Zillow liberates data, dirty Realtors fight back

From HousingWire:

Here is the latest Realtor.com attack aimed at Zillow

Realtor.com’s latest attack at Zillow Group (ZG) took it to the streets, removing a house from the residential block by wrapping it in what they say is a real-life analogy of homes that Zillow users are missing out on.

The online real estate listing service wrapped a home that is currently on the market in Austin, Texas and brokered by GoodLife Realty.

The words “Searching for a home to buy on Zillow? You’re missing out on thousands like this” are inscribed on the wrapping, which will stay up until Nov. 14.

This is a part of realtor.com’s recent campaign against Zillow, with this particular advertisement trying to shows how realtor.com lists many more MLS-listed, for-sale homes than its main competitor.

In light of the campaign, Realtor.com conducted an internal analysis in October, which said realtor.com provides at least 20% more – or an estimated 300,000 more – MLS-listed homes among its for-sale listings nationwide than Zillow.com.

However, in response, Zillow’s spokesperson Amanda Woolley cautioned in a statement, “Anyone can selectively pull data to tell the story they want to tell.”

“The fact is, Zillow and Trulia listings breadth is more comprehensive and accurate than it has ever been, with more than 350 direct MLS partnerships signed in just the past year,” according to the statement.

“And the Zillow brand continues to be the most favored consumer brand by far, with more than half of all real estate category visits coming to Zillow, which is nearly double the size the nearest competitor,” Woolley added.

This entry was posted in Humor, Unrest. Bookmark the permalink.

115 Responses to Zillow liberates data, dirty Realtors fight back

  1. grim says:

    From the Christian Science Monitor:

    Are Zillow’s home price estimates accurate?

    Zillow’s Zestimates, the machine-made home value assessments, put Zillow on the map. Without these controversial algorithm-produced appraisals, Zillow would be a home search engine just like all the others. By and large, real estate agents hate them and homeowners swear by them — or at them — depending on how their home value goes.

    How accurate are Zestimates? Here’s what we found.

    Zillow says Zestimates currently have a median error rate of 8%. That may seem to be a large margin — but it has improved. The algorithm began with a 13.6% median error rate in 2006, according to Zillow.

    However, error rates can vary widely, depending on where you live. In the top metros, Zillow says accuracy ranges from a median error rate of 5% in Washington, D.C. to 9.5% in Pittsburgh. But in four cities — Houston, Kansas City, San Antonio and St. Louis — Zillow is unable to produce a Zestimate at all.

    “Home characteristics, such as square footage, location or the number of bathrooms, are given different weights according to their influence on home sale prices in each specific geography over a specific period of time,” Zillow says.

    The site also mixes in property tax information and prior sale prices for a home, as well as for others nearby.

  2. grim says:

    From the Press of Atlantic City:

    Cash sales growing in distressed South Jersey real estate markets

    When it comes to buying a house, cash is king in markets with lots of distressed properties, foreclosures and short sales.

    Cash sales have become a larger part of the real estate market in New Jersey and especially in Atlantic and Cumberland counties.

    The two counties ranked 21st and 28th among U.S. metro areas with the highest share of such purchases in the third quarter, according to market research firm RealtyTrac.
    About 46 percent of Atlantic County sales in the third quarter were made with cash, up from 38 percent a year ago.

    Cash deals made up 44 percent of Cumberland County’s third-quarter sales, compared with 38 percent a year ago, according to RealtyTrac data.

    These trends have not stemmed the volume of single-family home sales in August, September and October in these counties, although they have affected the selling price, according to data from the New Jersey Association of Realtors.

    The median single-family home in Atlantic County sold for $184,000 in October, 15 percent less than in October 2014, according to the data.

    Local real estate professionals say the bump in lenders taking ownership of properties doesn’t yet reflect much of the impact of four Atlantic City casino closings in 2014.

    “Until we get out of this surplus of bank sales and short sales, you’re going to continue to see cash sales as people get into the bottom of the market,” said Jeannine Wescoat, president of the Atlantic City and County Board of Realtors. “I think if you look at what our prices are, there’s a lot of investors that are buying and there’s a lot of first-time homebuyers that may be getting money from the next generation above them … parents or grandparents.”

  3. leftwing says:

    Like zillow a lot. Has nothing to do with “zestimates”. Just seems to be the most convenient search engine out there. Like trivago and kayak are my favorites for travel. I always backcheck zillow against the local mls.

    I guess AC just falls off the map now. How nothing can be done with that stretch of real estate in one of the wealthiest states in the nation is beyond me.

  4. Ring fence AC with concertina wire and turn it into a penal colony.

    All over but for the crying.

  5. 30 year realtor says:

    For a guy like me Zillow is free advertising. I do no promotional advertising, no mailing and no farming for listings but in the past I was forced to spend money advertising open houses. Now the property automatically goes on Zillow directly from MLS. No need to pay for open house advertising. Tons of buyer calls and now I have a buyer’s agent who provides additional income for me from the Zillow leads.

