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Showing posts with label Zillow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zillow. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Zillow Market Report
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Zillow Shares Are Surging Higher
Investors like what they see in Zillow,
and they keep sending the shares higher. The Seattle online real estate
company, founded nearly 10 years ago, surpassed $5 billion in market value this
week. Zillow certainly is far smaller when it comes to its own revenues, with
just $66.2 million during the first quarter. But its audience is growing fast,
attracting 79 million users during the month of April, and financial analysts
say Zillow still has a lot of headroom in front of it.Friday, May 9, 2014
Zillow's Real Estate Forecast
Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff was interviewed yesterday on Bloomberg TV. His remarks covered:
The importance of mobile applications in the sale of real estate today, which is fueling huge growth in profits for Zillow;
The increase in premier agents advertising on Zillow (I am one of those 53,000 agents around the country);
The introduction of Zestimate forecasts which show what houses will be worth in twelve months;
The rate of increase in housing prices and trends for the future;
The booming luxury home market, and the importance of foreign buyers in this market.
Please see the link to the Spencer Rascoff interview here:
Happy Investing!
The importance of mobile applications in the sale of real estate today, which is fueling huge growth in profits for Zillow;
The increase in premier agents advertising on Zillow (I am one of those 53,000 agents around the country);
The introduction of Zestimate forecasts which show what houses will be worth in twelve months;
The rate of increase in housing prices and trends for the future;
The booming luxury home market, and the importance of foreign buyers in this market.
Please see the link to the Spencer Rascoff interview here:
Happy Investing!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Zillow Summit
Here I am with Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff at today's Zillow Summit for Premier Real Estate Agents in Bellevue. We shared lunch together at a Showcase table of other premier agents and Zillow staff, discussing everything from Rascoff's trajectory as an entrepreneur to current issues and future directions for Zillow.
Zillow is a "living database" of 110 million homes in the United States, and the premier real estate website in the country. 2/3 of Zillow users access information on real estate via their mobile devices. Premier agents like myself have access to a whole host of Zillow tools and resources to grow our business and better serve our customer base.
Today's presentation included quite a bit of local market information. The bottom of the housing market here was in late 2011, but the 2013 comeback in hard-hit markets was truly spectacular, showing 20-30% price appreciation in some markets. In the Seattle metro area, prices were up around 10% and in some markets getting close to peak values. Yet inventory is down 63% from 2010.
Best local buyers markets are in places like Sumner, Gig Harbor, Burien, Lakewood and University Place. Best seller markets in Kirkland, Issaquah, Seattle and Redmond. Zillow forecasters predict a 5% increase in home values in the coming year for the Seattle metro area. Additional metrics can be found at www.zillow.com/research
Great tools here for agents and investors alike!
Happy Investing!
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Zillow Summit in Seattle
I attended and really enjoyed the Zillow Summit in Seattle yesterday. Here are my notes from that event:
Spencer Rascoff, CEO:
Zillow has two key focus areas: to improve software tools for real estate agents; and to grow consumer audience via advertising and partnerships
Mobile audience has grown 6X in the last two years. Largest mobile audience for homes. Largest real estate website in Seattle and virtually all 100 top cities in US.
Street Easy in NY was acquired for $50M, and is now #1 website in NY.
Partnership with Google and Apple launched recently. Many partnerships and acquisitions to grow Zillow as the #1 real estate website.
Zillow does not have an international presence, just in the US for now.
Second largest competitor is Trulia, but what distinguishes Zillow is that there is information on EVERY home, whether listed or not.
Listing leads are generated through Zillow for premier agents when homeowners are looking up the value of their homes.
Market Leader and Top Producer are the products sold by Zillow's key competitors.
Zillow acquired Hot Pads for $20M about a year ago; has significant rental leads. This makes Zillow more relevant to property managers.
Zillow also owns Postlets, but still has some challenges in dealing with Craigslist (which has recently disallowed html links).
Clear trend: ascension of the agent team. Internet has changed expectations of customer service.
Another major trend is the use of mobile device.
More aspects of the transaction will be automated. Yet there will also be human interaction in the real estate transaction.
As a professional, you are there to interpret what people see on the internet (such as Zestimates).
