From a reader, via TechCrunch.
Image below is the “Change in Estimated Home Value” (Jan-Nov 2007) for San Francisco when searching our favorite Stalefish, 2901 Broadway for $55,000,000
This is what TechCrunch had to say regarding CyberHomes entry into the field of real estate websites, the likes of which include Zillow (crap!), Trulia (good), Redfin (good), Realtor.com (good, but aesthetically challenged):
CyberHomes may actually have an advantage here in that it is owned by Fidelity National Financial, one of the biggest title-insurance companies in the country. As such, Fidleity National Financial has a direct view on every home transaction in the country. “The key differentiators on the data is that we are the primary aggregator of it.,” says Frame. Other than the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) that brokers use, any company that wants information on properties sold, home ownership, or mortgage issuance needs to license it from one of two sources: either Fidelity National Financial or First American (which is where Zillow gets its data, through an intermediary company called Dataquick). Since CyberHomes has a direct line into the Fidelity National Financial database, Frame argues that the data on his site is updated in a more timely fashion for the 100 million U.S. property records it covers. And it will begin to include actual MLS data as well, beginning in the first quarter of next year.
We have yet to play around with it at length, but thought you might have a little time to do so yourselves and might share a little insight.
–CyberHomes emerges from beta with claims of better real estate data [TechCrunch]
–CyberHomes.com [website]
–Technology & Real Estate [theFrontSteps]
i’ve noticed in the last few weeks that trulia doesnt’ have week old mls listings anymore. that could be their death nail.
Zillow is crap. Go Cyberhomes or anyone else!
I was fortunate enough to receive access to use a beta version of cyberhomes a year ago. I have been using it along with Zillow.com to estimate REFINANCE VALUES. I put “refinance values” in caps because the big thing to keep in mind about any of these on-line value services, and that is they are just comparing your the property to fairly recent historic comps that it assumes are all in good condition. So, as long as your property is in good condition, I have found them both to be fairly good at predicting value for the purpose of refinancing.
The big caution here is to not be too tempted to use this these on line appraisal engines to predict SALES PRICE. Comparing comps in the neighborhood is fairly scientific. If one is interested in how much a home can SELL for, I always advise my clients to contact their favorit real estate agent and ask them for a Comparitive Market Analysis, because there are many more factors involved in determining an approximate sales price, than there is in just comparing the value to comps in the neighborhood.
i heard about cyberhomes a few months ago and love it too. especially how you can add in your own upgrade costs to help boost an estimated value.
Zillow is much better than Cyberhomes. Zillow has a much more updated database.
dude, you have zero respect or credibility on this or any other real estate blog. why do you post under 5 different names? you are the king of marinatards!
Zillow is crap? Hmm. Perhaps that’s why they inked a deal with a number of newspapers recently. Do you even check facts before posting ?
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/AQTU11713112007-1.htm
Between slamming ‘other’ local RE blogs and the “prices always go up” message, this blog is turning into a …..
[Editor’s note: Just because they have big pockets and sign big deals, and have a monster PR department doesn’t mean we have to agree that they’re any good. We’re entitled to our opinion, as are you, so thanks for sharing it. And please elaborate on where we, not the commenters, have said “prices always go up”. Yes, we check facts, but thanks for asking…]
There’s only one poster on here who says prices always go up.
And Zillow is not good, yet. Everybody knows this.
that zillow partnership is really interesting. i’ve been waiting for the multitude of real estate sites to try partnering with someone off line, be it realtors or listing services. newspapers will be a good start. zillow was first and now they’ll try again to break the mold. gotta give them props for that.
The ‘MarinaTard’ comment is beyond hilarious ! I have to immediately subject my colleagues who live in the Marina with this slur.
On another note, let’s see what Zillow comes up with. I don’t think any of the online folks have really found their footing – yet. Time will tell. It is a difficult proposition though.
I’d say that having one’s trusted realtor surpasses any online service.
“Don’t think we can’t get there ($2000 a square foot). It’s just a matter of time. Thanks D.L. for the link.”
I believe this sentence is from your recent post.
[Editor’s note: Yes, it is, and where does it say “prices always go up”? I believe it says, “it’s just a matter of time”. How much time, nobody knows, but at some point in the future, it is a safe guess to think property values in an area with very limited supply and even less development potential (think San Francisco), will see prices per square foot at $2000. Whether it happens in my lifetime or not, who knows, but I guarantee you, it will happen. Regardless, thanks for reading.]