the NWMLS rule and checking the “no AVM” box in the MLS has no bearing on whether or not that listing appears on Zillow.
So hopefully I’ve explained that the NWMLS restriction doesn’t affect listings on Zillow. That having been said, any seller can always choose not to have their listing on Zillow (again, independent from any MLS rule). We’re a media site, not a member of an MLS, and sellers can decide whether or not they want their home “advertised” on our media website.
The point that is critical to remember about Zillow is that the property is already listed on Zillow regardless of whether it’s shown as for sale or not: we have pretty much every home in our database already. So it’s significantly to the seller’s advantage to make sure that it’s listed as For Sale on Zillow because posting it For Sale allows buyers to see the listing price, the photos, the property description and the listing agent contact information. We also re-Zestimate the property based on the new property attributes that the listing information includes. Furthermore, we remove the Zestimate from the Map page and replace it with the For Sale price, and we move the Zestimate down on the listing page to the bottom.
If the seller and his agent/broker don’t put the listing on Zillow, buyers still see information on that property, but they only see the Zestimate and the public facts. In short, sellers are MUCH better off having their listing on Zillow than not.
“…So hopefully I’ve explained that the NWMLS restriction doesn’t affect listings on Zillow.”
Hi Spencer,
Thanks for stopping by. I think you need to redefine the word “listings” since in real estate lingo the difference between “listed” propety and “unlisted” property, means whether or not the property is “listed” with the local mls. So to call all of the property shown on the Zillow website “listings on Zillow” would not be accurate, since most of those properties are not for sale at all, let alone “listings”.
While the real estate community doesn’t own the word “listing”, using the same word to describe all property shown on the Zillow website is, at best, uber-confusing to the general public.
You also said: “The point that is critical to remember about Zillow is that the property is already listed on Zillow regardless of whether it’s shown as for sale or not: we have pretty much every home in our database already.”
Again…”listed”? …and how is that different from saying we don’t care what the owner of the property wants or doesn’t want…we don’t really give a RA about that? Not saying you don’t have the right to do that…not my call. But at least be honest about it. What you are saying is this new mls rule that owners of homes have the right to pull their “listed” property from AVMs is of no nevermind to you, because you ignore the owner’s desires in that regard.
You said: “Because of the new NWMLS rule, if a seller opts not to have an AVM displayed on their listing in the NWMLS, Redfin will have to take off the valuations from that listing page. This does affect Zillow, because it means the Zestimate won’t appear on that listing page on Redfin…”
Or real estate sites that have an AVM feature may remove that altogether in “better safe than sorry” fashion, as brokers are known to decrease liability as much as possible and whenever possible.
As Jillayne points out, if the broker has an AVM feature so that most property shows the valuation comparison and only a few do not, that could highlight the owner who opted out in a negative way. So it may be best to preclude the AVM feature entirely.
I would think you would want to assist your “brokerage partners” in complying with the rule, vs. saying…not our problem guys.
Excellent point — I need to be more careful with my language, as the word “list” and “listing” mean something specific in our industry. Actually, I usually call homes that appear on Zillow as “for sale” to be “POSTINGS” and I say that they are “POSTED” on Zillow rather than “LISTED” on Zillow for exactly that reason. I was careless with some of my words in the above comment.
On your other point, any website operator (broker, agent, or otherwise) can decide whether or not to put Zestimates and other functionality on their website. We make a lot of parts of the Zillow experience available to other websites for free, including widgets displaying mortgage rates, most expensive homes, recent sales date, celebrity real estate info, etc. (See here.) One of the pieces of functionality that we offer is adding Zestimates to listings pages through our API. Some brokerages (e.g., Redfin, Zip Realty, and others) have decided that including this functionality is a service to their website’s users so they include it. It’s totally up to each website to decide this for themselves. It’s my opinion, you won’t be surprised to learn, that it’s better to have more information in front of the consumer. After all, another site with valuations is only a click away, so would I rather the consumer find everything they need on my website? Or would I rather give the person a reason to visit another website to get the information?
Spencer,
I believe that both buyers and sellers are “consumers” vs. industry insiders. Not sure which you are 🙂
The real estate industry, and anyone who partners with the real estate industry, must always keep in mind the fine balance between providing buyers of homes with up to date, honest and relevant info WITHOUT sacrificing the rights of home owners at the same time.
