{"id":195,"date":"2006-08-09T22:14:25","date_gmt":"2006-08-10T05:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=195"},"modified":"2007-04-01T11:18:42","modified_gmt":"2007-04-01T18:18:42","slug":"pinocchio-wept-the-map-is-never-the-territory-so-even-a-much-much-better-zillowcom-clone-would-not-be-able-to-evaluate-real-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/195\/pinocchio-wept-the-map-is-never-the-territory-so-even-a-much-much-better-zillowcom-clone-would-not-be-able-to-evaluate-real-property\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinocchio wept: The map is never the territory, so even a much, much better Zillow.com clone would not be able to evaluate real property . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

David G. from Zillow.com replied to my post yesterday which argues that Zillow.com Zestimates are bunk<\/a>, which I had proved to my own satisfaction in an earlier post<\/a>. I’m revisiting the topic — to everyone’s delight, no doubt — because I want to drive the point home, and because I want to illustrate how a business like Zillow.com could do a better<\/i> job — which would nevertheless still fall short of Zillow.com’s fraudulent promises.<\/p>\n

I’m going to draw from a few places. This is David G:<\/p>\n

So, why is it inappropriate to comment on your “debunking Zillow” series? Well, frankly, I think you’re entitled to your opinion and I respect it. I may disagree with you; but how does saying that help this conversation?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I cannot for the life of me imagine how anyone could reason rigorously about the argument I made and yet disagree with it. You cannot evaluate a house without seeing it. That seems to me to be beyond dispute. I’d be amazed if Zillow.com were to admit it, but they cannot deny it.<\/p>\n

There’s more here, of course. No one with any sense at Zillow.com would buy or sell a home without a professional opinion of value.<\/p>\n

But give the man credit. He doesn’t deny the truth. He just doesn’t quite admit it:<\/p>\n

In many respects, I actually agree with you; Zillow does not replace visiting a house and its comps or a strong knowledge of the local market.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the other hand, take a look at these promises, made on Zillow.com’s home page:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is Zillow promising if not “knowledge” of the values of homes it has never seen?<\/p>\n

Do you think this is ambiguous? This is from the Zillow.com “About Us” page:<\/p>\n

Why not help consumers by giving them access to the same kinds of information and tools agents use?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do you get the impression that what is meant here is “visiting a house and its comps or a strong knowledge of the local market”? I don’t.<\/p>\n

David G. again:<\/p>\n

Also, I find your argument applies equally to any AVM.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

AVM is Automated Valuation Model. And David is 100% correct. All AVMs are equally fraudulent if they claim to Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David G. from Zillow.com replied to my post yesterday which argues that Zillow.com Zestimates are bunk, which I had proved to my own satisfaction in an earlier post. I’m revisiting the topic — to everyone’s delight, no doubt — because I want to drive the point home, and because I want to illustrate how a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,6,5,25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-195","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-disintermediation","7":"category-enduring-interest","8":"category-marketing","9":"category-real-estate","10":"category-zillowcom","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":342,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/342\/sellsius-zillows-the-value-of-an-explicit-disclaimer-on-zillowcom\/","url_meta":{"origin":195,"position":0},"title":"Sellsius Zillows the value of an explicit disclaimer on Zillow.com . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"A vigorous cross-examination of David G. from Zillow.com. The richer ore is in the comments, so be sure to keep scrolling. Technorati Tags: blogging, disintermediation, real estate, real estate marketing","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2664,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2664\/zillowcom-announces-its-sponsorship-of-bloodhoundblog-unchained\/","url_meta":{"origin":195,"position":1},"title":"Zillow.com announces its sponsorship of BloodhoundBlog Unchained","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"BloodhoundBlog has grown up with Zillow.com. We're consistently second or third on a Google search for Zillow.com, and Debunking Zillow.com is one percent or more of our traffic every day. On the other hand, we've also been big boosters of the tools Zillow has built to help sellers, buyers and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1255,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1255\/greg-peeing-on-the-tree-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":195,"position":2},"title":"Podcast with David Gibbons, Zillow.com’s Director of Community Relations: “We are throwing the gates wide open to the entire community”","author":"Greg Swann","date":"April 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Appended below is an audio podcast with David Gibbons, Director of Community Relations for Zillow.com. In this recording, David talks with me, reflecting upon the details and implications of tonight's new software release. RE.net readers know David as the voice of Zillow on real estate weblogs, effecting the small miracle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interview"","block_context":{"text":"Interview","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/interview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":580,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/580\/zillowcom-shade-down-creeping-disclaimerism-as-a-subject-changing-gambit\/","url_meta":{"origin":195,"position":3},"title":"Zillow.com shake-down: Creeping disclaimerism as a subject-changing gambit . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Whatever. Just don't pay them off. The issue is a lot bigger than Zillow.com, and Net Exceptionalism is too important an idea to be squandered. Even if you don't know who your friends are, I will hang with you if you will hang tough... Our story so far:Welcome to Race\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":575,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/575\/zillowcom-shake-down-this-is-the-first-shoe-dropping\/","url_meta":{"origin":195,"position":4},"title":"Zillow.com shake-down: This is the first shoe dropping . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"John Cook, Seattle Post-Intelligencer:Zillow has contacted the NCRC, and the two plan to meet soon, Berenbaum said. He expressed confidence that they can resolve the issues in a way that benefits the entire home valuation industry.Actually, the complaint made me think that Yahoo.com is going to have to cough up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1009,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1009\/fortune-on-zillowcom-they-can-gape-but-they-cant-google\/","url_meta":{"origin":195,"position":5},"title":"Fortune on Zillow.com: They can gape, but they can’t Google . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"It's possible that I've written more about Zillow.com than any other real estate weblogger. More on why Automated Valuation Methods necessarily stink. More on why the National Community Reinvestment Coalition's shake-down of Zillow.com stinks even worse. More on Zillow.com's new features. If I haven't written more than anyone else, I've\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}