Category: Zillow.com (page 8 of 13)

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

In general, newspapers influence people who are paying attention, a small but inordinately important minority. Today the East Valley Tribune, clarion of the populous suburbs east of Phoenix, came out strong for Zillow.com and other consumer-oriented Automated Valuation Models:

Arizona home buyers and property speculators are fortunate the state Board of Appraisers did something against their interests while the Legislature is still in session, so lawmakers can act immediately to put a stop to it.

The Board of Appraisers is going after Zillow.com, a year-old Web site that offers free estimates of market values for an estimated 70 million houses across the country. The state agency contends the site is offering property appraisals without an Arizona license, and has ordered it to remove these “zestimates” or face formal sanctions and a possible lawsuit.

But Zillow.com makes no claim that its estimates are based on actual visits to individual properties or research of their histories. Instead, the Web site gathers sale details about other homes in the same neighborhood that have recently changed hands, government tax valuations and other publicly available information, and then provides a rough prediction about a house’s value under current market conditions.

More:

Given recent reports about widespread mortgage fraud and foreclosures resulting from inflated purchase appraisals, the state Board of Appraisers should be working to increase the amount of information available to consumers rather than shuttering potential sources of knowledge.

At least the Legislature appears to see the wisdom of this. On Monday, Rep. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale, introduced an amendment to SB1291 that was endorsed by her House colleagues to protect free opinions about property values as long as the provider doesn’t claim or imply that they are formal appraisals.

Putting Reagan’s amendment into law would be a nice endorsement of free speech and the consumer’s right to multiple sources of information.

None of this is news to people following the story here, and, in fact, the most-recent events are not covered. But this is the kind of public outcry that can swing the balance against this silly stunt by the Board of Appraisal.
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Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, disintermediation, phoenix, Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is me in today’s Arizona Republic (permanent link). This goofy little column often “breaks news” in the sense that I cover facts that have not yet been reported by the Republic‘s real estate reporters. Normally I keep this to myself, because I don’t want to frighten the people who were kind enough to give me the column. This week I told my editor that were were “scooping” the newspaper, and gave him resources for vetting the facts presented below. The consequence? At the top of the story is says, “Special to the Republic.” Top that, Hildy Johnson.

(Just between us, I’m pretty sure I’m mangling the citation of the standing law. It’s Chapter 32, not 36, but even then I don’t know how it should be properly cited. Newspapers have style books for stuff like this. This will do: ARS 32-3601 et seq.)

State vs. Zillow.com will be a lengthy bout

The ongoing saga of Arizona vs. Zillow.com will not end.

When the state Board of Appraisal recently revealed that it had sent cease-and-desist letters to the Seattle Web-based real estate start-up in July and November, it failed to disclose that it had language pending in the Arizona Legislature that would have conclusively outlawed Zillow.com and other consumer-oriented Automated Valuation Methods.

That legislation, Senate Bill 1291, seemed to be on an under-the-radar track to easy passage until its existence was discovered by the LittlePinkHouses.com real estate blog.

The proposed language would have substantially revised Arizona Revised Statutes Chapter 36, among other things defining an appraisal as “an opinion of value.”

Does that mean that two neighbors, talking about the price of the house for sale up the street, would be in violation of appraisal law?

What Zillow.com and other AVMs do is so far removed from what an appraiser does that in order to outlaw Zillow, the drafters of the legislation apparently found it necessary to outlaw ordinary free speech altogether.

Importantly, there have been no consumer lawsuits or Board of Appraisal complaints in Arizona against Zillow.com, nor has the Board of Appraisal moved against other consumer-oriented AVMs operating in the state.

A compromise was sought by Rep. Michele Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The news is simple enough: “Representative Stump moved that the House reconsider SB 1291 on Monday, March 30, 2007. Motion passed v/v.” That last little bit says the motion passed on a voice vote.

This again would be the Third Reading. If the amended bill passes by a two-thirds majority, it would have to go back to the State Senate for reconsideration, where it would also have to pass by a two-thirds majority.

