4realz Roundtable: The Value of Home Values
I’ve got something special planned for this week’s 4realz Roundtable. In honor of Realtor.com’s release of the home valuation tool, we’re going to cover the value of online home values!
Join us on Thursday at 4pm (PST) to take part in the conversation!
Of course, the discussion is what makes the 4realz Roundtable work, and so far, I’ve confirmed three great guests for the conversation:
And, of course, YOU are always invited to join the conversation. For the past two week’s we’ve had an active chat conversation going on during the call, which has been just as interesting and entertaining as what gets recorded! 
(By the way, I reached out to the realtor.com team, but received no bites in terms of people who were willing to sit at the 4realz Roundtable…)
Here’s a general outline of things I hope to cover:
- Discussion on the background on online AVMs
- How have perceptions of online AVMs changed over the past two+ years… Both within the industry and among consumers
- What are some of the interesting legal issues surrounding AVMs in terms of privacy issue
- Is there a reason to think that AVMs will get better in the future?
If you have other topics you’d like us to cover, please let us know in the comments and/or join us on the call and ask the question yourself! I’m going to do my best this time to make sure we reach out to some more of the people who call in to make sure we hear from you during the call!
UPDATE:
I’ve confirmed a few more guests for today’s show:
UPDATE 2:
What a great conversation! Things definitely got a bit rough with David G on the hot seat for a bit, but overall, I had some great insights from the conversations and hopefully you will to! If you haven’t listened to the conversation on the value of online home values, then listen here:
[podcast]http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-20339/TS-122563.mp3[/podcast]
Kevin Tomlinson 8:51 pm on June 11, 2008 Permalink |
The AVM thingy’s were like a great thing for Zillow–created bunches of press, but really didn’t become relevant.
The only thing people care about on real estate Web sites are listings!
As Marc Davison says: “show me the listings.”
It’s like going into a new car showroom and expecting people to be interested in READING the “blue book.” They want the eye candy, the real estate porn.
If you give the consumer that—they’ll come to your site. That is why sites like Zillow and Trulia introduce all these “tools” because on some level they don’t have enough of what the consumer REALLY wants.
side note: Have you seen those heinous CB commercials where C & B are talking about their incredible online tools. Hilarious.
Dustin 8:54 pm on June 11, 2008 Permalink |
You make some great points Kevin… but Zillow driving a tremendous amount of traffic… and my guess is that the majority of their traffic comes to look at home values not for sale listings.
Kevin Tomlinson 9:18 pm on June 11, 2008 Permalink |
What’s the end result of that and who benefits from the “AVM people.”
If you say buyers—buyers are the most knowledgeable people, usually, in the real estate transaction. They are out there looking, comparing, watching the real market.
I’m an info freak. More and more I meet people who know almost as much as me about recent activity in the area of their interest. That info comes from “on the ground” -type info–not from sites like Zillow or Trulia.
Those tools could be fun but no one in Miami would even remember the word “zestimate.”
Am I off?
Rhonda Porter 9:49 pm on June 11, 2008 Permalink |
Dustin, I’m looking forward to this! It should be in interesting call.
Dustin 11:05 pm on June 11, 2008 Permalink |
Kevin,
My thought is that you’re underestimating two things…
1) There’s obviously a huge demand for people to get home value information in an anonymous way without contacting a professional
2) For a home owner, they are invested (literally) in the value of my home, so of course they are interested in a publicly viewable service that has placed a value on their home. Whether the service is “right” or “wrong” is an interesting conversation topic, but somewhat besides the larger point once the AVM site has captured their attention.
Dustin 11:05 pm on June 11, 2008 Permalink |
Rhonda: I’m definitely getting excited! It might be the most lively Roundtable yet!
Jim Duncan 4:23 am on June 12, 2008 Permalink |
Following on Kevin’s point of the well-informed buyer – this is an email I received from one of my buyer-clients a while ago -
“(this MLS #) has been on the market forever and has been reduced recently from about $314,000, I believe. The owners live in — PA. They bought it in 8/2004 for $271,000 from — Builders. You can tell me if you know anything, else but I have heard from only one person that (they are) a decent builder. It is assessed at $329,000.
The issue, no doubt is that it is right on 240 and probably does not have much of a backyard. We have driven past it but would like to see it from the inside and especially take a look at the back yard. Another major concern with this home is that its driveway appears to creep onto the adjoining property, at least according to the tax map.”
The AVM info they found online isn’t relevant (yet).
Buyers are still looking for guidance, advice and representation – AVM tools and the like aren’t (yet) a threat to Realtors who are confident in their abilities.
RDC providing home valuations is so unoriginal and “me-too” that it’s embarrassing – and it would be even if they’d done it well.
Joseph Ferrara.sellsius 8:47 am on June 12, 2008 Permalink |
Yes, it should be a great discussion. I’ll save my comments for the call.
Kevin’s opinion carries great weight with me (for his market) because he’s on the ground doing business– who could argue with his experience? Is it the same for others in their markets? Maybe Ardell can offer some “in the trenches” observations from the Seattle area, Z’s home base.
As Jim implies, until AVMs are relied upon, like say a Kelley Blue Book value, professionals have little to worry about. But the key word is “yet”. Remember Z’s mantra– we want to be the KBB of real estate.
Kevin Tomlinson 10:38 am on June 12, 2008 Permalink |
Jim
Yup! That’s what I get too (and I LOVE those types of clients).
The REAL value is the info that is not YET published–that’s where a sharp agent really brings value to the table.
I have nothing against all that kinda stuff, but I think that there are WAY more productive ideas that could be adopted.
I just don’t see the actual, real demand for that “tool.” I think it is more of a case that the companies “think” that there is more of a “need” for these AVM’s than there actually is.
That’s probably the scary thing that lurks in the back of their heads that they would NEVER verbalize.
Rhonda Porter 5:28 pm on June 12, 2008 Permalink |
Dustin, thanks again for inviting me. I’m glad I was able to sneak in a few words (thanks to you).
And I’m looking forward to future roundtables.
Dustin 5:30 pm on June 12, 2008 Permalink |
Rhonda: I’m so glad we got you in there! I always enjoy your perspective! and definitely look forward to having you on future roundtables!
Joseph Ferrara.sellsius 10:33 pm on June 12, 2008 Permalink |
Great Roundtable Dustin. Keep ‘em coming.
Thanks for inviting me. And thanks to all the guests, especially David G, whom I admire for coming to the table.
Despite the issues I have with Zillow vis-a-vis homeowners, the company is willing to expose themselves to criticism. I only hope they take the criticism to improve their offering to the person, without whose asset there is no business model — the homeowner.