It might be best for buyers, if all homes were open for viewing at most anytime without the need for an agent to accompany them. That would be of HUGE benefit to people looking to purchase a home. But it would not respect the right and privacy of the homeowner to do that. Everything we use in our industry, tries to strike a fair balance. That includes the legal forms used by a buyer and seller in a contract to purchase.
One might think it best for “consumers” to have the right to cancel on inspection up to the day of closing. Anyone involved in the industry needs to understand the balance of rights, and so the seller’s considerations are taken into account by limiting the amount of time a buyer can cancel on inspection.
I welcome all new technologies and business models, because they help push the balance to the buyer’s favor…particularly those that have been entrenched in seller favor for 100 years. But a full pendulum swing that puts owners of homes at a disadvantage…some say that’s “only fair”. But those in the industry who are entrusted by the seller’s of homes to keep their lawful desires in mind, cannot turn the mls into an imbalance in favor of buyer vs. seller interests.
Clearly ANY info regarding a seller’s home that is not accurate (i.e. saying it “may have” class-action-suit-type siding if it does NOT) is a violation of the seller’s rights. So any info “attached” to a person’s property that may or may not be accurate, is likely not appropriate for industry professionals. Consequently AVMs may need to expand their criteria to a higher degree of accuracy vs. fight for the right to “post” potentially erroneous information.
Clearly an AVM BEING ON a brokerage site, lends it credibility. I think the “new rules” beg for brokerages to reconsider their position on that.
“Clearly ANY info regarding a seller’s home that is not accurate (i.e. saying it “may have” class-action-suit-type siding if it does NOT) is a violation of the seller’s rights. So any info “attached” to a person’s property that may or may not be accurate, is likely not appropriate for industry professionals.”
This is the crux of the biscuit (h/t FZ) for the home seller’s right to opt of AVM.
Do you, Spencer, believe an inaccurate zestimate can be misleading?
Do you support a home seller’s right to opt out of an AVM on their home for sale listing?
Thank you for your responses.
Joe,
I’m glad to see someone finally raised the real issue here and I thank you. That issue being, factual information vs. erronious information / misrepresentation, and how the dissemination of that information can be helpful or detrimental.
I’m all for expanding current marketing opportunities and introducing new ones that improve performance. However, those same opportunities of resource must be kept in check. Truth is the basis of trust. When that sense of trust is breached, we all must question the reliability of the source.
Joe,
Further to yours, if a brokerage shows one home owner’s AVM and not another home owner’s AVM. might they be suggesting that one is accurate and the other is not? Lending credibility to a zestimate or other AVM model, seems to be more the issue at hand. So not allowing them to be shown on any brokerage website may be the eventual impact of this new rule.
What if the zestimate drops AFTER the owner gave the OK for it to appear with their “listing”? Who will monitor that event, and ask the home owner again…is it OK now that the zestimate dropped to a point that is substantially below your asking price?
Seems lack of monitoring of the changing number, and lack of information as to its credibility, is really the issue at hand from a brokerage perspective. Once you “attach” a piece of info to the owner’s “advertisement”…does the brokerage become responsible for it’s “truth in advertising” component?
“Further to yours, if a brokerage shows one home owner’s AVM and not another home owner’s AVM. might they be suggesting that one is accurate and the other is not?”
Yes, it might. But I would not want an inaccurate AVM on my listing. This is my whole point of view– eliminate any information that I, as seller (or as representative of seller), feel is misleading. Inacurate AVM goes to the heart of misleading information that can keep buyers and sellers apart, IMO.
Consider this IRL analogy: If my home is priced fairly for sale at $500K and someone walks on the public sidewalk during my Open House with a sign that reads “The Zillow zestimate of this house is $445K”, I would not like it and think it interferes with the marketing of my home.
Zillow has admitted that a zestimate is only a “first step” and can be subject to a large margin of error. Reason enough for me to say my agent’s “last step” pricing trumps the zestimate.
If Zillow respects a real estate professional (never mind the homeowner), they should honor their request to remove a zestimate the professional feels is misleading. Why not? The answer is, I can only suspect, is that Zillow does not trust professionals to be truthful about misleading zestimates. Just this fella’s opinion.
Joe,
The net impact of the “new rule” could be that an AVM valuation is “attached” to a listing only when it errs on the high side, and never when it errs on the low side. Not a good thing from a home buyer’s perspective.
