Zillow
Reviews and Complaints

So, I was checking out Zillow to sell my house. They offered an in-home evaluation and I was excited to hear back from them within 3 days. Three guys came over and they all agreed that my house was solid. One of them even said that he had a hard time finding things to take pictures of. They left saying that I would get a really close offer and would hear back within 3 days. But, 15 days later, I still hadn't heard anything from them. I called and emailed them numerous times but got no response. Finally, I received the actual offer and it was $18k less than what they had initially promised. That's a 12.5% difference! They said that I needed to paint inside and out and replace the carpet, but I knew that wasn't necessary. It was just a way for them to justify their low offer.

The realtor fees are traditionally 3% on each side, but nowadays it's 1.5% on the seller's side and 2-3% on the buyer's side. Even if there were some major issues with my house, they would only take off a few thousand dollars from the asking price. But, they wanted $23k for concessions to paint and carpet, on top of all the other ridiculous fees. I know that my house will sell quickly in this neighborhood and should close within 2 months. This is just highway robbery!

To make matters worse, Zillow adjusted our zestimate and lowered our value by $10k as soon as we told them no on their offer. It's disgusting how they operate. I wouldn't recommend using Zillow to sell your house. They make promises they can't keep and try to lowball you at every turn. Save yourself the headache and find a different company to work with.

Zillow is a website that both buyers and sellers should be cautious about. I recently put my house up for sale and was shocked to see that Zillow was comparing my home to a land-only parcel. The worst part is that they displayed a photo of a large brand-new home, including pricing, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and square feet of living space in their "comparable homes in your area." Zillow clearly does not curate their information in any way.

Zillow reports to viewers that this non-existent home has 5 bedrooms and 5 baths, with 3532 sq ft. If the user clicks on the link, Zillow repeats all this nonsense on a new page--only in the small text description below this will the reader finally discover that it is fact an empty lot. (It is a few blocks from my house.) Zillow takes the time to point out that my (3 bedroom) house has 2 fewer bedrooms than this phantom house when in fact is has 3 more; Zillow points out that my (2704 sq ft) house has 828 sq ft less than this phantom house when in fact is has 2704 sq ft more, and so on with the number of bathrooms.

Not surprisingly, Zillow's non-existent comparable house is over $200,000 less in price than my real house. Most Zillow viewers, never navigating to the small text on the linked page, will think my house is way overpriced. Zillow's un-curated, algorithm-driven website is a disservice to both buyers and sellers. This gross negligence is yet one more instance of the worthlessness of Zillow.

I am extremely disappointed with Zillow's lack of attention to detail. It is clear that they do not take the time to verify the information they display on their website. This can be detrimental to both buyers and sellers, as it can lead to misunderstandings and incorrect pricing. Zillow's algorithm-driven website is not a substitute for human oversight and curation.

In conclusion, I would caution anyone using Zillow to take their information with a grain of salt. It is important to do your own research and not rely solely on the information provided by Zillow. While the website can be a useful tool, it is not infallible and should not be relied upon as the sole source of information.

I contacted Zillow 2022 to sell my home at 8591 Dumond Fontana CA 92335 and to buy home with the money I made from the sale of my home in Fontana CA,

Zillow referred me out to another Real Estate company in Chino CA, E Homes, they were supposed to use Zillow escrow company with my transactions for selling and buying my home but t they refused. They used e homes escrow company and cheated me out of the money I made on my home!

E Homes lied to me about the sale of my home Percentage % they were charging me to sell and buy. The money I made on my home in Fontana, they took it and paid for buyer agent of my home in Fontana real estate commission without asking me. E homes used their own real escrow company, they refused to use Zillow escrow company!

I want the money back that they stole. I have tried to contact Zillow before, not able to get a hold of anyone, Sharon Williams [protected]

Each time that I choose a house I am interested in, contact an agent, they come back and say the house is pending and try's to pass me on some city dump or try's to get me to go for a house that cost more money than I wish to spend of my VA allowable amount! Why? Your home listings can not possibly be for sale one minute and not the very second that that I decide to be interested! For some reason I can not help but to think that I am being discriminated against for some unknown reason?

