• Have you ever had your agent ask you not to use Zillow as your source for searching Real Estate?
• Have you ever questioned your agent about the data that exist on Zillow?
• Have you ever found out that data on Zillow seems to be a bit off?
• Have you ever questioned your agent about why the Zillow Zestimate is so far off his/her analysis?

There are some problems that exist between what consumers find on Zillow and what Realtor’s actually enter in our MLS.  Also, there are lags in status updates and other data found ( Zestimates…) As Brokers we have to agree to Zillow terms to have our data syndicated to their website.

As part of these terms the most troubling is “Zillow reserves the right to change data and we agree to not hold them accountable”.  I admit that is not the exact verbiage but it is an accurate summary.   Also, Zillow gives brokers ZERO ability to change(fix) data. Also, Zestimates are joke.  When agents do market analysis we know if a basement is finished, if counter tops have been updated,  if floor coverings are new…   Do you think Zillows this????

How in the world can they?  So,  how can their Zestimates be accurate. These items are not even the biggest problem. Case in point:  Let’s say a seller puts his home for sale and the listing agent syndicates home to numerous websites like Zillow.   Let’s also say the home has 3.5 bathrooms and 5 bedrooms.  Now what if in he syndicating of data, Zillow publishes 3 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms.

Zillow will NOT allow the agent to fix the problem.  Now the seller gets mad and calls the Real Estate Commission to complain about misrepresentation (yes people will).  Guess who is at fault?   Right the Broker… There are companies now looking very closely about whether they even want to syndicate the data.

Liability is a scary thing! The most accurate site on the web is Realtor.com.