IMO, all misleading AVMs should be removed– too high and too low.
Question for agents: If you knew your client’s zestimate was way off on the high side, to the point of being misleading, and your client said “Keep it there?” what would you do?
Personally, I love Zillow. Just another tool to educate the public. I use it all the time. In fact, we cancelled our IDX feed because of the new charges imposed by the NWMLS and as soon as our web designer gets back from her dang vacation our SEARCH PROPERTIES tab will lead right to zillow.
Any on-line FREE home asset evaluator that doesn’t kick you to an Agent has my thumbs up! They all assist in our educational process to the consumer. A good Agent will tell their client why the Zillow value is incorrect/correct. An agent can give you a wrong value of a home in this market just as Zillow can/does. The conventional CMA as we knew it in the past is greatly distorted due to the incessant foreclosures and shortsales that will continue to plague our markets.
But Ray, Zillow doesn’t have ALL of the listed for sale properties that an IDX feed would provide. Not in this area anyway. The buyers using your site, expecting accurate information about current listings, MAY miss just the home they were looking for, because the broker who listed the property didn’t post to Zillow.
Jan, we find our search engine is not used very much anyway. Seems everyone loves the technology Red Fin brings and others seem to like the JLS website. We encourage clients to use anyone they want for search but in the end we never lose a client to another Agent because of what we offer.
I would say 85-90% of our clients have found their home already when they contact us either from another search engine, open house, driving around, or word of mouth. We also get ALOT of spill-over from Red Fin because their office minimum is so high compared to ours. With the 5500 minimum they knock out the commission in many parts of Tacoma and the southend.
I would agree with Ray on that one. People use the search tool of choice, and that does not directly relate to whom they will choose to represent them.
Ray said: “In fact, we cancelled our IDX feed because of the new charges imposed by the NWMLS, and as soon as our web designer gets back from her dang vacation our SEARCH PROPERTIES tab will lead right to zillow.”
That’s interesting. Obviously this “new rule” will send ripples far and wide, and will impact not only large brokerages, but smaller ones as well.
Does this new ruling impact the search feature at RCG?
The search feature on RCG does not provide AVM info for individual properties.
I’ll have to look, Rhonda. I haven’t used it much. Will let you know.
AVMs, Zillow, etc – all are inaccurate at least 10-25% of the time (admittedly by Zillow and others – and sometimes more off than that). Agents are not a lazy bunch…they need not rely on an AVM (from any source of AVM, even “zestimates”) – Agents are smart, intuitive, resourcefull folks that have the best tool at their fingertips – the local MLS… a skilled experienced agent can run a CMA and look at listings and recent sales that are most similar to the home they are listing and do a much better job than Zillow or any other AVM when listing a home- especially if that agent has already toured the interior of competing listings – then that agent knows if the home smells like cat urine or has a loud neighbor rocking out all day (Zillow doesn’t know this stuff). I find it sad to see an AVM attached to a listing – to me, it appears that the agent is saying “see, Zillow says so too” as if needing some sort of reassurance. Personally, when I see an AVM attached to a listing, I am less inclined to believe the asking price in that listing, especially if the figures match closely.
Of course, the other best tool agents have at their fingertips is their own experience… like going out and touring the competing listings, their own expertise of property type, neighborhood, etc… I trust a local experienced agent WAY more than ANY AVM.
As to the above: ” I trust a local experienced agent WAY more than ANY AVM”- I’ve worked with many clients- and their agents. We always pay great attention to what these professionals say. JG
Better off hiring a professional appraiser than relying on an AVM – just my opinion.
Rhonda,
I don’t see anything on the RCG site or the Search Tool that is impacted by this new rule.
I believe that any advertising is good advertising, assuming of course, that my seller is in agreement.
I’m with Spencer, the property is on Zillow anyway so why not utilize that to our advantage as yet another advertising medium? Seattle buyers are savvy, and especially savvy to Zillow – I’d assume a majority of sellers check their property status on Zillow (non sellers too!).
When Zillow first came to be, some of my agents felt threatened to an extent but they soon realized the Zillow business plan would allow for another way to advertise that seller clients are beginning to expect be utilized.
I’d like to find out how to get my office listings on Zillow via direct feed.
Jan,
Do you think it will be easy to pull the “opt out” sellers in the feed to Zillow? Seems like a minor program tweak for large brokers. Do you do the Zillow feed for your clients?
