Zillow
Zillow is such a joke, I feel compelled to expose it for what it really is.
First off, when Zillow first got started it was fantastic. They provided the first real market modeling. They were humble about it, and learned their way through the learning curve. They attracted lots of us to them.
Somewhere along the line they got big, and when they got big they lost their way. Instead of focusing on providing real content, they got distracted into marketing, growth, and a lot of distracting activities which ultimately undermined the value of their content. Until we got to this point.
Now they are a big conglomerate bully. Their market modeling -- which originally wasn't great but was WAY better than anything else out there -- has been reduced to dart throwing in the night. I have little to no confidence in their current model.
I own and track ~ 10 properties throughout South King County. During the first half of this year they had our portfolio increasing astronomically. It was going through the roof (pun intended) and headed for the stars. I thought they were getting a bit ahead of themselves, but I didn't fret over it too much cuz I am not selling and it wasn't egregious. About 3-4 weeks ago they tweeked their model. Ever since then the values have been dropping.
Besides being a property manager, I am also a designated broker and have several properties I am selling. The market has not cooled off one iota. If anything, it has gotten hotter. But there is Zillow supposedly putting comps in their black box telling me how much the market has cooled in the past few weeks. Total B.S.
If they had not turned into such a bully I would shrug my shoulders. But when they come across as the God of Real Estate, I say "Screw 'em." Get humble. Return to your roots. Spend more time providing content than pushing your overweight bureaucracy around.
But let me tell you how I really feel about them....!
First off, when Zillow first got started it was fantastic. They provided the first real market modeling. They were humble about it, and learned their way through the learning curve. They attracted lots of us to them.
Somewhere along the line they got big, and when they got big they lost their way. Instead of focusing on providing real content, they got distracted into marketing, growth, and a lot of distracting activities which ultimately undermined the value of their content. Until we got to this point.
Now they are a big conglomerate bully. Their market modeling -- which originally wasn't great but was WAY better than anything else out there -- has been reduced to dart throwing in the night. I have little to no confidence in their current model.
I own and track ~ 10 properties throughout South King County. During the first half of this year they had our portfolio increasing astronomically. It was going through the roof (pun intended) and headed for the stars. I thought they were getting a bit ahead of themselves, but I didn't fret over it too much cuz I am not selling and it wasn't egregious. About 3-4 weeks ago they tweeked their model. Ever since then the values have been dropping.
Besides being a property manager, I am also a designated broker and have several properties I am selling. The market has not cooled off one iota. If anything, it has gotten hotter. But there is Zillow supposedly putting comps in their black box telling me how much the market has cooled in the past few weeks. Total B.S.
If they had not turned into such a bully I would shrug my shoulders. But when they come across as the God of Real Estate, I say "Screw 'em." Get humble. Return to your roots. Spend more time providing content than pushing your overweight bureaucracy around.
But let me tell you how I really feel about them....!
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