If you are in the market to buy a home, you may be wasting your time using Zillow or Trulia for your real estate search. Why you ask? Here are 7 reasons not to use Zillow or Trulia.
- Missing Homes for Sale – Thousands of verified, legitimate homes for sale are not listed on Zillow or Trulia. Many brokers don’t even know their listings are not on Zillow or Trulia. You could very well miss out on that amazing deal that was just listed today.
- Zillow owns Trulia –Zillow, Trulia, and other real estate search engines are owned by the same company, Zillow Group. All of these sites have the same bad information, so why waste your time checking them all? Many of our customers say they check both sites because they “don’t want to miss anything.” This works well for Zillow Group. They make their money from advertisers on their site. The more searches, the more millions they make.
- Local is Better – Local brokers and agents have direct feeds to all listings for sale by Realtors. Find a local Broker who specializes in the area that you want to buy and has a user friendly website. These sites will have the most current and accurate information possible. Don’t waste your time weeding through the millions of listings on Zillow or Trulia when you can search local.
- Scams – Zillow/Trulia allows anyone to post homes for sale or rent, just like Craigslist. This opens the door for con artists to step in. How do you know the home you are looking at is even owned by the person posting the listing? Countless times buyers fall victim to scams on Zillow or Trulia. Never buy a house you find on there if it is not listed by a Realtor that you can verify is an actual Realtor.
- Bad Information – By their own admission, they will advertise anything that is sent their way. They don’t check the information for accuracy. Is that house even for sale? Maybe not.
- False Reviews – No site has more false Realtor reviews than Zillow and Trulia. Some reviews are true, but it is way too easy for Realtors to falsify their reviews on there. The best way to hire a top notch Realtor is to ask around. Someone you know has sold their home in your town, right? Call your neighbor that sold, or family and friends that have sold, and ask them about their Realtor. That is a true review.
- Zestimates – When estimating your home’s value, Zillow claims that their Zestimates are within 10% of actual sales prices only 63.6% of the time. In real estate, 10% is a huge difference. If you wonder what your home is worth, just talk to a knowledgeable Realtor who can give you an accurate market analysis for your home.
Various sources:
http://productionrealty.com/8-reasons-not-to-use-zillow-or-trulia/
http://productionrealty.com/8-reasons-not-to-use-zillow-or-trulia/
https://www.texasrealestate.com/uploads/files/general-files/AVM_consumer_handout.pdf
http://www.njretoday.com/2011/01/10-reasons-why-zillow-fails-highly-inaccurate-zestimates/