Another Reason to be Careful of Zillow

We’ve talked at length about the issues with Zillow’s Zestimate, which, despite a retooling, can still be off by tens of thousands of dollars. That creates frustration and mistrust among home sellers and buyers.

But, there’s another reason real estate agents, buyers, and sellers are aggravated with Zillow. Agents are checking their personal listings on Zillow’s site and finding their names grouped with several other agents’ names—none of whom have a connection to the home. In some cases, these agents may not know they appear on that particular listing, and they might not even be familiar with the home, which means they won’t have the ability to speak to its details or selling points.

“Welcome to what some call the ‘pay-to-play’ world of Zillow, which charges agents a premium to be named on listings that are not their own,” said the Miami Herald. “Zillow calls it the ‘premier broker’ program, by which agents pay a fee to secure leads from people inquiring about houses in certain ZIP codes. According to the company website, when a shopper makes an inquiry through Zillow (or the Zillow-owned site Trulia), the company confirms that the prospect is ready to speak with an agent. If so, it hands the would-be client off to the ‘premier’ agent—as opposed to the listing agent.”

Having the first crack at this buyer means the Zillow Premier agent can show the home, even though it’s not their listing, and also redirect the buyer to other listings—“probably his or her own listings first. Now, the listing agent has lost a potential sale, as well as a potential new client.”

Zillow calls this “an incredible lead generator” for agents—and, not surprisingly given the company’s excitement about this program, it generates a huge amount of revenue for them. The company reportedly refused to discontinue the practice despite the prodding of numerous Realtors.

So what can buyers and sellers do as a workaround?

What buyers can do to protect themselves

Pay close attention to the listing. “When buyers click on a listing, they have no idea they are not going to get the listing agent,” Kat Palmiotti of Grand Lux Realty in Monroe, New York, told the Herald. “Sometimes they get contacted by 10 different agents. It can be frustrating to a buyer.”

If the listing agent is identified and you’re planning to reach out, contact him or her as opposed to the other agents listed. That way you can assure you’re working with the individual who not only secured the listing fair and square, but who also knows all about the home.

There may be important details about the home’s construction, floorplan, or features that an unaffiliated agent can’t provide. In some cases, premier agents may not even be located in the areas where the home is located—another reason to make sure you’re working with the listing agent.

What sellers can do to protect themselves 

Talk to your agent about Homesnap. Homesnap started out as “a consumer-facing app for displaying information about local homes by taking a photo” three years ago, said TechCrunch, and has grown into a mega portal used by real estate firms and multiple listing services across the country.

“Among other things, Homesnap’s technology allows you to take a photo with your mobile device of any house and instantly be shown all its pertinent details: size, number of bedrooms and baths, property taxes, school district, asking price (if it’s for sale) and even its estimated value (if it’s not),” said the Herald. “The idea is to give buyers and sellers a better online search experience than the one provided by companies such as Zillow, where agents spend beaucoup bucks promoting their listings.”

Homesnap also sorts listings according to the user’s search data instead of clouding them with a featured or paid listing.

WRITTEN BY JAYMI NACIRI

Selling your home, you must read this.

The 10 Most Costly Home Selling Mistakes, And How To Avoid Them

Here are the 10 mistakes you must avoid:

1. Not Hiring A Professional To Sell Your Home, Trying to sell your home by yourself is sheer madness. You need the expertise of a professional. The numbers also don’t lie home sellers who try to do it themselves often end up taking longer to sell and sell for far less than homeowners who work with an agent.
2. Mis-Pricing Your HomeOver-pricing or under-pricing is a huge money-losing mistake. It’s so critical to know your market and get familiar with comps of similar homes currently for sale (and those that have recently sold) to understand exactly what price tag your home needs. Neglecting Necessary Repairs Prior To SaleYou will lose money if you don’t take care of repairs before the house goes on the market. It’s always going to cost you less out of pocket to fix things ahead of time, rather than have buyers see your house in disrepair. I promise they’ll offer less or ask for a credit back for the work that needs to be done before the deal closes.
3. Refusing To Remove Your Clutter And Junk Prior To The SaleClutter eats equity and kills deals. One of the least expensive improvements you can make to your home is to declutter and create a sense of spaciousness throughout, from the kitchen countertops to the overstuffed closets to the trophy-lined shelves in the den. It costs you nothing to get rid of all that stuff, yet it reaps big rewards.
4. Selling Your House EmptySelling an empty house makes buyers feel the same way: empty. I’m a firm believer that a home should be dressed or staged. Don’t worry, you won’t need to go out and buy new furniture and accessories. Chances are, you have plenty to choose from already; in fact, that’s usually the problem (see tip four, above). Editing out items and lots of them may just leave you with the perfect amount of furnishings for a simply staged home (space is your friend, after all). If your furniture is already in another house or taking a cross-country trek, I highly recommend making the small (but mighty) investment in a local stager to give the for-sale home a new look that will charm potential buyers.
5. Letting Your Ego Get In The Way When NegotiatingToo many sellers take negotiating personally and lose out on creating a win-win deal. Remember, this is a business transaction perhaps the biggest one of your life. Take your ego out of the equation and put your head back into it.
6. Failing To Complete A Full Set Of Disclosures Prior To ClosingI’ve watched too many sellers pay big bucks because they didn’t reveal it all. Being upfront and forthcoming about any of your home’s issues will save you lots of money and time, especially if the buyers end up uncovering problems themselves. And they will.
7. Mis-timing The Sale For Maximum Tax Benefits Even a sale miss-scheduled by one day can cost you tens of thousands in extra taxes. Don’t be left a day late and many dollars short. Make sure you talk to your accountant to find out if any long term capital gains tax breaks apply to you, and check your calendar to determine when they come into play.
8. Overlooking Junk Fees And Extra Expenses At ClosingHome sellers throw thousands away by not requesting and confirming a list of fees and expenses long before closing day. Make sure you and your real estate agent review estimated closing cost statements long before it’s time to hand over the keys. Because the closing table on sale day is way too late to be fixing costly mistakes or asking for discounts and credits.
9. Using Lousy Photos This is my pet peeve. I do segments on several TV shows, and I’m always looking for great houses to showcase on-air. I can’t tell you how many awesome homes have horrible camera phone photos in their sale listings. Now, more than 90% of all buyers start their home search online, so you’d better make sure you and your agent nail your homes close up! You won’t ever get a second chance to make the perfect first impression.