Brian Bogger, June 2022 - Brian sends people out to neighborhoods with a guarantee of home sales. I lost 11 grand with this company; my home went under contract and Brian allowed the buyer to walk away during the signing of paperwork closing process. He even said they would put a lien against my home if I didn't return earnest money. 3 weeks later the buyer bought a home in my same neighborhood. Brian tried to conceal this from me, he was working as a dual agent. I lost all the money on a new home deposit and apt rentals. Brian has never tried to help with my home sell again just calls with nonsense and scams, no effort from HPR just always wanting me to drop the price of my home, Brian even said the market was dying and I needed to drop price 20 grand quick. By then I had enough, then Brian said I had to pay him 1500 because he couldn't sell my home and if I didn't, he would keep my property online for 6 months and he didn't care if he ruins the value of my home. Do you really want this type of person helping with the sale of your home?... JAN 21, 2023, will be 6 months and this company did nothing but cost me money, threaten and harass me... Please do not deal with this scam. Brian Bogger is liar and a thief

Yesterday, 12/22/22. I contacted an agent by telephone. It was Jenna Searcey who represented City Real Estate, 133 West Main St., Munday, TX 76371. She was recommended on the Zillow site as a Premier Agent. When I called her, I gave her my name, the area in which the property was located along with the property's address and asked if she could help me.

She immediately replied to me in a haughty, rude voice with a nasty tone, "I don't have time for this!" My reply was more of amazement that she would reply like this and could not help someone looking for property. I said, "You can't help me?" When there was nothing but dead silence from her, I hung up.

I could not believe the rudeness I received. I'm looking to spend well over $200,000 on property and she can't help me? Then why did she answer the phone, I wonder? I am a serious buyer and have been pre-approved. She did not even take the time to find this out.

The point of this note is that I think you should know how your recommended agents act and about Jenna's lack of professionalism. I will also have to think twice about seeking out any of your recommended agents for help with properties I find on Zillow.

I am recommending to have Jenna Searcey cited, dunned or removed as a Premier Agent. I do not need to be treated in this manner nor do I believe anyone else should be treated this way either.

My Real Estate agent listed my house on Saturday, October 22, 2022. You pulled the listing from the MLS site and advertised it on your site. At first, you updated the Zestimate of the value of the house to reflect the true value, but then, two days later, you resorted to your old estimate, disregarding the fact that you have no idea what the house really looks like. You even admit that the gap between the realtor's figure and your Zestimate is large, and you must have missed something. The truth is - you missed a lot of something. For example - did it ever occur to you that the price per square foot of my house is significantly lower than its neighbors? Does it make sense? It does not. In fact, a Sq. Ft. in my house is worth much more than its neighbors' due to the special architecture, the 26 skylights, the 23 ft. high ceilings, the 96 windows, the new appliances, the floors, and much more. Just bother to take a look at the pictures. If you are unable to reflect the true value of the house with your Zestimate, then I am asking you to remove your Zestimate altogether from the listed page. I saw several houses on your site where the Zestimate was not there.

Thank you.

Dr. Avi Perry

[protected]

My husband and I found an apartment for rent on www.Zillow.com. We requested to see the apartment through the website and the rental agent at Maccabi Property Management, Inc. replied through www.Zillow.com. We set up an appointment and he introduced us to the homeowner and his wife on August 19, 2022. We decided to sign a lease and were told to give the rental agent money for the security, 1-month rent, and rental agent fee (1-month rent). We were told that the current tenants living in the apartment would move out by September 01, 2022. We waited to hear back from the building owner but when we did, he told us the current tenants living in the apartment did not leave and he was planning to start the eviction process against them. The building owner returned the security deposit and 1-month rent and the lease was null and void.

We went to speak to the rental agent at Maccabi Property Management, Inc. and asked for a refund because we never got the apartment. The rental agent said we did not deserve a refund because “We did our job”. We do not agree because we did not move into the apartment and the 1-year lease is now null and void. There was no service rendered. We found the apartment on www. Zillow.com, we met with the building owner, we completed the appropriate documents, and paid the required fee's that should have resulted in renting the promised apartment. We trusted the Maccabi Property Management, Inc team to uphold their part of the agreement but they did not.

It is not our fault we cannot move in. We don't agree. How is it possible Maccabee Property Management, Inc. keeps our money and we end up with nothing? We decided to move so my commute to work was safer. We are very upset and we don't understand how the Maccabi Property Management, Inc. owners can easily take money without any remorse. Unbelievable!

Greetings,

For years, I have fought 3rd party dwellers, companies like Zillow to remove my listing from their site. My porperty is NOT for sale. I want it entirely removed. The easeness and ability that companies like Zillow have provided my preparator should be illegal and if not, against company policy --when an owner comes forward and requests their information be removed, they remove it entirely at their request.