Of course, Arizona has always drawn huge guffaws in the monologues of late-night talk show hosts, so we may just want to wait for Leno or Letterman to pick up the story…
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Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, disintermediation, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Arizona SB 1291 failed to pass Tuesday afternoon in the Arizona House. The bill would have required a two-thirds majority and passed by less than that. I’ll post further when I know more.

Further notice: Here’s what it all means:

To have passed, the bill would have had to have passed by a two-thirds majority. Then it would have gone back to the Senate, where is also would have had to pass by a two-thirds majority. This is a Constitutional bias in the Arizona legislature against new laws of any sort — generally a good thing.

Since the bill did not pass the House, this means the old version of ARS Chapter 36 is still in effect. It is this version of the law that Zillow.com is alleged to be violating by the Arizona Board of Appraisal.

That allegation has not been tested in court, nor have any of Zillow.com’s direct competitors been alleged to have violated ARS Chapter 36.

As another wrinkle, the amendments made yesterday to AZ SB 1291 that would have clarified that offering the output from an Automated Valuation Model at no cost is not an appraisal, subject to regulatory oversight, could be appended onto another bill. In other words, the existing language of ARS Chapter 36 could be revised to achieve the same effect as yesterday’s amendments.

This is a statement released by Zillow.com this afternoon:

From Lloyd Frink, Zillow co-founder and President:

The issues that Arizona Senate bill 1291 sought to address went far beyond questions about automated valuation models for real estate. The fact is we are still extremely pleased that the Arizona House of Representatives decided to amend SB1291 to recognize the value that sites like Zillow bring to consumers in providing free and easy online access to real estate data and home valuations. We remain confident that any future reviews will similarly recognize the importance that sites like Zillow deliver in creating better informed and educated real estate consumers. Nothing has changed and we will continue to make Arizona Zestimates available for free to all Zillow users.

Additional details RE: AZ Board of Appraisals:

We strongly believe that providing Zestimate home Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

From a press release from the office of Representative Michele Reagan:

Arizona homeowners can still access their “zestimates” with the preliminary approval Monday of a bill that bars the Arizona Board of Appraisal from torpedoing online businesses that provide property value estimates.

An amendment sponsored by Rep. Michele Reagan to SB1291 allows web sites to offer free opinions regarding the value of real estate if it is not an actual appraisal. The bill impacts most notably Zillow.com, which provides free estimates of a property’s value.

“Companies like Zillow.com provide an easy way to get an idea of the value of a home anywhere in the country,” said Reagan, R-Scottsdale. “Government should not put the kibosh on such an informative online tool.”

The Arizona Board of Appraisal sent two cease and desist letters ordering Zillow.com to stop offering its free service in the state. The board is also considering suing the Seattle-based company despite its wide popularity in Arizona and around the nation. In addition, the board asked the Arizona attorney general to prosecute Zillow.com for offering “zestimates.”

“Zillow.com provides a valuable resource for Arizonans and an unelected board’s desire to hamper consumers’ efforts to get as much information as possible makes no sense,” Reagan, chairwoman of the House Commerce Committee, said. “Instead of protecting Arizonans, the Board of Appraisal wants to stifle access to valuable market information.”

The bill received initial approval Monday and is expected to get a vote on the House floor this week. The bill then goes back to the Senate for final consideration.

This is not over yet, but it’s movement in the right direction. If I can lay hands on it, I’ll post the link to the revised bill and highlight the change.

Further notice: The amendments are here: one, two and three. In addition to allowing for consumer-oriented AVMs, Reagan seems to have restored the balance of civilian oversight of the Arizona Board of Appraisal. For comparison: The proposed legislation prior to these amendments.

There are two changes to the language that stand out:

Page 3, between lines 41 and 42, insert:

“9. AN INTERNET WEBSITE THAT GIVES A Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

I was interviewed by KTAR Talk Radio in Phoenix today about the State of Arizona’s attempts to shut down Zillow.com. We end up with a 37 second story, which actually turns out to be a fairly decent distillation of the whole story.

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