When you want to buy a used car, what is the first thing you do? For many, the first step is to look in Kelley Blue Book to see how much one should pay for the desired used car.Â
Now there is a ‘Blue Book’ for real estate: Zillow.com. The San Diego Union Tribune reports in today’s paper (“Zillow.com provides free home-value data“):
…some Internet observers predict that Zillow has the potential to do to real estate brokers what Expedia and other online reservation systems have done to travel agencies: sharply reduce the number in business.
Zillow.com lets anyone track the value of any property in the United States, look up property tax bills and compare the information across a neighborhood, city, state and the entire nation.
âThey’ve never been able to see the whole store,â? Barton told The Seattle Times. âNow we’re turning on the lights. Buyers can see home values to avoid overpaying.â?
Zillow.com is a free service; the company hopes that attracting consumers to the site will generate ad revenue for the firm.