"Zillow special offers" includes special offers to buyer that gets many more views. Not as relevant in current market.
Agent panel: Kevin from Seattle since 2005; Matt - Remax on the Lake 5years; Gordon, 24 years; Geordy Roemer broker for 10 years.
Much discussion on how Zestimates are derived, and how to talk with clients about this.
Claim your own home on Zillow to make the Zestimate even more accurate.
How fast to respond? Get back to the contact ASAP is best practice; but also need to train clients that you are not available all the time.
Set up phones to send quick text back, auto-respond. Also auto-responder email when contacts come in.
Agents can respond to reviews, and use the response as a way to brand your self.
Get consumer information quickly on your own leads; come prepared with other listings to show a buyer; many agents just go out to show houses without requiring pre-approval-don't want to be pushed, don't want to be sold, just go ahead and show
Best practices for conversion rates - three emails that go out within the first week, pointing out resources, reviews about agents, send other listings. Response time and trying to speak to a live person on the phone.
Svenja Gudjel, economist with Zillow. Zillow home value index shows that national home values are back to the Oct 2004 levels. Home value appreciation rates are up 15.2% over the previous year in Seattle.
Month over month appreciation is slowing down a bit now, most everywhere around the country after a year of rapid appreciation.
Rates may creep up to 5% by the end of 2014. Seattle metro is up 15.2%, blessed with good job growth and lower unemployment rates, doing much better than the nation as a whole.
Median home price of Seattle homes $429300 in September 2013. Very close to peak value, within 7-8% of peak value.
% of homes in negative equity: Seattle 17.4%, Everett 36%, Tacoma 39.6%, Bellevue 10.1%, Renton 28.3%. Steadily working the percentage of negative equity down.
First time homebuyers had the toughest time competing with investors for tight inventory in areas with the greatest negative equity.
18% of monthly income on home mortgages. Historically, homeowners in Seattle used to spend 25% of monthly income on mortgage. But if rate goes up to 6%, that percentage goes up that high - bubble territory.
Home values are beginning to level out, expect returns in Seattle of 6.7% for 2014.
Greatest appreciation forecast for Everett, Bellevue and Renton (areas still w negative equity).
Basics of valuing homes: physical attributes, tax assessments and prior home sales.
agentfolio allows folks to share listings with clients, and collects information all in one place. Helps with the communication, and can add agent team members. agentfolio.com to sign up free, live with NWMLS. Sign in with your Zillow account.
Use free software and tools provided by Zillow. Full mobile apps, ipad, etc.
Vision for pro tools going forward. Helping to get and convert contacts and get repeat business.
For help deciphering my notes, or for more detail, please leave a comment or message me at HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com
Happy investing!
Spencer Rascoff, CEO:
Zillow has two key focus areas: to improve software tools for real estate agents; and to grow consumer audience via advertising and partnerships
Mobile audience has grown 6X in the last two years. Largest mobile audience for homes. Largest real estate website in Seattle and virtually all 100 top cities in US.
Street Easy in NY was acquired for $50M, and is now #1 website in NY.
Partnership with Google and Apple launched recently. Many partnerships and acquisitions to grow Zillow as the #1 real estate website.
Zillow does not have an international presence, just in the US for now.
Second largest competitor is Trulia, but what distinguishes Zillow is that there is information on EVERY home, whether listed or not.
Listing leads are generated through Zillow for premier agents when homeowners are looking up the value of their homes.
Market Leader and Top Producer are the products sold by Zillow's key competitors.
Zillow acquired Hot Pads for $20M about a year ago; has significant rental leads. This makes Zillow more relevant to property managers.
Zillow also owns Postlets, but still has some challenges in dealing with Craigslist (which has recently disallowed html links).
Clear trend: ascension of the agent team. Internet has changed expectations of customer service.
Another major trend is the use of mobile device.
More aspects of the transaction will be automated. Yet there will also be human interaction in the real estate transaction.
As a professional, you are there to interpret what people see on the internet (such as Zestimates).
"Zillow special offers" includes special offers to buyer that gets many more views. Not as relevant in current market.
Agent panel: Kevin from Seattle since 2005; Matt - Remax on the Lake 5years; Gordon, 24 years; Geordy Roemer broker for 10 years.
