Zillow is buying Trulia, so what does this mean for buyers like you? First, if you don’t know already, in the real estate industry the two elephants in the room have been Zillow and Trulia. Millions of buyers search these two sites for their homes and land. But when one elephant acquires the other, what does that leave, apart from one very large elephant? The implications for buyers are significant, and they are even bigger than this one acquisition.
Zillow Acquires Trulia
Some are calling the new conglomerate “GodZillow.” Zillow and Trulia combined will be a massive multi-billion dollar machine, but do not think for a moment that you–the buyer of real estate–are at the center of their business model. You are not. These massive companies make their money by selling advertisements, mostly to real estate agents. Real estate agents spend $12 billion a year marketing their services to consumers. Zillow and Trulia combined collect $4 billion selling space to agents in order to hook buyers like you. But buyers like you are not their customers. Realtors are, and they help Realtors hook buyers. What does this mean for you?
When you are searching for your home on the Internet, you just want a reliable source of information, and let’s face it–you love those Zestimates, because you think they are telling you what a home is really worth. Sorry. The disastrous inaccuracy of Zillow’s and even Trulia’s data is lore among Realtors.
Here is the tip of the iceberg. In a national study, Zillow only showed 73% of the homes actually for sale, and Trulia only showed 78% of the homes actually for sale. Sixteen percent of the home listings currently represented as being for sale on Zillow’s website were not actually for sale. On Trulia 17% of the homes listed for sale were also not actually for sale. Zillow and Trulia often do not show new listings for as much as 10 days. [Survey conducted by ZipRealty]
In the Sequim and Port Angeles area I would affirm these statistics, and I would add that I have repeatedly seen Zillow Zestimates be off by as much as 50% to 100%.
Zillow and Trulia Less Than Accurate
I know buyers love to use Zillow. I get that, but if you want accuracy, I recommend Sequim-Homes.com. It is 100%, because all the data is pulled directly from the local real estate listing agents. If you knew that some of the homes you are looking at on Zillow are not actually for sale, even though it says they are, why use that site? If you knew the Zestimates can be off by 50% to 100%, why would you even look at those numbers. Sometimes Zillow gets the numbers right, but so often Zillow and Trulia get the numbers terribly wrong. If you are making buying decisions based on Zillow and Trulia data, you are in for a sore disappointment. If you want accuracy and solid advice about local values, why not just use a 100% accurate Sequim MLS site, and why not email and/or talk directly with a 20 year local professional who knows local values? That would be so much safer and more reliable than Zillow or Trulia.
Last Updated on September 22, 2019 by Chuck Marunde
