Why You Need Zillow

Let me tell you this: people have the misconception that Zillow is a widget for home buyers and sellers. That is not true, and Zillow is for anyone who is interested in real estate. For example, a person like me who researches the real estate market, I use Zillow to find out about home prices and sales activity trends. Not only that, I use it to forecast the market by examining the charts and the market reports. Basically, Zillow makes my research much easier by combining lots of information in one place.

That said, let me show you how to use Zillow as a real estate researcher. (No, you don't need a Ph.D to do the research.) First of all, let's pick a house that we want to do research on. Remember, even though we pick only one house, not thousands of houses, that particular house does have enough information about the market trends. So, let's go and type in the address, and as usual, click go. Wow, isn't this amazing? We are now seeing a group of houses from the sky. We can pick another house from this map, but let's stick to our first pick by clicking the address.

Look at the information Zillow has for this particular house. Basically, it has everything we want to know about this house. Then, let's click Zestimate & Charts. Do you see the Zestimate? That's the amount this house is worth. Not only that, Zestimate shows the price change in the past 30 days in addition to the value range this house may be valued at. Now that we look at the value of this house, let's get into the highlights of Zillow. Look at the diversity of this chart. Because it has price trends not only for this house, but for the city, county, state, and even for the nation, it's so easy to compare the price trends for the entire U.S. market here.

Don't forget: Zillow also has historical value trends. It shows the historical value trends of this home and other homes in the nation by showing the price changes in the past 30 days to 10 years. If you don't like the percentage change option, then switch to dollar comparison. This is absolutely my favorite tool. I mean, I don't have to look through a several websites to find the value trends, but just one place, Zillow. Now, based on the information we gather from Zillow, can you tell me where the market is heading? Exactly. You can tell the market is still going down. Congratulations for being a real estate researcher!

People like me who have experience in real estate would realize that even last year, Zestimate values were not accurate. I mean sometimes, it was off by a big number. Is that why users wrote all those negative comments on the discussion board? Now, check it out again. You will realize that the data is much more accurate now. How did Zillow do it? What it probably did was change the way it calculated the values, adding less value for additional square footage.

Before the era of Zillow, it was almost impossible to get nationwide data of homes and their values. Because of Zillow, now it is possible to search the price trends for a small town in Texas or anywhere in the U.S. So, say "thank you" to Zillow. If you have read about home price trends in the newspaper, you would realize that the zip code is the lowest unit newspapers or other sources break down the trends. How about the trends for your own home or your neighbor's? Zillow knows users' wish and it is now fulfilling our wish by breaking down the trends from the nation to even individual homes.

I know there are other home value comparison tools online. But use Zillow. Because it has the most up-to-date home sales data, those data provide accurate charts and value trends for research. If you don't trust me, try using other tools. You will realize that their sales data are not updated for at least 6 months. So, use Zillow which updates its data every week.

I am scared of those data compiled by economists who use all kinds of math formulas, and I don't understand what those data mean. Lucky you, because Zillow is designed for the general public. You don't really have to learn anything to use it. If you are not comfortable with it, simply take a tour. Then, just grab your glasses and look at the charts. Let me be honest: you need to learn the options on chart selection in order for you to get the right chart you want. That is why users should encourage Zillow to explain certain terms like annualized percertage. Other than that, it is a very user-friendly widget.

By now, you have probably noticed that I am not using Zillow as it was originally designed. Yes, Zillow is primarily intended for home buyers and sellers, and those charts that I use are for buyers and sellers to check their home values or homes they want to buy. Who cares? I am using it to measure the conditions of the housing market. And even CNN understands that the data on Zillow is valuable, and it is using those data to report the housing price trends.

I think Zillow will develop more widgets that are more interactive and personalized. For example, Zillow will probably create a widget that helps people where they can afford to buy homes based on the information they provide. Yes, Zillow has unlimited possibilities!