  6. leftwing says:

    I just started using the ‘save’ feature. Not sure if other sites have anything similar but it’s pretty neat. Sends out automated changes, updates, open houses, etc.

  7. Fast Eddie says:

    The house I just bought was the result of a search on Zillow.

    Any questions?

  8. chicagofinance says:

    This is your brain…….this is your brain on Zillow……..Any questions?

    Fast Eddie says:
    November 16, 2015 at 9:24 am
    The house I just bought was the result of a search on Zillow.

    Any questions?

  9. Fast Eddie says:

    Again, I’m not sure what value a house agent can add other than giving you the names of reliable, local vendors used in the past to change locks, paint, finish a floor, landscape, etc. In the age of text messaging, even a phone call isn’t necessary. The only other paperwork necessary for the use of an agent is to submit a contract. The weeks and weeks of information gathering, emails, phone calls and follow-ups are handled by the buyers/sellers and the attorneys.

  10. Ottoman says:

    Of course NAR could have demanded that all realtor owned mls’s, which I’m going to assume is all of them, adopt the same standard database system. Instead they let each board waste thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars developing and maintaining the exact same thing over and over. Because being able to search for homes by price or township or age can’t be duplicated across regions. Nor can you set up a single database that allows some customization as necessary for different boards which, other than some state disclosure reqs, is probably a minimal to nonexistant need. GSMLS, Trend, OceanMonmouth, Cape May, NJMLS all need to be different, right? But if it were impossible to use the same database across boards, realtor.com wouldn’t exist at all.

    They could have done it 20 years ago when listings were still being published in books. They could have done it 10 years ago when the market soared and then crashed (thanks in no small part to their own lying) and as Zillow was emerging. Instead they’ll just use gimmicks to portray themselves as organized and technically savvy. As if you needed even more proof of the uselessness of most agents and agencies and their ridiculously high commissions. This is the nonsense that home buyers and sellers fund with every listed transaction. And every agent that sends in dues is complicit.

  11. walking bye says:

    I had started on realtor.com back when it first came out in 2001 thru 2005. But it was always slow clunky. I bought my first house thru realotor.com listing as the real estate agents in south jersey were a waste of time. Kept showing me homes that where aspirational back in the 60’s, but where now 40 year old homes priced at a premium as the seniors were looking to off load. Since 2006 its been Zillow and trulia. The biggest issue with realtor.com -no price history so you have no inkling how long its been listed.

  12. Ottoman says:

    “The weeks and weeks of information gathering, emails, phone calls and follow-ups are handled by the buyers/sellers and the attorneys.”

    There’s a bit more value to agents in parts of the country, like south Jersey and PA, where they don’t generally use attorneys. I think the PA real estate contract is 16 pages (8 pages of contract and 8 pages of legalese on the back) or something ridiculous and agents can make changes with both sides signatures. Northern NJ contracts are 4 pages because agents don’t do anything other than protect their commissions.

  13. Fast Eddie says:

    Northern NJ contracts are 4 pages because agents don’t do anything other than protect their commissions.

    Omg, I was nodding my head in agreement! We agree on something? :) And most times, the agent doesn’t even show up at the closing. You want to get paid, at least make the trip.

  14. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    I got a HELOC based on an electronic appraisal. How is this any different from a Zestimate? No one came out to my house to do an appraisal.

  15. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    New Jersey youth soccer teams will have to adjust to new rules regarding heading the ball

    http://www.northjersey.com/community-news/family/new-guidelines-will-limit-heading-balls-in-youth-soccer-1.1456177

  16. grim says:

    Instead they let each board waste thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars developing and maintaining the exact same thing over and over. Because being able to search for homes by price or township or age can’t be duplicated across regions.

    Because this makes them lots of money, why would they give up making lots of money?

  17. walking bye says:

    Eddie, I think you can agree the biggest waste is the house showing/driving tours realtors take you on. Zero value added. I spot a POS in minutes just by going through the photos, also no need to take me on a tour of a great home, when bing quickly reveals a sewer treatment plant next door.

  18. grim says:

    Just so everyone realizes, most MLS are privately owned, and charge some pretty luxurious fees for usage. Given the archaic nature of most of these systems, I bet most of the fees go into the owners pockets. Should be no shock that centralization of the systems would see massive pushback. It’s a cash cow for lots of people.

  19. walking bye says:

    Grim, remeber when the MLS would not even list the street address forcing you to contact a realtor?

  20. Comrade Nom Deplume, screwing around at work says:

    Okay, who hijacked Ottoman’s handle? No way he makes that much sense and types more than a sentence without some knee-jerk prog comment.

  21. phoenix1 says:

    18 Grim,
    Yup, greed will get you every time…. Straight out of the Ayn Rand playbook…
    Those that embrace this type of commerce when it benefits them the most are the same to complain the loudest when it removes shekels from their pockets…..

    most MLS are privately owned, and charge some pretty luxurious fees.

    cash cow

  22. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Comical, right!

    phoenix1 says:
    November 16, 2015 at 11:30 am
    18 Grim,
    Yup, greed will get you every time…. Straight out of the Ayn Rand playbook…
    Those that embrace this type of commerce when it benefits them the most are the same to complain the loudest when it removes shekels from their pockets…..

    most MLS are privately owned, and charge some pretty luxurious fees.

    cash cow

  23. Libturd in Union says:

    I think Zillow should provide a service exclusively for lesbians. They should call it, D1ldow.

