Zillow is a "real estate and rental marketplace dedicated to empowering consumers with data, inspiration and knowledge around the place they call home, and connecting them with the best local professionals who can help." The companies services span the full lifecycle of owning and living in a home: buying, selling, renting, financing, remodeling and more.



Zillow offers a comprehensive set of services for sellers, buyers, and other market participants. For sellers, Zillow Offers™ which is available in major markets across the nation allows homeowners to request a cash offer to sell their home directly to Zillow in a timely and hassle-free manner. On the other side of the transaction, buyers can purchase a home directly from Zillow Offers inventory of properties. Zillow also helps connect buyers and sellers with customer service-focused agents through their Find an Agent program. Zillow also serves renters by helping them search, request tours, apply, and pay rent through the its proprietary platform.
To support buyers, Zillow has created an interactive map interface that allows buyers to search by market using additional filters to narrow down the search.

In a parallel manner to how it handles buyers, Zillow provides support for renters. After city is selected, a user can choose individual properties from the interactive map. Once selected, a click will open a window showing more details and images of the property.

Zillow search can also be used to explore housing activity in neighborhoods. In this case, assume a buyer is interested in Oak Park Southwest in Kansas City MO. The search returns the number of houses available, along with their prices, and an image. By clicking on the image, more detail is revealed. In this case, the interior of the house shows a dramatic improvement over the exterior and may justify the relatively higher asking price. Similar research can be extended to other areas and, when combined with other data, allow buyers to make more informed decisions.


Zillow's The Zestimate® home valuation model analyzes public and user-submitted data, along with home facts, location and market conditions to estimate the value of individual properties. Zillow notes that while the value estimates are not an appraisal they can provide a useful anchor and can help track changes in value over time. Zillow encourages users to supplement the Zestimate with additional research including inspecting the home, getting a comparative market analysis (CMA) from a licensed agent, or purchasing an appraisal.


To help buyers close on sales, through its Zillow Home Loans affiliate lender, Zillow allows customers to get pre-approved and secure financing. By clicking on hyperlinks, homebuyers can explore loan rates and compare options among lenders.


To help borrowers make informed decisions and empower them to self-qualify, Zillow offers a number of on-line calculators that users can use to estimate mortgage costs, determine what they would qualify for, and compare alternative loans. Buyers can also do some risk assessment, by changing basic assumptions.


In addition to its commercial operations, Zillow has a "Zillow for Good" program that makes raw data available for academic research. Zillow also partners with U.S. government agencies, policymakers, academics and housing advocates to support unbiased data and research. As advocates, Zillow economists and experts participate in public discussions and events on issues surrounding housing, housing affordability and related issues.
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