Time To Rehire Zorro
In December 2006 I wrote what was probably my most popular article: Consumers: Since you have to live with Zillow you better hire Zorro.
Not only did it have more comments than normal but it landed me on 5 TV stations. Zillow was a local darling and I was called upon to defend my position. The sneaky devils didn’t tell me that was the purpose of my interview. I guess I did so well, or so bad, I was a 10 second blip on the screen.
Anyway, today a consumer needs Zorro again. Note Zillow is cooperating, but this is an example of what happens when partial data is fed to sites that are deemed to be credible.
In June of 2008 I listed a property and sent the information to all of the major websites. That included Zillow. A few weeks later the home owners decided to take the home off the market.
Today they are seeking a refinance. Unfortunately their NOT SO SMART BANKER is relying on Zillow, if you can believe it, to evaluate if the borrowers qualfy for a mortgage.
Most banks won’t give you a refi if the home has been on the market within the last 6 months. That has reasonable logic.
This NOT SO SMART BANKER sees by researching on Zillow that the home is for sale. HUHHHH? It is not for sale. To him the home doesn’t qualify, Zillow shows it for sale. It hasn’t been for sale for over a year! Tell that to the banker. Amazing eh? Astonishing is a better word.
The problem is twofold: 1- Zillow takes feeds from places that show homes for sale. Seeking to be a central source of national listings they willingly take feeds. The problem is in the quality of the data. No process was setup to keep the data current. The home is still showing for sale when it is not, and hasn’t been for over a year. There is no automatic process, as there is in an MLS to keep the data accurate and current. HEY ZORRRRRRRRRO, we need you. My clients need you. Others probably need you too.
2- I hate to be redundant, but the second problem is not only the NOT SO SMART BANKER but anyone who makes important decisions soley based on Zillow or any other non MLS site. It’s just not smart. And besides that, how many people can Zorro hire out to. Perhaps he could train the 3 muskateers, that would help.
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