Nobu Hata

By Nobu Hata

Trulia.  Zillow.  Cyberhomes.  The mere mention of those words, and their use in such sentences such as “But, insert service here says my house is worth insert marketing-dollar-sucking price here!” strikes fear into the hearts of many a real estate practitioner.

We’ve all had the conversation, and for the most part, the majority of us are still grappling with the public’s access to information such as this.  Tax data, sold prices, “market” value, we’re in an age of unprecedented access to information; info that was once held close to the chest, is now available for all buyers and sellers to see.  In fact, to some consumers I’ve been talking to, these tools are – strangely – a much more trusted resource than a licensed REALTOR®.

The scope of which I didn’t believe until I was privy to a conversation with Zillow guru David Gibbons at BarCamp Seattle.  He has been e-mailed about home valuation prices from concerned home sellers wondering where Zillow gets their numbers.  Folks are wondering why the remodeled specs of their homes aren’t correlating online.  Why the foreclosure sales in their neighborhood are impacting their home so much.

Aren’t these conversations WE should be having?  Continue reading »