Zillow’s holiday surprise

December 6, 2006

Looks like the Zillow team has a little surprise in progress; this is what their home page says right now:

2006-12-06_20-27-07-015.png What could they be up to?  I have a number of ideas, but since I have to run to a sign-off, I’ll have to put them in bullet form instead of elaborating on them.

Zillow has made it clear they have no intention of being a one-trick pony; both Lloyd Frink and Spencer Rascoff have said in public that they’re primarily a media company, and Rascoff alluded in an interview with Robert Scoble that Zillow has more “shows” in the works.  Zillow is not a home price estimation site; that was simply its first hit show.
Here, then, are my quick predictions of what this surprise will be:

1) Community commentary — The ability for real estate agents (and perhaps civilians as well) to comment on neighborhoods, trends, homes, etc.

2) Neighborhood “experts” — For a fee, Realtors will be able to “own” a neighborhood and be the only ones to provide commentary on it.

3) Online billboard ads — While you’re looking at a map, you’ll see ads in the form of online billboards hovering over certain neighborhoods.  Hey — another opportunity to put our mug shots up in public!

4) Price predictions — Realtors, and again perhaps civilians, will be able to put in predictions of what price certain properties will fetch, giving them an opportunity to go head-to-head with the Zestimate and establish credibility as the neighborhood expert.

What do you think is up?

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Written by Kevin · Filed Under Lloyd Frink, Real estate, Spencer Rascoff, Zillow | 8 Comments