  24. Libturd in Union says:

    I think Zillow should provide a service exclusively for lesb1ans. They should call it, D1ldow.

  25. Libturd in Union says:

    Maybe have a service for renaissance fair advocates and call it Willow.

  26. Bystander says:

    Zillow and Trulia were absolutely integral to my house search. I barely used the MLS-realtor site. The beauty with zillow is that it tracks each house’s pricing history, not just by MLS no. You can see how many times the greedy, delusional sellers listed their house including historical price cuts. This is essential info for barnaining. Realtwhores previously created new MLS to make it a “fresh” listing. Saved me hours of wasted energy dealing with overpriced idiots.

  27. joyce says:

    The biggest (only?) thing attempting to prevent competition is the fact that the business/government/lobbyist have successfully mandating various regulations on how to license or accredit someone allowing them to sell real estate in NJ. Are you OK with deregulating this?

    phoenix1 says:
    November 16, 2015 at 11:30 am
    18 Grim,
    Yup, greed will get you every time…. Straight out of the Ayn Rand playbook…
    Those that embrace this type of commerce when it benefits them the most are the same to complain the loudest when it removes shekels from their pockets…..

  28. Fast Eddie says:

    Grim, remeber when the MLS would not even list the street address forcing you to contact a realtor?

    When I was looking for my previous house around 1999/2000, I walked into a agency in the Parsippany area and asked to sit and look through the book with an agent at potential listings. I was refused because they had addresses listed. That is what I was told. No, we couldn’t look at the listings because I might see the addresses. Every question I asked was met with “No” as the answer. The middle person in this industry can’t be eliminated quickly enough.

  29. walking bye says:

    Fast Eddie, my point exactly. How much time wasted going on their neighborhood tours? Back in 2001 I wasted 4 weekends driving from North NJ to south jersey looking at crap. I finally spotted something on realtor.com at the time and purchased that. As for the realtor, I remember one of the homes was built on a landfill. When I told the realtor she said oh no dear its brand new neighborhood. really? I remember clearly seeing a landfill from the parkway growing going to the beach.

  30. The Great Pumpkin says:

    What’s your occupation? Name one industry that doesn’t involve the same process as below. Hell, in the medical field, I don’t even know what the hell I’m being charged for the service. They just perform the service and then send the bill for whatever they want.

    Fast Eddie says:
    November 16, 2015 at 11:49 am
    Grim, remeber when the MLS would not even list the street address forcing you to contact a realtor?

    When I was looking for my previous house around 1999/2000, I walked into a agency in the Parsippany area and asked to sit and look through the book with an agent at potential listings. I was refused because they had addresses listed. That is what I was told. No, we couldn’t look at the listings because I might see the addresses. Every question I asked was met with “No” as the answer. The middle person in this industry can’t be eliminated quickly enough.

  31. chicagofinance says:

    from Peyser NY Post

    On Friday morning, just hours before Paris turned into ground zero, Obama declared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that ISIS (ISIL, whatever) was not gaining ground and that the US military “has contained” it. The statement should become his epitaph.

    Speaking in Turkey Sunday, he said the United States stood “in solidarity” with France — against “Daesh,” a derogatory Arabic term for ISIS-ISIL.

    Where was his anger?

    Obama flat out refuses to call the murderers what they are: Islamic militants. And he’s not alone.

    I watched, incredulously, as all three contenders in Saturday night’s Democratic presidential debate — Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley — refused to say the slaughter was the work of “Muslim” extremists.

    Clinton blamed “jihadis.” But despite prodding, she would not speak of the Islamic elephant in the room.

    Sanders stood by his earlier claim that climate change, not creatures in suicide vests, presents the biggest threat to this planet because it makes poor people into terrorists by interfering with their crops or something.

    At that point, I switched to the Syfy channel to get a bigger dose of reality.

    In New York City, Arab activist and Mayor Bill de Blasio crony Linda Sarsour waged a Twitter war as the carnage unfolded. The head of the Arab American Association of New York, which exists partly due to taxpayer largesse, spat out a tweet that one Post reader told me made him “physically ill.’’

    “Just because people focus on the horror of the moment, doesn’t mean we forget the oppression, terrorism, murder happening elsewhere,’’ she wrote — an apparent slap at Israel.

    Now is a time for mourning and payback, not denial or hatred of the blameless. It’s time to call the enemy by name.

  32. The Great Pumpkin says:

    29- What am I paying a lawyer for at the closing? A stupid signature that costs how much? Yet, you have a problem with a real estate agent? Time is money, to make money being an agent, you need to put a lot of time into this field developing a network and spending lots of money marketing yourself. An agent that makes no money might not do much work, but an agent that is actually making money is doing a lot of work/or did a lot of work to get into the position that they are in their market.

