Arizona tries to ban zillow.com

It's all about market price. With that being said, Realtors are not licensed appraisers. They offer a market analysis, which should be more in depth than the information Zillow provides. Zillow is a great tool, it provides information from public records, for public use. Neither Realtors or Zillow.com are licensed appraisers, however both should be able to provide market information and present it as they wish. Both buyers and sellers should use every tool at their disposal to arrive at a price for a home.

As a UK citizen, I am a little shocked both by the Zillow process and by the comments of Nick and Charles above. I find it a little disturbing that a both a web company and "realtors" all think they can tell people what price to buy or sell at. The only market determinant for any commodity, including a house, is the price that buyer and seller agree on. I have bought and sold a few houses in my time and know that open competition and a transparent market is the by far the best way of leaving both buyer and seller happy with the deal. God Help America if it really is the land of the hog-tied.

I have used Zillow and found the houme prices way out of date. I know I would not sell my home based on zillow. I would have it appraised 1st. If you think having a realestate agent is expensive try selling on your own, and you better know the realestate law and are willing to open your house to strangers.

I've been in the real estate business for 40 years. Zillow is a helpful tool to me but not the final word. There are so many variables that determine fair market value. I'd have to charge you a fee to tell you how to determine true value the same way attorneys charge just to talk to anyone.

I basically parrott what Harry said. My home is listed on Zillow with a lot smaller aquare footage than it really is, even though my lot size is correct. Being a part-time realtor, I also know that Zillow has very limited usefulness because many homes sell at a reduced price because of their condition, poor layout, etc. Other homes sell for their extremely great utility, layout, features, etc. Since Zillow determines value based upon suare footage and lot size only, errors will inevitably occur. Furthermore, improvements claimed are assumed to increase value on a dollar-for-dollar basis and this is almost always a false assumption. All of this is no problem for knowledgeable people, but the VAST (I emphasize VAST) majority of the public does NOT know how value is realy determined and will almost certainly get the wrong impression of value.

Zillow does offer some value, but not always. My home is listed on Zillow but the data they claim they got from the county doesn't match the county's records. Instead of my 3,700 square foot house being on a 1.01 acre lot, Zillow shows it on .01 acre (just for information that is a 3,700 sq. foot home on a lot about 440 sq feet). Zillow was contacted but refuses to fix this obvious error. They claim they have no duty to do so. If I go to sell my house and someone uses Zillow to make an offer it will be off by a whole lot. They should be regulated and at least required to make changes or allow us to post corrections for people to see.

In Soviet Russia, Zillow.com bans Arizona!