Tagged: zillow Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Geebo 8:54 am on August 28, 2017 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , zillow   

    Zillow has Zestimate lawsuit thrown out 

    Zillow has Zestimate lawsuit thrown out

    Back in May, we posted how real estate site Zillow was being sued over their ‘Zestimate’ feature. The lawsuit claimed Zillow’s estimates were undervaluing the homes which were being sold on Zillow and that Zestimates were a de facto appraisal. In Illinois, where the suit was filed, all real estate appraisers have to be licensed in the state.

    Zillow can breathe a zigh of relief for now, as the lawsuit has been dismissed by a U.S. District Judge in Chicago. The judge ruled the portmanteau of Zillow and estimate, creating Zestimate, clearly shows consumers it is an estimate and not an appraisal and Zestimates were just a starting point for people looking to buy a home. The judge also ruled Zillow did not violate Illinois’ Real Estate Appraiser Licensing Act.

    The plaintiffs will no doubt try to file an amended lawsuit since they still claim Zestimates are affecting property values negatively.

     

  • Geebo 9:01 am on July 10, 2017 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: instant offers, , zillow   

    Realtors rebelling against Zillow over instant offers 

    Realtors rebelling against Zillow over instant offers

    Hot off of them threatening a blogger over fair use of photos (BTW, they backed down after the EFF told them they have no case), real estate website Zillow is testing a new program called Instant Offers. Zillow says Instant Offers can speed up the process of selling your home and make it a lot easier. Basically how it works is, you register your home with Instant Offers and ideally, within two business days you’ll receive offers from investors who are willing to buy your home. Real estate agents, who already have a contentious relationship with Zillow, are saying not only does this hurt their business, but Instant Offers are also not consumer friendly.

    Even though Instant Offers is only being tested in Las Vegas and Orlando, many members of the National Association of Realtors have seen the writing on the wall. The realtors are saying not only does Instant Offers take away business opportunities from them, but they also say the Instant Offers investors are not offering equitable offers to homeowners. The realtors believe the investors are offering a great deal below market value. One realtor has even taken it upon himself to start a grass-roots movement to try to stop Zillow from becoming the Amazon of real estate by launching the website Stop Zillow.

    However, the question that needs to be asked is, is Zillow looking to corner the real estate market nationwide, or are realtors looking at Zillow like newspapers looked at online classifieds before print media’s decline? Only time will tell.

     

  • Geebo 8:58 am on June 27, 2017 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Kate Wagner, McMansion Hell, , zillow   

    Zillow threatens architecture blogger over house photos 

    Zillow threatens architecture blogger over house photos

    Real estate website Zillow has threatened 23-year-old architecture blogger Kate Wagner over her use of photos from their website. Wagner was running a successful blog called “McMansion Hell” where she took the gargantuan functionless houses to task. In many of her posts, Wagner would use a dry wit and humor to poke fun at many of the design-challenged houses by using photos from Zillow. Ms. Wagner is no mere snark blogger either. Here she is giving a TEDx Talk about the flaws in the poorly planned out houses.

    Recently, Zillow took it upon themselves to send Ms. Wagner a letter demanding she remove any picture she used on her blog from Zillow. Ms. Wagner had always attributed the photos to Zillow and defended her use of them under fair use doctrine. However, in response to Zillow’s perceived threat, Ms. Wagner has decided to, at least temporarily, shutter her website. This is a shame since not only did she have some great content about some poorly designed houses, but she also had other insightful posts on her blog about architectural trends and history in the United States.

    This isn’t even taking into consideration that Zillow themselves don’t own the pictures Ms. Wagner was using. They belong to other copyright holders who allow Zillow to use them. Zillow claims they are defending those copyright holders, but they appear to be petty in doing so by shutting down a blog of a college student whose sole income source is her blog. Maybe if Zillow decides to seek damages they should request a sense of humor in the settlement.

     

    • salman 4:20 am on June 28, 2017 Permalink

      Things got real serious.
      But if Ms. Wagner had credited the photos to Zillow, so there might not be big issues.

  • Geebo 9:03 am on May 12, 2017 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , zillow   

    Zillow faces lawzuit over Zesitmates 

    Zillow faces lawzuit over Zesitmates

    National real estate listing site Zillow has a feature on their site called ‘Zesitmates’. These Zestimates, as the name implies, are price estimates for real estate listings. According to their website, Zillow says Zestimates are not an appraisal, but are a starting point in determining a home’s value. The Zestimates are based on a proprietary algorithm that takes user provided information and other local prices into account. Sometimes the Zestimate numbers don’t match with the actual value of the home or the price being asked by the homeowner. This sometimes vast disparity in numbers has now led to a lawsuit against Zillow.

    An Illinois homeowner has filed the suit claiming Zillow’s estimate was $60,000 less than the home is worth. The suit claims that Zillow determined this valuation by using the prices of newly built homes in their area but not quite in their neighborhood. The homeowner feels the Zestimate has limited the market potential on their home.

    Is this lawsuit warranted? Well, yes and no. While it doesn’t appear Zillow has acted with any real malice, they had to know their Zestimates could affect the market values on some homes. While Zillow may claim their Zestimates are only a starting point, they have to know a lot of potential buyers are going to use the Zestimates as a de facto appraisal no matter how many warnings they post.

     

Newer posts →

c
Compose new post
j
Next post/Next comment
k
Previous post/Previous comment
r
Reply
e
Edit
o
Show/Hide comments
t
Go to top
l
Go to login
h
Show/Hide help
shift + esc
Cancel