  33. anon (the good one) says:

    c’mom Chifi, don’t be such cokc sucker for a change

    chicagofinance says:
    November 16, 2015 at 12:51 pm

    from Peyser NY Post

  34. The Great Pumpkin says:

    31- You admire the 1%, yet you have a problem with an agent hustling to make a dollar? How is that any different from the 1%? Don’t bust an agent’s balls, if you have no problem with the 1%.

  35. Fast Eddie says:

    What am I paying a lawyer for at the closing? A stupid signature that costs how much?

    What a stup1d f.ucking statement.

    The amount of follow-up, research, phone calls, clarification on state and local laws, clarification on inspections and the drafting of documents with the proper legalize boggled my mind.

  36. D-FENS says:

    “With 500-1,000 euros you can get a military weapon in half an hour”

    http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0T504J20151116#k4RFrdfiDwYz6rrU.97

  37. Libturd in Union says:

    The liberals will change their tune when it’s their kids who are the one’s getting dismembered. You simply can’t provide aid to a population hell bent on expanding. This was tried with Arafat. He simply stole it all. He f’ed his own population over. On the surface, it sounds lovely to just throw money their way so these disenchanted youth will stop terrorizing. But look how well it works in Newark or in Camden.

    The solution is to drop bombs on any country that chooses to allows those who take out innocent lives to reside there. It is their choice to eradicate the fundamentalists or to provide them safe haven. The Western world would be more than willing to help. But these governments choose not to do what they should for peace. Why? Perhaps because it’s inherent in their beliefs to allow what is occurring to continue.

  38. joyce says:

    34
    Gary,
    I think the average closing is not as complicated as your posts contends… that said, on the average closing the lawyer is getting much less than the agents.

  39. Libturd in Union says:

    I don’t even know why a lawyer is at the closing.

    On our multi, we faxed my brother the docs. He gave to his in-house lawyer the morning of our closing for a once over. The real estate lawyer found nothing wrong. That had to have saved us $750. Heck, the whole closing works like Mad Libs. Everyone simply fills in their blanks.

    I’ve said this before here. The value of the RE agent comes into play when the customer is ignorant. The regulars here participate daily in a RE forum. We obviously don’t require the same services as Joe Blow who reads Depeche Mode forums all day.

  40. Libturd in Union says:

    And we struggled mightily getting our RE agent not to attend showings with us. After three years of looking, and on our second home purchase, you figure out what you are looking for. I swear, our agent wanted to come for no better reason than to prove that she was worth her commission in time spent with us, regardless whether or not she was providing us any service. And in the end, she was frequently late to the appointments so she ended up wasting our time as much as her own.

  41. Libturd in Union says:

    This one hits home.

    PITTS JAMES W Essex ESSEX COUNTY $102,156 1 $102,156 Police and Firemens Retirement System Police Officer

    http://patch.com/new-jersey/montclair/essex-county-undersheriff-charged-sex-crimes-nj-0?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=police%20%26%20fire&utm_campaign=alert

  42. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Both of my closings, I dealt with the lawyer’s secretary 99% of the time. Lawyer was only there at the closing. What am I paying for again? Why doesn’t the secretary get the money? She did all the work. Any problems I had were addressed by the secretary.

    Libturd in Union says:
    November 16, 2015 at 1:28 pm
    The liberals will change their tune when it’s their kids who are the one’s getting dismembered. You simply can’t provide aid to a population hell bent on expanding. This was tried with Arafat. He simply stole it all. He f’ed his own population over. On the surface, it sounds lovely to just throw money their way so these disenchanted youth will stop terrorizing. But look how well it works in Newark or in Camden.

    The solution is to drop bombs on any country that chooses to allows those who take out innocent lives to reside there. It is their choice to eradicate the fundamentalists or to provide them safe haven. The Western world would be more than willing to help. But these governments choose not to do what they should for peace. Why? Perhaps because it’s inherent in their beliefs to allow what is occurring to continue.

  43. joyce says:

    Why doesn’t the secretary get the money?

    because of laws preventing people without state sanctions certifications from working

  44. Fast Eddie says:

    The closing is the easy part; it’s the weeks of painstaking detail that 99% of us would overlook which is the reason representation is so valuable. In my case, I had to close title on a sale before closing on a purchase. Otherwise, I would have had to come to the table with another 60K and an FHA loan. The timing was an act of precision that left me speechless.

  45. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Fast eddie, I don’t believe the real estate agents are worth how much they get paid either, but I feel the same way about the 1%. The higher up the ladder you go, the less people do, and the more they get paid. Always been this way, always will. So if someone is usually paid a lot of money, chances are they are overpaid and don’t do much. Those real estate agents are doing more than the hedge fund managers who play a con game, but guess the pay difference?

  46. Comrade Nom Deplume, screwing around at work says:

    [3] DFENS

    ““With 500-1,000 euros you can get a military weapon in half an hour”

    We should make guns illegal. After all, it worked for drugs, right?

