Real Estate and Technology
A great philosopher once said that all movements have three periods. The first phase is change as perceived as necessary. The internet became necessary because people had access to limited information. There was little transparency, and the consumer had no voice. Oftentimes the consumer was poorly treated. The second phase perceives change as an improvement. The third phase, that we’re currently experiencing, is a correction period. Real Estate has had the longest robust market in the history of the country, based on the internet. What will the impact of this be as the market passes through various adjustments that differ from state to state, and town to town?
With the arrival of Zillow.com, and other similar home valuation websites, will the public be better served? Lloyd Frink, co-founder and President of Zillow.com admits that the margin of error with Zillow.com is 7.2 percent. Now that Zillow.com has recently added the ability for homeowners to modify the facts of their home, and create their own “Zestimate” it’s anybody’s guess. Allen Dalton, the President of Realtor.com says, “The notion of suggesting to people that they can find out what their home is worth without a Realtor offends me. Something as critical and vital as your number one asset, and then treat it in a parlor game-type of fashion? The site Zillow.com says that they’re going to give consumers an idea of what their home is worth. I’m convinced that home sellers already have an idea, so I don’t think value is being inserted. Zillow.com wants you to believe that you can predetermine what the asset is worth before a realtor’s value is inserted into the proposition. We are talking about different business models and different consequences.”
I wonder what the Appraisal industry and Banks think about Zillow. I think we are a long way from where you can walk into a bank with a Zestimate (that you may have modified) and have the Bank give you a loan. What do you think? Santa Barbara Real Estate Blog …. the power of the Internet