Much discussion on how Zestimates are derived, and how to talk with clients about this.
Claim your own home on Zillow to make the Zestimate even more accurate.
How fast to respond? Get back to the contact ASAP is best practice; but also need to train clients that you are not available all the time.
Set up phones to send quick text back, auto-respond. Also auto-responder email when contacts come in.
Agents can respond to reviews, and use the response as a way to brand your self.
Get consumer information quickly on your own leads; come prepared with other listings to show a buyer; many agents just go out to show houses without requiring pre-approval-don't want to be pushed, don't want to be sold, just go ahead and show
Best practices for conversion rates - three emails that go out within the first week, pointing out resources, reviews about agents, send other listings. Response time and trying to speak to a live person on the phone.
Svenja Gudjel, economist with Zillow. Zillow home value index shows that national home values are back to the Oct 2004 levels. Home value appreciation rates are up 15.2% over the previous year in Seattle.
Month over month appreciation is slowing down a bit now, most everywhere around the country after a year of rapid appreciation.
Rates may creep up to 5% by the end of 2014. Seattle metro is up 15.2%, blessed with good job growth and lower unemployment rates, doing much better than the nation as a whole.
Median home price of Seattle homes $429300 in September 2013. Very close to peak value, within 7-8% of peak value.
% of homes in negative equity: Seattle 17.4%, Everett 36%, Tacoma 39.6%, Bellevue 10.1%, Renton 28.3%. Steadily working the percentage of negative equity down.
First time homebuyers had the toughest time competing with investors for tight inventory in areas with the greatest negative equity.
18% of monthly income on home mortgages. Historically, homeowners in Seattle used to spend 25% of monthly income on mortgage. But if rate goes up to 6%, that percentage goes up that high - bubble territory.
Home values are beginning to level out, expect returns in Seattle of 6.7% for 2014.
Greatest appreciation forecast for Everett, Bellevue and Renton (areas still w negative equity).
Basics of valuing homes: physical attributes, tax assessments and prior home sales.
agentfolio allows folks to share listings with clients, and collects information all in one place. Helps with the communication, and can add agent team members. agentfolio.com to sign up free, live with NWMLS. Sign in with your Zillow account.
Use free software and tools provided by Zillow. Full mobile apps, ipad, etc.
Vision for pro tools going forward. Helping to get and convert contacts and get repeat business.
For help deciphering my notes, or for more detail, please leave a comment or message me at HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com
Happy investing!
Monday, January 24, 2011
King County Real Estate Forecast
I attended a fabulous luncheon today at the Rainier Club to hear a talk by Spencer Rascoff, CEO and one of the founders of Zillow.com. He gave a fascinating talk about his work in starting two successful internet companies, Hotwire and Zillow; and then focused on his prognosis for the future of the housing market in the Seattle area.
Housing prices in our area are down 28% from their peak. Most of the rest of the country has experienced an average decline of about 33% peak to trough. If Seattle follows suit, then prices will roll back to approximately the April 2004 level. Mr. Rascoff expects the Seattle market to continue to decline through the 3rd quarter of 2011, and then remain flat for the next two years or so.
Reasons for his forecast are that vacancy rates remain high; their is a shadow inventory of foreclosures yet to hit the market (currently at 17% of all sales in our area); there is a pent-up supply of houses from individuals who would like to put their houses on the market, but have been waiting; and he also expects mortgage rates to increase.
I have a copy of the real estate market overview from December 2010, put together by Zillow's chief economist Stan Humphries, and will try to include excerpts in future blogs.
Housing prices in our area are down 28% from their peak. Most of the rest of the country has experienced an average decline of about 33% peak to trough. If Seattle follows suit, then prices will roll back to approximately the April 2004 level. Mr. Rascoff expects the Seattle market to continue to decline through the 3rd quarter of 2011, and then remain flat for the next two years or so.
Reasons for his forecast are that vacancy rates remain high; their is a shadow inventory of foreclosures yet to hit the market (currently at 17% of all sales in our area); there is a pent-up supply of houses from individuals who would like to put their houses on the market, but have been waiting; and he also expects mortgage rates to increase.
I have a copy of the real estate market overview from December 2010, put together by Zillow's chief economist Stan Humphries, and will try to include excerpts in future blogs.
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