  47. grim says:

    Anybody know if the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, or Saudi Arabia taking part in ISIS bombings? Are they flying sovereign jets and dropping bombs, or just allowing foreign countries to use their airstrips? I thought the UAE was, last year or so, but surprised I haven’t heard much recently. Especially the recent raids.

  48. Fast Eddie says:

    Both of my closings, I dealt with the lawyer’s secretary 99% of the time. Lawyer was only there at the closing. What am I paying for again? Why doesn’t the secretary get the money? She did all the work. Any problems I had were addressed by the secretary.

    I don’t doubt it. You don’t seem too savvy to me so it’s no surprise that you had inferior representation.

  49. D-FENS says:

    None of the refugees are running to those countries.

  50. grim says:

    30 minutes to get from East Bay to San Fran? That’s great time, I’m surprised the officers were so upset. Most commuters would be dancing, not fighting, if they made it that quick.

  51. The Great Pumpkin says:

    You are pretty funny.

    Fast Eddie says:
    November 16, 2015 at 1:51 pm
    Both of my closings, I dealt with the lawyer’s secretary 99% of the time. Lawyer was only there at the closing. What am I paying for again? Why doesn’t the secretary get the money? She did all the work. Any problems I had were addressed by the secretary.

    I don’t doubt it. You don’t seem too savvy to me so it’s no surprise that you had inferior representation.

  52. NJT says:

    #25 – …”You can see how many times the greedy, delusional sellers listed their house including historical price cuts.:.

    Yeah, those listings are like an absurd comedy. About once a week wifey and I read them for laughs.

    *How accurate is Zillow? Well, a house I used to own (sold in 2011) is now listed for $100,000 more. Um, NO WAY it’s worth that. Home values there have actually declined since then. So much for algorithms.

    *Used RE agents twice (while selling). Booted one out the front door (literally). The other I told: “If you can sell it for X…”. Amazingly she did but that was in 2004 so…

    Oh, wait, did deal with a ‘Realtor’ while selling one other time. Witch, the buyer and I agreed on a $259,000 price. Next day a contract is dropped off on my doorstep for $239,000. I’m not going to say what I told her.

  53. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Eliminate jobs and crime goes up. Any questions? Now imagine what happens when you eliminate welfare.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-16/oil-theft-soars-as-downturn-casts-u-s-roughnecks-out-of-work

  54. grim says:

    Zillow error rate is plus or minus 8%, that’s a 16% swing.

    That’s pretty good, because plus or minus 5% is just noise (10% total).

  55. FKA [15];

    youth soccer bans/limits headers.

    Predicted more than a decade ago, by the group called “Keep Our Own Kids Safe”. Those who know will remember.

  56. Go ahead and sue the secretary for professional malpractice if something goes wrong with the deal and you’re not protected by the mad libs contract. Let me know how it works out for you.

    Everyone is conservative about that which they know best.

  57. joyce says:

    Why would you sue the secretary when the lawyer’s name is on there

  58. walking bye says:

    By the way Mizzou students upset that US and world ignoring them while we focus on Paris. Say they are suffering from terrorists on their campus. .

  59. jcer says:

    Lawyers are licensed and are responsible for what happens, sure they pass off the paperwork to a paralegal. Lawyers bill anywhere from 250-1000 per hour, so in legal speak the fees paid to a closing attorney are very small. House closing attorney’s make it up by using paralegals to do much of the work, preparing the HUD, handling the escrow accounts, reviewing the contract, etc. For the most part this is by far the cheapest legal work you’ll ever get.

  60. Libturd in Union says:

    There is a terrorist training camp on every campus. The Bursar’s Office.

  61. grim says:

    Title Insurance is the scam, nobody seems to really care.

  62. walking bye says:

    Pumkin, I have a friend who does real estate part time.. When he gets a sale, as a thankyou he gives $500 plus gift card to home depot, or buys a new washer dryer “front load” for the buyer. Thats nice. and it goes further I feel than marketing $ spent elsewhere.

  63. walking bye says:

    Grim regarding zillow,
    I remember when I sold in 2005, I listed with the top guy in the area at the time. His market analysis for my home was off by 40%. 40%. I had to stick to my guns and tell him what to list for. I should have dropped him, but had signed all the realtor paparwork and had to move for work.
    Here I am on my 2nd real estate deal and I knew the market better than him, the guy would have had me leave 40% on the table. I also learned from that experience -the number 1 guy in volume usually lowballs the price so he can keep flipping property.

  64. walking bye says:

    @60, Thats a good one.

  65. Ragnar says:

    You get a lawyer to make sure you have an “average closing”, not a closing where an unusual phrasing or situation turns a $500,000+ purchase into a non-standard situation.

    If everyone ran home purchases without lawyers, I bet we’d be hearing a lot more exciting stories of trickery and dismay on this forum. Because there’d be more people taking advantage of non-lawyered home-buyers or sellers.