My house is on the market for a certain amount. they picked up the data and their "Zestimate" is significantly lower than the listing price. I have comps that put the listing price as very completive for the homes in the neighborhood. in fact this home has many upgrades and features that similar homes do not. I also has two similar estimates from Zillow competitors that put the home at the correct price.

I contacted them and they blew me off claiming their "algorithm" uses the data supplied by my agent on the listing. Well, right off the bat two things Zillow mentioned are incorrect.

i want them to do a realistic price or take my home off of their site;

Zillow lists the lot size of my home as 1 acre. My home lot size is 1.36 acres. I contacted Zillow online and attempted to edit the information. After many attempts, I was finally contacted by a Zillow customer care representative (Josh O) who told me that field is not editable by the home owner. I then asked that Zillow correct the information and have not received a response. Every other home located on SE 51st Place, Ocala, FL has the correct acreage shown for their homes, i.e. 1.35, acres, 1.97, 3.1, etc. which corresponds to the acreage listed for their homes on the Marion County, Florida Property Appraiser's website. My home also reflects a lot size of 1.35 acres on the Property Appraiser's website. My home Zestimate is dramatically less than it should be because the listing indicates the lot size is 1/3 acre less than it actually is.

I don't understand why Zillow won't fix this.

Would you please help me to check why my account cannot list the rental from last Friday? When I listed a property, one person called me to take off the photos. I asked who are you? She is not the seller, or she is not the listing agent. But anyway, I said I got it. I found my listing was taken off and I cannot list any rental on zillow. Why? you don't need to check with me? When I call your customer service in working period, it said it was closed? What service are you?

My home was off the market the past several years, so I decided to repost it several weeks ago (Mid June).

I went to my Zillow page and updated our home info and hit the "repost" button.

I was immediately told that Zillow would review my listing and get back with me in 24-72 hours. After waiting a week of no contact with them and not seeing my home listed, I contacted Zillow (Rep. Karen) and asked why. With no explanation as to why the no contact she informed me that some of my wording was not up to par with Zillow's policy with a link to my property. After looking at their link, I discovered that Karen had the WRONG address. I then told her this and also asked her what I needed to do to rectify the wording on my home and she never replied. I then filled out a new request and this time a Dairyin replied back. I then told him the whole situation and neither of them have ever gotten back to me after MANY requests by me. I even called their number and left a message and STILL no reply, either by email or phone call. As of 3 weeks later I have no answers...what is going on with them? My email and phone number work perfectly, so not contacting me is on THEM and it sure makes their customer service look LOUSY!

The owner/landlord is attempting to taut and switch terms of rental from 12 month lease to 6 month rental. I requested from Zillow a copy of advertisement published on their website. They refused to provide.

Date of ad: January 2022

Date removed from website January 29, 2022

Owner/landlord Ric Scott

Property located on Havenhurst, Sacramento

Zillow Rentals cancelled my paid rental ad, 390 NW 5the St Cedaredge. I don't know the date because they failed to notify me. They did refund. when I protested cancelling a legitimate ad and demanded a refund, they refunded half the amount I paid and blocked my account for ALL my rentals.on 5-18-22

I recently bought I property in Orange County - CA and noticed there were pictures and info about it disclosed in several real estate websites. All sites attended my request to remove pictures AND last sold price from their sites but Zillow and Trulia. They argue their policy promotes "transparent real estate markets".

I sent them the grant deeds proving my ownership and asking them to REMOVE the last sold price from the 1rst page of property, because it provides insight about MY FINANCIAL transactions and the property is OFF-MARKET. I understand the sold price is available at estate records and can be accessed by everyone and be used by Zillow internally in their estimated and home history selling price. But it is very different from publicly heralding MY FINANCIAL transaction at internet WITHOUT my consent…

When trying to solve things directly with Zillow I was informed now big they are (“Zillow has more than 110 million U.S. homes on the site”) and their disrespect for PRIVACY rights in their struggle to publish content (“If you wish to pursue this matter further, please have your attorney submit an official request along with any relevant legal documentation to our legal department”).

Why Zillow right “to be transparent” unrestrictedly disclosing information about a property at the internet SURPASS my PRIVACY rights on a particular property?

Zestimate was provided to the general public and with over 1, 000 views of potential buyers and over 50 saves the property value was determined by Zillow $100, 000 less than it is current neighborhoods market. Please adjust the value accordingly. Zestimate gives a legal advise to the general public how much they should pay for the home and I in this case the property value is off by $100, 000.

