There’s always something to howl about.

Zillow.com notes: Fear and Ludditism, advertising, a better farming strategy and more

Zillow notes: Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy asks “Why do so many agents fear Zillow?” He makes the same point in a BusinessWeek article on the Seattle-based Realty.bot.

Brian Brady, America’s Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker and a BloodhoundBlog contributor, covers some of the same ground: “Is your Realtor threatened?”

Both gentlemen are objecting to what we might characterize as the opportunistic bandwagoneering going on with respect to the Arizona Board of Appraisal’s attempts to outlaw consumer-oriented Automated Valuation Models. I can’t speak for them, but for me this is a matter of vitally-important principles, liberty the first among them.

I may write more about this over the weekend, because the issues involved are vast and very interesting — at least to me. Earlier this week, in email, I wrote, “When the sabot is a Ferragamo, Ned Ludd has a whole new style.” I have no doubt that this regulatory and legislative initiative is Ludditism in a Brooks Brothers suit. It’s bad enough that Zillow is afflicted, but I expect this is but the first salvo in a long war.

Witness: This came in as a comment last night, but I wanted to highlight it:

MLSPIN of Massachusetts just sent out this notice:

“RULES AND REGULATIONS REMINDERS:

I. Recently, the On-Line Valuation site, Zillow announced a new function being made available to advertise listings for sale on that site, whether or not you are the listing broker/agent. The MLS Rules and Regulations, STRICTLY PROHIBIT the advertising of another broker’s listings without their prior WRITTEN consent. The REALTOR&174; Code of Ethics, Standard of Practice 12-4 also prohibits the advertising of a listing without proper authority. Better safe than sorry; do not advertise another office’s listing anywhere without prior written approval.”

“Better safe than sorry” is an interesting choice of words.

Even more interesting is the fact that MLSPIN is arguing that MLS members have fewer rights to act than ordinary people. As things stand now, any non-MLS member can advertise another party’s home for sale, but, of course, no one does. Why? Advertising costs money. But anyone except MLSPIN members can announce that another party’s home is for sale on Zillow.com. And they’re doing it, too. Zillow’s listings are up by about one-third since the Zillow 5 software release on April 3rd. Why? Whether or not it’s advertising, announcing that a home is for sale on Zillow does not cost money. In the Age of Abundance, we’ll have to decide if out-of-pocket-expenditure is an essential component of advertising. Even so, it seems unreasonable to me that MLS members should have fewer rights than ordinary people.

But: That’s as may be. Your favorite lender can do the work you are forbidden to do. So can your kid, for that matter, provided there is no compensation (and who doesn’t love to see his own issue working for free?). It’s absurd to argue that the the announcements I make all day long through my IDX system somehow become advertisements on Zillow, but this is an easily-skirted absurdity.

Plus which, I’ve been sitting on an even better pee-on-the-tree strategy for Realtors farming Zillow.com: Instead of announcing homes for sale, walk the neighborhoods you farm, taking photos from the street or sidewalk of every one. Post those photos one at a time to Zillow. Doing this, you will have marked your entire territory, essentially in perpetuity. Anyone shopping your neighborhoods is going to run into you again and again. It seems reasonable to me that people will tend to investigate homes near those they might be interested in buying. What better way to establish yourself as the neighborhood expert than associating your name and contact information with every home they might turn to?

And: This is me in today’s Arizona Republic (permanent link). I wrote this before I knew about Arizona State Senate bill 1291, but it holds up okay:

Real Estate: Internet valuation not an appraisal

The Arizona Board of Appraisal has sent Zillow.com two letters demanding that it “cease and desist from all appraisal activities in the State of Arizona until such time as they are performed by a licensed or certified appraiser in this state.” The Criminal Division of the Arizona Attorney General’s office has also sent a similar letter to the Seattle-based internet real estate portal.

The conflict turns on what an appraisal is. Zillow.com argues that the results of its Automated Valuation Model are not appraisals, and its web site puts a disclaimer to that effect on every page. In defining an appraisal as “an opinion of value,” the Board of Appraisal would seem to have set itself in opposition not just to Zillow.com but to other popular real estate valuation sites — Eppraisal.com, CyberHomes.com, etc. The Board of Appraisal has not sent notices of violation to these sites.

Here’s another way of thinking of this: An appraiser is contracted for hire to offer evaluations to buyers, sellers or lenders in the expectation of compensation. None of these characteristics apply to consumer-oriented AVMs. No one asks Zillow or its competitors to evaluate a property, and no one pays them for having done so.

More importantly, the output from a consumer AVM cannot be used to obtain a mortgage — the overwhelming source of business for appraisers. The appraisers will argue that unrepresented buyers and sellers are using Zillow’s “Zestimates” or other AVM results to evaluate properties, but this is certainly their own business. Given that they had been working from anecdotes and gut-feelings before, it’s hard to claim that they are somehow worse off now.

I think the real issue is the threat posed by objective, automated, internet-based systems to state-licensed functionaries like appraisers or real estate agents. Is a Zestimate as good as an appraisal? Maybe not. But if an unrepresented seller and buyer agree about the value of a home in an all-cash sale, whether or not this agreement is buttressed by an AVM, should they be required by law to spend $350 for an appraisal?

 
Further notice: Todd Tarson at the MOCO Real blog.

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