  66. joyce says:

    I remember you posting this multiple times before. The referral fee for title insurance [not the insurance itself, (or is that too overpriced in your opinion?)] is 4-5x the cost of the insurance.

    Limited to NJ where you have experience, can a buyer fight that in anyway?

    grim says:
    November 16, 2015 at 3:15 pm
    Title Insurance is the scam, nobody seems to really care.

  67. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Shouldn’t laws protect the consumer. Why should you need a lawyer for protection? That’s how much bs is out there.

    Also, you admit the private sector plays dirty? You state there would be all kinds of trickery. So it’s this admission that private sector doesn’t do it any better than the govt, they both do the same thing because they are both run by human nature. So please save the privatization will lead to better results line for the idiots.

    Ragnar says:
    November 16, 2015 at 3:38 pm
    You get a lawyer to make sure you have an “average closing”, not a closing where an unusual phrasing or situation turns a $500,000+ purchase into a non-standard situation.

    If everyone ran home purchases without lawyers, I bet we’d be hearing a lot more exciting stories of trickery and dismay on this forum. Because there’d be more people taking advantage of non-lawyered home-buyers or sellers.

  68. jcer says:

    67, of all of your very stupid posts, this is the dumbest. Inherently real estate transactions are complex things, not all real property is the same nor is it conveyed the same way, there are reasons for buyers and sellers to demand various things in contracts. The Lawyers are there to make sure the parties understand what they are agreeing to. Laws exist to ensure things run smoothly and the experts on law are attorneys. Hence when getting involved in any large transaction lawyers are involved.

  69. Marilyn says:

    Title insurance is like an attorney retainer fee you pay upfront that you will never use.

  70. Marilyn says:

    I also know that most title insurance is 80 percent commission. Most lawyers get pissed off when you tell them your not buying title insurance. I have done this 3 times and all three times they went into the hysteria and long winded speech of scare tactics. I told them if you mention it one more time, Im dropping you. I paid cash for all my homes so I could do this. Its a scam. Even if you use it , it only pays the lawyers fee and about 1.5 hours worth.

  71. jcer says:

    Yes title insurance is totally a sham, I only know one person who collected on it. In the US the title search is sufficient to determine clean title. Now with regards to easements title insurance is good if your policy covers you, you won’t have to litigate to maintain your rights someone else will do it for you.

  72. Marilyn says:

    71 wow, at least there is one person!!! I did not think there would be any.

  73. Essex says:

    53. any questions is copywritten By Fast Eddie

  74. Comrade Nom Deplume, screwing around at work says:

    New Hampshire legislator wants to make it illegal to put down a diseased animal by gunshot.

    anon may add White Mountains to leafpeeping trip next fall.

  75. POS cape says:

    70

    My lawyer hit the ceiling when the mortgage company insisted on what title company I used. He yelled “I’m the one that chooses that.” That told me all I needed to know about the arrangement.

  76. Comrade Nom Deplume, screwing around at work says:
  77. Comrade Nom Deplume, screwing around at work says:

    [75] pos,

    For this house, I paid cash. When I told them I wasn’t interested in title insurance, the agents hit the ceiling and said “you can’t do that!”

    I asked them to show me the statute saying it was required. Lots of stammering ensued.

  78. The Great Pumpkin says:

    It’s all bullsh!t. I have to get a lawyer to purchase something so I don’t get screwed over? So if I don’t get a lawyer, I can now be screwed? Wtf? I def see how it works. The system is so corrupted when you need a lawyer for protection when purchasing something. What a joke.

    jcer says:
    November 16, 2015 at 4:40 pm
    67, of all of your very stupid posts, this is the dumbest. Inherently real estate transactions are complex things, not all real property is the same nor is it conveyed the same way, there are reasons for buyers and sellers to demand various things in contracts. The Lawyers are there to make sure the parties understand what they are agreeing to. Laws exist to ensure things run smoothly and the experts on law are attorneys. Hence when getting involved in any large transaction lawyers are involved.

  79. The Great Pumpkin says:

    78- I didn’t get a lawyer on my closings because I wanted to. I had to pay a fuc!ing fee to a lawyer to close on a house I was purchasing from my grandmother. What a joke.

    Nothing against you if you are a lawyer. Just calling it how I see it. I call bs.

  80. leftwing says:

    First interaction with an NJ realtor was an older lady (weren’t they all back then?) who had exact parameters as to what we wanted. Location, price, size. Knew we wanted to move quickly. Chase throws up a perfect repo for us on MLS (still in book form not computer times). Took her three days to see it. I found it while driving the area we wanted to live, saw the sign. Called her, already gone.

    Next purchase we were shopping in my wife’s hometown. Where she grew up for 30 years. Where her three siblings and mother still lived. One town over from her grandparents. Another dyed haired old lady drives us around for three hours in the afternoon showing us houses +/- $400k of our purchase price so we could ‘get a feel for the market’. Stup1d b1tch. Literally felt kidnapped, we were all in her car.

    Since then I’ve just gone directly to the selling agency and dualed it.