Good morning. I've tried repeatedly to contact Zillow about my home at 772 Richmond Ave Buffalo NY. With all the updates, they still have last years 2020 assessed value, which is far below current prices for this area. They did respond one and told me they have no control over what gets posted. Last year we were planning on selling ( was informed can't use Zillow in helping us sell ) then covid hit, but now with things getting better we may try again. Hoping you can help, about to file more complaints. Thank you in advance. Mark Baker

1. I listed my house, For Sale by Owner 10-29-2021
2. A person called, said they were interested in buying the house.
3. When I checked my phone i.d. app, it was Zillow.
4. I went to Zillow's site 10-30-21
5. Zillow had posted, OLD photos of my house.
6. None of the current photos I had uploaded were on the listing.
7. Only Zillows old photos.
8. Tried to pull my listing down, No Longer for Sale by Owner.
9. Zillows app continued to crash so that this last step could not be completed.
10. Zillow is low balling house prices. My home is a 10 minute walk to the water in Washington state. Clearly, Zillow is one of the largest scams in U.S.A.
11. Some authority should be investigating Zillow, please.

More manipulation of internet content and how it is accessed/presented to us…now from
Zillow/Trulia —

Zillow has separated FSBO listings (now known as "Other Listings") from MLS listings (now known as "Agent Listings") AND the "Agent Listings" are given priority…shown first, under an exclusive tab. Listings are also shown on two separate maps! SEPARATE MAPS?

This change is misleading — in this newer format, the different tabs are not very noticeable; the "Other Listings" tab (for FSBOs) is very faded because it's in the background, and the MLS "Agent Listings" are automatically displayed first (and may be the only listings displayed if a user does not see the "Other Listings" tab and aren't aware of this change).

Before this change, MLS and FSBO listings were combined. I have been informed (and have a relative who has been a team leader at Zillow HQ for a number of years) that this strategy has been part of Zillow's business plan all along — the strategy being:

1) To first get Buyers and Sellers ‘hooked' on using Zillow by providing a free and easy way to research markets and obtain a huge variety of info and photos/maps of all kinds of properties…all at their fingertips and unfiltered (for use in conjunction with their Realtor or independently);

2) Then as planned, once almost anyone buying or selling property is using Zillow in some way (Zillow listings are even prioritized in web searches, so people are on Zillow with one click via a web browser), Zillow separates and prioritizes "Agent Listings"(MLS)…guess why…because Zillow has launched an additional product and brought "Agents" on board with them (as an additional service offering (?), at an additional cost). Interesting coincidence…?

I have absolutely nothing against Realtors, and I respect these and all hard-working, honest professionals…there is a place and enough business for anyone who delivers great customer support. FSBO is a viable option for some Buyers/Sellers, while a relationship with a professional Realtor may be a fit for others. As a FSBO Seller, I compensate Buyer-side Realtors and have worked well with them, always, and Buyer's Realtors do not mind in the least. I have used Zillow since 2004 to market and sell our various homes and lots (over this time, 6 of our 22 transactions included Buyer's Realtors, and we used Zillow to market all) and for finding properties to buy (with and without Realtors). As a FSBO, I do all the work, showings, questions, contacts, and contracts through certified Escrow Agents and Title companies — all Buyers and Realtors have been extremely confident in our relationship and the results.

Back when Zillow started, Realtors were up-in-arms — and now, FSBO Sellers are not provided equal opportunity/access to Buyers and Realtors…and vice versa. Actually, Zillow even has their "Call Agent" and "Message Agent" buttons below the FSBO listing heading and their "Contact Agent" information within the FSBO listing AND THERE IS NO AGENT, EXCEPT ZILLOW's OWN AGENT FORCE/RELATIONSHIP. The position of these buttons and tabs — along with the lack of a clear description that these are options, not required — leads users to believe that that's the way to make contact with a Seller. Zillow has their own tribe of "Agents"…great!

Now that we've all figured out how to use Zillow well, and all types of Buyers and Sellers and Realtors are getting along with each other and their "service, " Zillow implements Part 2 of their strategy and hidden agenda — and we users even trained ourselves only to find that we're now generating leads and listings for Zillow's "Agents." I have to say, if FSBO Sellers wanted a listing agent, we would engage our local licensed Realtors (who are possibly our own friends/business partners), NOT use some random connection to a Zillow "Agent." If I were a Realtor, I would be extremely worried — Zillow now has Agents…?

This is unethical on every level — a violation of Truth in Advertising and Real Estate Best Practices/Codes of Conduct — and we all took the bait (really, we were led on). This is just another case of a huge internet-based corporation that was made successful by "the people" now manipulating data and how information is presented to us, all for the almighty dollar! So much for professionalism and conducting business in good faith!