Tag Archives: Google
Zillow + Google = Amazing Times Ahead
Google Now + Zillow. Big times ahead …
Almost every buyer with whom I work checks Zillow (and I have to tell them Z doesn’t have a direct MLS feed, so the data isn’t always accurate. They check zestimates in addition to property assessments because they’re looking for an objective valuation.
Almost every seller with whom I work checks their home’s zestimate to see how it measures up with their locality’s assessment and our market analysis. More often than not, the zestimate is wrong. But.
I feel like I was seeing the future in 2006 when I wrote this -
Yet I have been wondering – what if Zillow’s reach becomes so great, their data become so vast and inclusive, that their Zestimates significantly impact what is fair market value? What if the purchasing and selling population refer to Zillow as the end-all, be-all estimator for their homes’ valuations? What if “close enough” is “good enough”? What if they become the de facto standard for home valuations?
And now this (pardon the pun):
Google Now gets you just the right information, before you even ask, and is the newest part of the Google Search app for devices running Android 4.1, Jelly Bean. If you’re in the market for a new home, Google Now can provide you with nearby real estate listings, powered by Zillow. Plus, while you’re attending an open house, Google Now will pull additional information about the home, including time on market, listing price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and year built.
If you haven’t used Google Now, you should. I have a Nexus 7 tablet and Google Now is sweet – intuitive, instinctive and always there.
Zillow may be on to something. From Forbes.
Gartner estimates that smartphones captured 44% of all mobile phone sales in the December 2012 quarter with Android smartphones taking 31% of all mobile phone shipments and iOS in second place at 9%. Android smartphones grew 88% year over year with iOS at 23%.
Android at times makes my iPhone 4S feel old.
Russ with Zillow said in 2011, in response to my challenging their advocating using zestimates in negotiations:
Additionally, I wanted to let you know we’ve removed language about using the Zestimate for negotiation. We really do want to be clear that it’s a starting point, and we could see how that confused the issue. Thanks for pointing that out.
We’re not to the point where zestimates replace market analyses – there are so many unzillowables that can’t be quantified by an algorithm – view, smells, neighbors, proximity to work, stuff, groceries, etc but the question that marginal real estate agents need to be asking themselves (that great ones have been asking themselves for years) is this:
Why should my client trust me more than Google/Zillow? (my answer to this question coming next week)
Fewer Trees = Income Inequality
Fascinating.
Income Inequality as Seen from Space
I’d love to post some photos here about some of the areas in Charlottesville that might match this hypothesis, but won’t so as not to potentially violate fair housing laws.
That said, I’d be curious to know what you might find.
If you’re looking, use Bing Maps rather than Google Maps; Bing is much, much better.
Update 18 July 2012: Mashable has a long story on tree density’s relation to income. Continue reading
Morning Reads – 29 March 2012
Communicating. With Clients
I’m texting a lot more, texting clients before calling to ensure they have time, Skyping much more frequently, texting via Google Voice ( because I can text from the browser ). I learn a lot by observing my daughter and her friends; there is no technological communication besides Facebook, texting and the occasional phone call. … All of these varied and important communication methods lead to at least one consequence – I need to be able to store and search all forms of communication. … So now I’m testing Greplin * – “The Search Bar for your Life” – a tool/service/program/I’m not sure what things are called anymore so I’ll go with “solution” … if they could integrate searching texts and Google Voice, my tech communication search life would be complete. Continue reading
Eco-Friendly House Designed using Google Sketchup (and How it Relates to Charlottesville)
Fairview couple builds solar-powered home with help from Google Many Internet users rely on Google to instantly find information about almost anyone and anything. … Using Google Sketchup, a 3D modeling program usually used by architects, engineers and other design professionals, not homeowners, the couple drew the plans for their home and all of its high-tech, low-environmental-impact features on a computer screen. Interestingly, the house appears to have cost a not-obscenely-exhorbitant amount and is almost completely off the grid. via instapundit , via knoxnews.com . … “(Their) goal is to model all of the urban areas of Charlottesville and Albemarle County in Google Earth.” Continue reading
Vetting your Charlottesville Realtor – Like + Experience =
In a couple weeks, the Houston Association of Realtors will launch a Web application that allows consumers to see which Realtors within their chosen search area are transacting business – and which are not.
… The app is based on MLS data and will be available from the association’s highly-trafficked Website Every Realtor in the market is included, there is no opt-out The app is map-based, so consumers can see who has sold what, where, over different time periods The app may be made available to MLS organizations nationwide
…In the Charlottesville area, I see geography as less of a differentiator, niches are important, but making a career as a “specialist” would be nearly impossible – there’s no way one could be solely a ” Charlottesville condo specialist” – it could be a significant component of one’s business, but the market is just too spread out … but — combine the above with the announcement(s) from Facebook yesterday Heck, now you could see how many people Like the Realtor you may be considering hiring.
…(SIDE NOTE – This also drops Facebook in the middle of the local advertising game – you YELP, you update your facebook PROFILE automatically, I can then create an Ad based on the fact that you “liked” KFC -someone pinch me, I’m still in the dream with Hedi) People are going to freak out about this and it’s a shame – Facebook does not expose YOUR data specifically – only people who you’ve given permission to as a friend will actually see your profile and I can see this being fantastic way of really keeping in touch – how many of my friends liked “Hurt Locker” for example – that’s the next step of Facebooks evolution, it makes sense. Continue reading
Albemarle County Wants Google’s Fiber!
Albemarle County, Charlottesville and the University of Virginia are putting in a joint application to bring Google Fiber for Communities to central Virginia, and we are looking for help from the community. … According to Google, “ In the same way that the transition from dial-up to broadband made possible the emergence of online video and countless other applications, ultra high-speed bandwidth will drive more innovation – in high-definition video, remote data storage, real-time multimedia collaboration, and others that we cannot yet imagine. … There are two ways to get involved: First, Albemarle County, Charlottesville and the University of Virginia are jointly submitting a request to Google to be considered for this trial – you can help by filling in this brief survey to provide info that will be helpful in our submittal. http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform? formkey=dHdMd2hVVUwtbTQyNFVyYTFQaFFTcVE6MA Second, Google is accepting nominations from residents and community groups saying why Google Fiber should come to their area – visit the following link and make your best case for why we should be the selected region, Google has said that community support will be important in making their choice. http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/options Links to both of these items are posted on the county and city websites, http://www.albemarle.org/googlefiber and www.charlottesville.org We need to submit our request by March 26, so we need survey responses and community nominations to be submitted by March 22. Continue reading
Please Google, Bring Fiber to Charlottesville
From now until March 26th, we’re asking interested municipalities to provide us with information about their communities through a Request for information (RFI), which we’ll use to determine where to build our network. More at the Wall Street Journal From TechCrunch : Google owns its own vast network of dark fiber around the globe to connect its data centers, speed up search, and lower its cost of streaming billions of videos a month on YouTube. … It is not clear what Google services will come with a broadband subscription, but it is a safe bet that Google will be the default search and Gmail will be the default email. … Charlottesville has been consistently rated as a top “Digital City” and while I think it’s a bit of a silly designation, why don’t we capitalize and leverage this? Continue reading