    Seller’s agents provide services that some really need, especially in specific instances and to keep things on track for a sale. And since there is still some ‘hesitancy’ on the part of buying agents to go to FSBOs, even when protected at 2.5-3.0%. Buyers agents, these days, not really sure what role they have except for true out of towners relocating.

  81. leftwing says:

    I want to start a real estate firm just so I can have as a logo a blue haired old lady with the international ‘NO’ sign through it.

  82. townhome says:

    Nobody needs an agent for a new car deal, why for home?

    Zillow has an advantage over working with amazon, angies list and other service providers to connect your deal, inspection, repairs etc. Stupid realtor.org never thought of helping its clients. They will die in own zeal. The young generation will not use a human agent anyways. Their future is doomed.

  83. Juice Box says:

    If Christie had any balls he would ban Saudi Arabians from living in NJ, and based in the recent attack toss in French nationals as well.

  84. yome says:

    While I believe 99% of Muslims are peace loving people. I dont see them taking it to the streets condemning this killings. Why is that?

  85. 1987 condo says:

    I assume giving the Syrians driving licenses will help….

  86. I’ll immediately grab your rss feed as I can not find your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly let me know in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.

  87. Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Your website is very useful. Thanks for sharing.

  88. 30 year realtor says:

    Zillow is nothing more than an advertising platform. Zillow has replaced newspaper advertising except it is all about agent self promotion instead of property advertisement.

  89. leftwing says:

    Works for me. Keeps me out of the clutches of sh1thead humans that want to waste my time without delivering and provides all the info I want in one organized place.

  90. Libturd in Union says:

    “While I believe 99% of Muslims are peace loving people. I dont see them taking it to the streets condemning this killings. Why is that?”

    For the same reason the 99% of Catholics don’t support the bombing of abortion clinics, but also don’t condemn the attacks.

    If anything positive comes from all this, it’s that more and more people will abandon their religion, which in my opinion, is a great thing.

  91. Juice Box says:

    re: # 84 – L #notinmyname

    Plenty of protests against ISIS by the Muslims. ISIS has killed 1000 to 1 more of their own then anyone in the west.

    http://abc7.com/society/muslims-speak-out-against-isis-following-paris-terror-attacks/1086310/

  92. Pete says:

    ” I dont see them taking it to the streets condemning this killings. Why is that?”

    Do you mean literally in the streets outside your house or something? Otherwise, it literally takes 10 seconds of googling to disprove this.

  93. joyce says:

    88

    30yr,
    Does zillow have agent profiles or something? I didn’t get the vibe agents were primarily using zillow for self promotion… maybe a by product. -I know I’m not involved in anyway like you are… but isn’t the same as using current listings (where ever they’re advertised) to generate future business?

  94. walking bye says:

    Zillow is what expedia and orbitz are to travel.

    NJrereport is what tripadvisor is to travel.

    First check tripadvisor, then book that vacation.

  95. Juice Box says:

    Stats are 86,004 real estate brokerage firms operating in the United States with 2 million active real estate licensees.

    5.6 million commercial buildings, 87.4 billion square feet of floor space to rent.

    115 million occupied housing units in the United States to rent and sell.

    If the Realtors all go under do to the disruptive innovation of the internet those Realtors are going to need a bailout they are much bigger than GM.

  96. Juice [95];

    Never. Gonna. Happen.

    Realtors are mostly self-employed business owners, all the way up and down the food chain. Business owners are Eeeee-vil under the present mass media zeitgeist. There’s no sob story about a factory closing; no small town USA losing a favorite lunch counter , etc.; no place to go where the media can film hundreds of workers marching out of their last shift en masse for the evening news; no Realtors union anywhere nearly as plugged in as UAW or Teamsters.

  97. Con’t [96];

    Besides the fact that bailouts are stupid policy; might as well light fire to the money. But I hold out no hope that little detail would ever stop a politician from doing it when it otherwise would keep them in power.

  98. Comrade Nom Deplume, screwing around at work says:

    I was researching a question presented about whether employers could refuse to hire some of these blacklivesmatter protesters. My first reaction was no, that’s protected under the Civil Rights Act, but I did find this from EEOC policy manual:

    “unlawful activities, such as acts or threats of violence to life or property, are not protected.” Aggressive tactics at work, such as bullying co-workers to support your cause is also not protected. And if it is not protected for the job holder, it is not protected for the job seeker.

    So an employer could google someone, find out they participated in an illegal protest, and refuse to hire them. With so much social media video and reporting on protesters being verbally abusive, making veiled threats, or actually committing assault and/or battery, there is a rich vein to mine here.

    So when Desean doesn’t get that job and sues, and the refusing employer plays the video of Desean flipping off the camera and yelling “fcuk you white b1tches”, it’s safe to say a directed verdict is in the offing.

    disclaimer: This isn’t legal advice and I’m not your lawyer. You’d be a fool to rely on something you saw on a blog.

  99. leftwing says:

    Boom.

    Seems anything outside of a ‘convenient’ NYC commute is taking it on the chin.

