11–20 of 265 posts
I wonder how many other tech companies fit into this general category of "providing an equivalent to a regulated service without meeting the regulations". You've got the more obvious "sharing economy" type things which are in the news all over the place lately, but I bet there are a bunch of other companies like Zillow that have been flying under the radar for a while.
I wonder how many other tech companies fit into this general category of "providing an equivalent to a regulated service without meeting the regulations". You've got the more obvious "sharing economy" type things which are in the news all over the place lately, but I bet there are a bunch of other companies like Zillow that have been flying under the radar for a while.
Since when is providing a housing estimate a regulated activity?
"...the fact that they offer market-value estimates and 'are promoted as a tool for potential buyers to use in assessing [the] market value of a given property,' shows that they meet the definition of an appraisal under state law. Not only should Zillow be licensed to perform appraisals before offering such estimates"
It can be surprising when seemingly innocuous activities are in fact heavily regulated (cf. Stanford needing to remove all their learning videos from their website).
I wonder how many other tech companies fit into this general category of "providing an equivalent to a regulated service without meeting the regulations". You've got the more obvious "sharing economy" type things which are in the news all over the place lately, but I bet there are a bunch of other companies like Zillow that have been flying under the radar for a while.
Since when is providing a housing estimate a regulated activity?
https://www.appraisalfoundation.org/imis/TAF/About_Us/TAF_Bo...
I wonder how many other tech companies fit into this general category of "providing an equivalent to a regulated service without meeting the regulations". You've got the more obvious "sharing economy" type things which are in the news all over the place lately, but I bet there are a bunch of other companies like Zillow that have been flying under the radar for a while.
Since when is providing a housing estimate a regulated activity?
If this is a regulated activity, it absolutely shouldn't be. This reminds me of the absurd barber regulations.
The realtors I talk to hate the Zillow estimate as it typically creates an unrealistic expectation for either the seller or buyer depending on if the algorithm over or under estimates. Apparently it's rarely correct, though I live in a unique area.
If it's not correct, then the sale price will reflect that and Zillow's reputation will take a hit. Don't understand why the government needs to get involved in what someone says something is worth, it's their opinion and they're entitled to it. Edit: It would be funny if Zillow also started putting up alerts about problems with government finances which will likely impact future taxes, such as in Illinois.
Civil courts exist to provide monetary damages if damages can be proved to exist. Yes, they can also compel arbitrary behavior as a part of governing body.
This is independent of any stance on Zillow and a state licensing regime. If the plaintiff can convince that the tool is making her lose money, the judge will award her money.
"but that means " yes you can make a career out of litigation, many people have.
1. List price
2. "Favorites" on the MLS.
3. Square footage
4. Bedrooms
5. Bathrooms
6. Sold price for nearby properties
7. Sold price for nearby properties relative to their list price
And the list goes on... Is it that difficult to predict? Literally there are hundreds of other features that have a clear correlation to the sell price (amount of people who attend the open house, crime, proximity to busy street, etc.) that I'm not including. I guess the problem is, there's not any money in having an accurate prediction.
It would be great to see how Zillow stacks up to the desktop assessment software used by various mortgage companies and banks.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2014/06...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If it's not correct, then the sale price will reflect that and Zillow's reputation will take a hit. Don't understand why the government needs to get involved in what someone says something is worth, it's their opinion and they're entitled to it. Edit: It would be funny if Zillow also started putting up alerts about problems with government finances which will likely impact future taxes, such as in Illinois.
The government's not getting involved, oh you mean the fact that a judge is going to be involved? Civil courts exist to provide monetary damages if damages can be proved to exist. Yes, they can also compel arbitrary behavior as a part of governing body. This is independent of any stance on Zillow and a state licensing regime. If the plaintiff can convince that the tool is making her lose money, the judge will award h…
This month it was $544k, and there's no sign it ever got above $580k in the historic graph. It claims it was $546k on March 31st.
One thing I did notice was a new button underneath the estimate: "I disagree with my Zestimate" which, surprisingly enough, is a lead gen for realtors, not a method to try and get them to change.
The realtors I talk to hate the Zillow estimate as it typically creates an unrealistic expectation for either the seller or buyer depending on if the algorithm over or under estimates. Apparently it's rarely correct, though I live in a unique area.
If it's not correct, then the sale price will reflect that and Zillow's reputation will take a hit. Don't understand why the government needs to get involved in what someone says something is worth, it's their opinion and they're entitled to it. Edit: It would be funny if Zillow also started putting up alerts about problems with government finances which will likely impact future taxes, such as in Illinois.
The problem is, you'll never get to establish a sale price if the seller thinks his house is worth 100k over market or a buyer thinks the seller is asking 100k over market because that's what they saw on Zillow.
Further, when zillow gets the estimate of a house wrong it costs them nothing, but there are real costs to Zillow's bad estimates to buyers and sellers.