Should be no problem pulling the opt-out sellers. I honestly didn’t realize after reading the rules revisions that we would have to do that, so I’m glad I caught this post. We don’t currently feed directly but plan to in the next month as part of our next generation IDX service. They make it pretty easy.
Hi Keely,
I’ll email you directly. Thanks!
Jan,
I’m not the “interpreter” for the new rules 🙂 But seems to me pulling them from that feed will be necessary. I think the new rule goes into effect October 1, and there could be changes by then. Compliance by year end…at least that is what I remember from Marlow’s post linked in mine.
New rules are effective today, Oct 1, with a 3 month grace period for compliance.
Jan,
I made the correction after peeking at Marlow’s post…there seem to be a few changes since I first viewed it.
The first time I saw this was on FranklyMLS.com which is a Wiki MLS in Washington D.C. I was adding comments recently when the notice popped up saying that the Seller had opted out of blogger comments. It seemed odd to me… maybe Frank knows a bit more and can contribute here.
Rarely will a seller approve both pro and con comments, so many say YES to blogging about their property, but then expect their agent to remove negative comments. So best to steer clear of it altogether IF it is really “a blog”.
Ardell,
I know these questions are OT, and the subject of a billion other blog posts, but I am curious as to how “zestimates” effect actual buyer and (non-distressed) seller behavior. Do buyers refuse to go over the zestimate, or expect a certain % discount off the zestimate? Do sellers refuse to sell below zestimate or much below zestimate, fearing they are “giving it away”?
Do you have a canned speech ready for prospective sellers/buyers who whip out their zestimates? (can I say that on this blog?). Are you better off as an agent because of zestimates – i.e., do they “ground” a buyer or seller?
How accurate are zestimates versus actual closing prices?
thanks – PG
Patent Guy,
You don’t every have to worry about being OT…your questions are good always, so ask whatever-whenever. Just know that I only get emails when comments hit a post of mine…not RCG generally. So don’t ask me a question on Rhonda’s post…though she often gives me a heads up when people do that.
I don’t like to speculate on these things without running the data, which I haven’t done for awhile. I’ll do a post on it before I go to sleep tonight. I compare sold price to 2009 Assessed Value to Zestimate. the last time I did it there was no concensus of Zillow being mostly under or mostly over…all across the board really. Assessed Value more or less has been more accurate this year than in the past…that will change dramatically in 2010.
The “chatter” regarding someone’s Zestimate has died down abit over the last 18 months, and I rarely hear people mention it these days. But that’s likely because my clients are buying new construction or distressed seller properties by and large. I had an interesting case recently where we jumped on a house at full price within hours, because it was underpriced. Wonder what Zillow says on that one? Anyway, the seller wanted out of the contract within 48 hours and it got very difficult. I ended up paying all of the inspection repair costs, because it really wasn’t my buyer client’s fault that it was under priced. The message was the seller was hoping the buyer would ask for something so he could say no, so he could put it back on market for a higher price. “Fairing things out” has been the name of the game this year, to a large extent.
When the market is a good time to sell…I generally work mostly for sellers. When the market is a good time to buy…I generally work mostly for buyers. It helps keep my ethical standards intact. This year has been mostly buyer clients. Because I have strong valuation skills, my buyer clients rarely consult a Zestimate…or don’t mention it to me if they do. I usually do a valuation prior to offer using my own methods.
I do remember a time when buyers were offering Zestimate and no more, and I do think that contributed to the market decline at one point way back. But then Zestimates starting running higher than the market, and I didn’t hear much about them anymore. Doesn’t help a seller if the zestimate is high…but can hurt a seller if it is low. My opinion and observation, of course.
Always good to hear from you…OT or otherwise 🙂
P.S. to Patent Guy,
I need a little extra motivation these days to write blog posts…so ask any question you may have on pretty much anything 🙂
Ardell,
Happy to help motivate.
For whatever reason, vacant land on Kauai is frequently assessed way over market value by the county, whereas property with houses tend to be under assessed (based on anecdotal observations by me looking at hundreds of listings over a few years). Sellers of vacant land try to make lemon aid from their assessor lemons by advertising how their asking prices are way below assessed value, etc., as if the Kauai county tax assessor’s office was some sort of impartial and accurate judge of value. Conversely, since the asking (and selling) prices for houses tend to be higher than assessed values, not a peep mentioned about how they want 50% more than assessed value.