    Watching one property, just had a 15% cut to ask. That’s over $80k (12%) less than ‘zestimate’ for whatever its worth.

    I like this one a lot. It is literally just 10 minutes too much further out.

  100. phoenix1 says:

    Off to get some work done. Left a quote from a tv show I thought was interesting. No reason, just liked it…

    “You see, if you were a betting man, you would understand that now trumps later, every time. The future’s a sucker’s bet. A maybe. A contingency. A what-if. The only thing that is real is the present.” Raymond Reddington.

  101. chicagofinance says:

    Honeymoon (clot Edition):

    LAMPUNG, Indonesia — Two Indonesian newlyweds have been arrested on accusations they plotted to kill a man who the woman said had raped her a week before her marriage, and police said Tuesday the couple ate the victim’s gen!tals after the man was killed.

    Lampung police spokeswoman Lt. Col. Sulistyaningsih said Rudi Effendi and his wife, Nuriah, were being held for further investigation after their arrests Sunday at their house in Tulang Bawang district in Sumatra’s Lampung province.

    Sulistyaningsih, who uses one name, said police found the victim’s body in a burned minivan Oct. 4. She said the monthlong investigation led to the conclusion that the couple had planned to kill the victim, who was a driver for a travel agency.

    The couple had married in September and the husband found on the wedding night that his wife was no longer a v!rgin. She then said she had been raped one week before the marriage.

    Police said Effendi, 30, asked his 20-year-old wife to arrange a meeting with the man she accused of raping her. Effendi stabbed the man to death and cut off his gen!tals before setting the car ablaze.

    Effendi said he fried the severed gen!tals and ate them to cure his heartache over the rape.

    Official charges have not been filed. Police said the couple could be charged with premeditated murder, which carries a maximum death penalty.

  102. Libturd in Union says:

    I bet severed gen1tals goes great with a placenta shake.

  103. Libturd in Union says:

    I bet severed gen1tals goes great with a placent@l shake.

  104. Ragnar says:

    phoenix1,
    That’s a good quote for starry-eyed equity analysts to remember.

  105. chicagofinance says:

    Medical Malpractice Prosecution (jj Edition):

    NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey woman who caused a man’s death by injecting silicone into his pen!s has been sentenced to five years in state prison.

    Kasia Rivera could also be deported to her native Jamaica under the sentence imposed Monday.

    The 38-year-old East Orange woman had pleaded guilty in September to reckless manslaughter, shortly before her trial was to start. She admitted delivering the silicone injection that killed Justin Street in 2011.

    Authorities say the 22-year-old East Orange man went to Rivera’s home so she could inject his pen!s with silicone, which he hoped would enlarge it. But the silicone she used wasn’t the kind used for medical procedures, and it caused an embolism which killed him.

    Rivera acknowledged that she wasn’t a trained doctor or licensed to administer the injection.

  106. ChiFi [101];

    Lets see: Bride goes to altar claiming to be a virgin; husband finds out otherwise on wedding night; bride ‘remembers’ that she was raped just one week earlier; husband and bride kill alleged rapist. I think its more likely that the murder victim was a virgin two weeks before he was killed than the bride was.

  107. D-FENS says:

    Germany terror alert: ‘Ambulance packed full of explosives’ found in front of ahead of international match against Holland

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/germany-terror-alert-ambulance-packed-6849876

  108. [36] Lib – Take it a step further and you’ll get instant results. Every participant in these terror events gets every woman and child that they are related to hunted down and killed. That either fixes the problem quickly or just fixes it. BTW, do they have to hunt down and kill the virgins they want in heaven first? Otherwise, how do they get there?

    The solution is to drop bombs on any country that chooses to allows those who take out innocent lives to reside there. It is their choice to eradicate the fundamentalists or to provide them safe haven. The Western world would be more than willing to help. But these governments choose not to do what they should for peace. Why? Perhaps because it’s inherent in their beliefs to allow what is occurring to continue.

  109. Libturd in Union says:

    “Every participant in these terror events gets every woman and child that they are related to hunted down and killed.”

    I thought of that too. Really, the solution is simple. Let Isis have Iraq and Syria. Send all of the refugees to Chelsea. They can be housed at Stamford Bridge since there’s nothing worth watching there. Then nuke both countries. By the time Chelsea returns from relegation, they can move out of Stamford Bridge back to the motherland. Problem solved.

  110. Comrade Nom Deplume, living well off the carrion of the left says:

    [100] libturd

    ROFLMAO!!!

  111. NJT says:

    Re: #25 – I STILL laugh about kicking the *itch out the front door! YES, I actually booted her in the ass! Heh, heh – no, my wife was not present.

    Some things are just too good to forget. Arrogant and ignorant are understatements describing Gloria (Yup, she’s still working as a ‘realtor’ twenty years after that ‘incident’).

    Ah, Real Estate is real! :).

    *I’m advertising an apartment for rent starting tomorrow….Eh, I’ll save the saga for another time. No doubt it’s going to be ‘interesting’.

    I love this Blog.

Comments are closed.