Under the Zillow: The Tax-man cometh…
My two favorite bits, in two days of coverage:
Lenderama doesn’t need accuracy, he needs a Zillow-based tickler to stay in front of his clients.
MyZillow allows you to make “estimates” of what a property is worth. The estimate takes Zillow’s data and adjusts for specific information you know about the home. Then they generate a monthly email letting you know what those values are doing, while adjusting for your estimate.
Mortgage Brokers are in a unique position to make these estimates in a way that real estate agents cannot. Every time a broker does a refi, they can use the appraisal to work up the estimate to match the real value. Then you can save that estimate in MyZillow. You get a monthly report on that homes value. Now you know about how much the home has appreciated, and how much of the mortgage is likely paid off. With this data, you have a pretty good idea of your existing client base’s equity, and can market to them accordingly.
Based on this information, you could send out reminders that they may have reached 80% LTV, and should look into getting their MI dropped. Or, you could send out offers on HELOC’s, or Cash Outs. You could give them a heads up that properties are dropping in their neighborhood. Whatever you do, it’s just another way to help keep in touch with past (and hopefully future) clients.
Sheer brilliance.
And Sellsius&176; points out that Zillow.com has drawn a bright red circle around its own Achilles’ Heel:
If an owner gets to change the zestimate, guess what? It sits there right next to Zillow’s. Now what? Now we really need a professional more than ever to untangle these worms.
Overnight Zillow has gone from a veil of pseudo-scientific infallibility to a side-by-side pissing contest that can only be settled by a professional referee.
Nice going…
Technorati Tags: blogging, disintermediation, real estate, real estate marketing