I am wondering if sellers who are blessed with a way high Zestimate use this to try to sell “value” to hook a buyer (i.e., “priced $150K below Zestimate!” in the listing description). It comes down to whether buyers take Zestimates as being accurate information, although I don’t think it helps the over taxed vacant land owners on Kauai …
Sellers know what their up against now-a-days. Sure they visit Zillow and http://www.eppraisal.com/ but they understand their situation. If they do NOT its up to us to educate.
Buyers will offer based on what they believe the value is, their agent opinion, and current other homes on the market in the same vicinity. I always get hit with,” 2920 just sold for…………Or there are 2 priced under this and they are in Foreclosure or short sale.”
Buyers and Sellers have gotten ALOT of education in the last 2 years and they are becoming more saavy then ever.
Just look at PCLN. Its taken 10 years but at 165.00 PPS appears people are finally getting it. It just takes others to take the 1st step, then word of mouth, then commonsense takes over.
With over 3,000 reviewed homes on my site, I like the new rule (active in our area) that blocks bloggers’ speech. Why? Because now those listings can get a big red warning that the seller is blocking the comments. And then it proceeds to give the name of the BUYER agent that went into the house. Thus encouraging the buyer to contact the buyer agent, and use their voice to describe the home from a buyer’s agent point of view.
Can’t block a Realtor to Consumer voice conversation… or can you!!
Frank
So, I was forced to check our home on both Zillow and eppraisal, the Zillow Zestimate was about 25% higher than the eppraisal number. That’s a mighty big spread.
(p.s., I think the Zillow one is too high, and the eppraisal one too low, but we’re not selling, so we’ll never know which was closer!)
Ray,
I hope Shatner held on to his Priceline shares … (but just between you and me … SELL)
LOL….I actually have bought and sold OWW since 1.50. I got out at 5.00. I have found eappraisal to be on target and not so high as the Zillow estimates. We are loading them both into our website for consumers.
Anything that doesn’t drive the consumer to an Agent and educates them has my approval. I could NOT stand Housevalues.com now (LEDR). My best friend worked there and I used to yell at him daily! Then Zillow came along…………..Bamm…The public spoke!
I have changed my point of view on the new NWMLS rules. The Tim comments on Marlow’s 360Digest blog started me thinking that any one off the street can make off the wall comments.
Then I come over here and that’s exactly what’s happening.
Between Ray educating about Price Line, the Frank with the 3,00 reviewed homes, in Arlington no less, and Ardell, forget about it.
Sellers are just trying to do something in a bad market. It’s not up to us to make snide comments about it. If you have a buyer, great, if you don’t, well, do something else.
I was upset before because buyer agents just don’t make cohesive offers, but whining about the price of property, or what were they thinking, is really counter productive.
What did you change your point of view from…to, David?
Patent Guy,
Not finished my data…will get that post up tomorrow.
Pingback: Can the NWMLS Control Online Conversations About Listings? | Seattle Bubble — News & discussion about real estate & the housing bubble in the Seattle area.
Ooo, my Zillow Zestimate just went up .07%!
Zillow also tells me when my Zestimate goes down, too. Can NWMLS Member sites do this if I sign up with them?
Maybe, but then I’d be bombared with emails from agents.
Patent Guy,
The stats are giving me the same results…no concensus. I don’t like to post a bunch of stats that tell no story. Generally if all the houses are the same and built at the same time in the area (newer construction development), the zestimate is more accurate than for most of Seattle. Negatives like “on a busy road” or “freeway noise” is not accounted for, but then even appraisers do not discount those as much as actual buyers do.
land values are always supply and demand driven and assessed values are somewhat meaningless for that reason. When no one wants vacant land…it still has an re tax, but technically has no value.
Jillayne…”0.7%” is not a value change. Every property has 5% this way or that. Up to a full 3% can be “hidden concessions” in a comp. I totally agree that people want info without having to talk to anyone. I recently signed up for a free trial of a pdf document converter…liked it…and bought it. I then did the same for docusign and it said “someone will call you”. I ignored the call as any “online” service should be able to show it to me without having to “talk me into it”.
We are fast becoming a nation of “show me” and “NO, you can’t talk to me, because you are going to twist my arm…and generally annoy me”