Zillow Asks Owners to Update Property Info
This article is from Realtor.com�
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Because of the unique homes in Marin the values can be way off, but it is fun to look at.
Warren Carreiro
Marin County Real Estate Pulse
“Daily Real Estate News��|��September 20, 2006Zillow Asks Owners to Update Property Info
Consumers who notice their property data on Zillow.com isn’t accurate or up to date can now add more current information and post commentary to the Web site.
Seattle-based Zillow, which launched in February, provides estimated valuations and other property data on some 68 million U.S. homes.
“Opening up Zillow’s massive database and allowing home owners to contribute factual information and commentary will, over time, dramatically enhance the quality and relevance of Zillow,” says Rich Barton, Zillow co-founder and CEO.
Previously, Zillow allowed consumers to modify any home’s estimate via a private worksheet � adding in remodel information, additions, and choosing their own comparable transactions to calculate a more accurate value. Now, a home’s owner can choose to publish this information for anyone to see. They can also choose to keep it private, or to e-mail it to select others.
Barton says the change was made after Zillow received “loads of feedback” from home owners who said they wanted to be publish things they know about their own homes, but aren’t noted on the public records that Zillow uses to create its home valuations.
To use Zillow’s opened database, home owners must register under their own name and “claim” their home’s record through an online private verification process. All home owner-contributed information will be shown alongside Zillow’s existing data for that home.
� REALTOR� Magazine Online”
