Brandon Florida Real Estate

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Zillow and the Q&A feature

I just received an email from Zillow letting me know that I could now answer questions about my listings that someone may have OR about listings I know about in my area. 

Since I hadn't been out to Zillow in a long time, I thought I would go check this out just to see what people are asking.  I was quite amused.  It seems like one particular person has way too much time on their hands and has posed some "interesting questions" they'd like answers to about a home.

  1. Is there adequate fencing for my dogs? I have six pit bulls. I also rescue and raise feral cats, but most of them live in the crawl space and the attic.
  2. Will my family be comfortable living there? I have eight children from three marriages. And each of them has a live-in partner. And a child.
  3. Can I run my small business from the home? It is a combination halfway house/rehab center/entertainment enterprise.
  4. Does the house have an old-fashioned dirt floor, or has more modern wood flooring been installed on top of the dirt?
  5. Are there rectangular openings in the walls that allow the free passage and exchange of air from the outside to the inside? And from the inside to the outside? If so, are these window openings, complete with transparent glass to allow residents with views of the outside?
  6. Do the walls contain doorways allowing passage from one room to another? And are the doorways fitted with doors hung on hinges, complete with doorknobs?

And that's not all of the questions they asked....there are more!

Good grief, if these are going to be the types of people playing around on there asking questions like this...why even bother?

Are any of you answering any of the "real" questions on there?  Waste of time or no?

Have any of you ever sold a listing off of Zillow of received any worthwhile leads from there?

13 commentsBecky Troutt • November 16 2007 07:00AM

Comments

I have no experience with Zillow, but I actually found some of those kind of funny. It's amazing what people will do to kill time.
Posted by Peter Thompson - Chicago Mortgage Insight (Wintrust Mortgage) over 2 years ago

BT,

LMAO on Z...

I post in the discussions forum. I suggest you take a look at what`s going on..

Have a good laugh.

Posted by Florida List For Less Realty, Inc. Broker/Owner. over 2 years ago
Becky--I visited yesterday after the email prompt too. In our state, there didn't seem to be too many off the wall questions. Many were from homeowners asking Zillow to fix incorrect info. Some were actual real estate questions like...Could you post more photos? or When is the next open house? I think questions for your area are hilarious. The scary thing is they could be real.
Posted by Teri Eckholm, REALTORĀ® Anoka County Acreage & Lakeshore Homes (REMAX Specialists) over 2 years ago

Peter, Some of them are indeed funny....but if this is going to be the type of thing people do on there and just play around, it's going to end up a big mess.  Don't ya think?

You would think Zillow would monitor this type of activity and put a stop to it before other's catch on and start adding more weird questions to the Q&A feature!

Posted by Becky Troutt (Reynolds Realty of Manatee Inc) over 2 years ago

hhhhmmmmm, Thems are kinda odd questions. I sure hope they were written in Zillow as a joke.

Sean Allen

Posted by International Financing Solutions over 2 years ago

Scott, I'll go check it out!!  :)

Teri, LOL....funny thing is that was what was on the main page of the Q&A when I pulled it up.  I hadn't even gone yet to look at my area.

Posted by Becky Troutt (Reynolds Realty of Manatee Inc) over 2 years ago
I have all of my listings posted on Zillow, I have not had any questions I just thought is was another good way to get listings in front of Buyers for FREE.
Posted by Amber over 2 years ago
Sean, I'm pretty positive that they were all meant as jokes and someone just horsing around on there with way too much time on their hands!
Posted by Becky Troutt (Reynolds Realty of Manatee Inc) over 2 years ago

Becky,

I bet these people were having a great laugh putting in questions like these. I think you should answer them!! Most people like agents that have a sense of humor. Have fun!

Posted by Diane Testa (Prudential Fox and Roach) over 2 years ago

Amber, very true.  I posted our listings out there a while back, but never got any action.

Diane, I probably would if it was a home in my area, but it was a house in Cali.  They made me laugh anyway.

Posted by Becky Troutt (Reynolds Realty of Manatee Inc) over 2 years ago

Welcome to the world of Z if you haven't already been!

I won't comment personally on the negativity of the site, but if you visit make sure to look at the forums discussions.

 

Posted by Jennifer Mackay-REALTORĀ® (Keller Williams Success Realty) over 2 years ago
Becky, that sure does sound like an odd submission of e-mails. I haven't signed up for Zillow. I'm going to check the site out again. Thanks!
Posted by Blogger To Be Named Later over 2 years ago

Jennifer, I took a visit over there to the forums...and...boy oh boy is all I can say!

Andrew, go check it out.  It seems to full of "nice people"!  LOL....

Posted by Becky Troutt (Reynolds Realty of Manatee Inc) over 2 years ago

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