I entered an inquiry about listing errors in my listing. Messages Zillow and immediately received a text from "Alex from Zillow" She said "got your note and asked if I'd be free to talk in 10 min." After several texts back and forth, she said she's a buyer's agent and can't help me. I know how Zillow works, if you inquire about a property, sometimes Premier Zillow buyer agent will receive lead. But she is somehow getting these leads and sending info. She stopped responding when I told her I was list agent and I responded saying that she said she worked for Zillow.
Alex Grace (all variations of first name) is not in the national association of realtor's database of agents, nor an agent on Zillow's site. When I called the number, it's a landline service that just states the name and that they will get back to me, with woman's voice saying "Alex Grace". When I called from my Google Voice number, the message referred to Zillow Group and that they can't assist me because I'm not calling from the phone number I inquired with.
No legitimate realtor would have their phone line setup that way. It's designed to avoid getting caught. I have screen record of this call. And screenshots from the text.
Christopher Lopez (with Nigerian accent) claims to be the home owner of 3738 Mound Avenue, Ventura, CA. He tells people he is no longer interested in selling the home and ask that they not contact the real estate agent. Deposit is $1000. He then claims to have his attorney send over fake receipt with his name Christopher Loper Properties on it - there is no such record of a business.
Zillow is not showing all the information or accurate information. The listing information is outdated or not valid. The entire overall description sometimes lacks videos and or relevant information to the consumer.
Zestimate is completely irrelevant as it has no bearing on price. they are numbers that make no sense and no one has personally done any sort of pricing in the area of similar houses to come up with the Zestimate. Corrupt and misleading information!!
We sought to sell our house approximately 1 year ago. Our town is growing at a rapid pace, and property inside the city limits is highly desired. We offered our home at 215,000. The real estate agent seemed to think we should be able to sell somewhere around that price. After we had no offers, we decided to do some updating.
We installed new flooring and carpet in some areas of our house. We realize our home is an older one, but many older homes were selling for 200 to 300 thousand. We then decided to try selling again on our own. I was flabbergasted when I looked at Zillow and saw that our home value had dropped by 80,000 in one month!
We put our house on "for sale by owner" and updated information that was years out of date. 2100 sq ft house on one level, 550 sq ft garage/shop, 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, masses of built in storage, metal roof, heat pump, built by the original owner for himself and family, .23 acre lot, fenced yard, walking distance to schools, many other amenities.
Zillow gave an estimate (Zestimate) of $374,000 after we updated the info, but a week later dropped the zestimate to $306,000 - for no reason we could see. We tried repeatedly to get the estimate changed - was told it's done by algorithm and can't be changed. We tried to get them to remove the zestimate altogether, was told they can't do that. Since the estimate drop, no one has "saved" the listing and fewer and fewer people are looking at the listing. This is costing us many possible customers, but we have no way to change what Zillow has done.
Right after the "Zestimate" was dropped 68,000, a pop up appeared suggesting we could save trouble and sell the house to Zillow! This seems like a scam and we are apparently helpless.
Why don't we just remove the listing? Because Zillow won't let us. We have to choose between saying it's no longer on the market (which isn't true) or it's sold (which also isn't true.) I don't know how Zillow is allowed to get away with this - we have filed a complaint with out state Attorney General and plan to file one with the FCC as well.
This man is a scam. I just moved out of this home. I moved in 9/19/2018. He charged me a late fee for the prorated month I moved in. He advised $500.00 for lawn care that I was not aware of and we did nott speak about. The leae amount was $100 more than what he told me the rent was. After I moved in he called me about 2 weeks later threatening me with eviction. He wont write you no receipts.
This home is infested with roaches and chick monks come through the chimney. He is very rude and unprofessional. He put a immediately vacate typed letter in my mailbox for no reason. He tried to get me to move out and pay a whole years rent. He filed eviction and did not show up in court.
I moved out 11/17/2018 and he already listed this property for rent while I was living in the unit. He kept all my security deposit and will not answer or text me back. Please don't waste your time or money. He also did this to others. Please do your research on this man before making a decision. This man is a scam to keep your deposit money. Stay away!
I find it very interesting that Zillow’s response to my dispute was to send a copy of our contractual agreement. I do not dispute that a contract was entered into; however, I do dispute that although I made payments in good faith, I never received the level of services that a reasonably prudent person would expect for $1000 per month. For the record, although I have a lifetime of experience as a real estate agent, (a Realtor since 1979) I have not realized a single, solitary dollar from my “investment” in Zillow’s Concierge Service. Furthermore, I stipulate that the facts, as stated in this response to their response, fully explains my argument regarding the basis for any contract which, in this particular case, is a promise of payment for a promise of a service to be provided. Moreover, when one party fully complies, and the other party fails to live up to its side of the agreement, by either misrepresentation of terms or fraud, then that constitutes breach of contract. I lived up to my side of the contract, but Zillow failed to do the same and therefore, breached the contract. At no time did Zillow agents acknowledge this breach or that they owed me anything as a result of their failure to provide actual leads that could be verified and contacted as potential buyers “ready, willing and able,” i. e., “qualified buyers” of real property as I had understood the contract for $1000/mo. had stipulated. After all, why should they because as they maintain and counted on – they had a contract, they had my money, and they had a credit card company willing to decide in their favor, regardless of whether they, in fact, lived up to the contract terms or not.
Background Facts
I had so much success with my Google ad words campaign to attract showers that I attempted to branch out to find qualified buyers, so I tried Zillow Premier Agent Concierge Service. My budget for Google ad words (another vendor that I pay with my Capital One card) runs approximately $500 a month in I’ve gotten over 150 verified sellers respond since June, 2017. So, I’m quite familiar with Internet advertising and what I expect for my marketing dollar.
When I originally contacted Zillow in August 2017, I had originally intended to start out with $500 on a smaller monthly budget plan (the same as my Google account, but after speaking with Trent Kwon, one of their top sales consultants, he persuaded me to upgrade to the premier agent concierge service for $1000 per month with the six-month contract. That was significantly more expensive then my Google ad words campaign, but I expected to be able to match these new-found sellers on the Zillow campaign with my Google ad words source for buyers.
But I recognized early on that most of the so-called seller leads were obviously just people poking around on the Internet “window shopping” for houses they wanted to see with no regard for being prequalified by a mortgage lender. Moreover, even after explaining to the more legitimate Zillow leads that I would be willing to be a buyer’s agent at no cost to them-- they balked at signing any agreement even though I explained that Alabama law required me to disclose the different agencies involved in the buying and selling of real estate.
Then, I requested that concierge telephone operators qualify these “buyers” by explaining to them the significance of being pre-qualified and getting those who wanted to “see” a property, agree to allow an agent to become their buyer’s agent before they let them speak to me. This would save me considerable time to operate the other parts of my business. Their response was to give me a 10-page instruction sheet on how to spend hours trying to contact the people they called leads. In fact, when I pointed out, that Concierge had acknowledge difficulty connecting with several leads. Furthermore, a recent blog that I had been asked by Zillow representatives to become a part of to share thoughts on how to improve their process. However, I noticed many complaints from other real estate professionals, about the same problems that I had encountered with respect to so-called leads who were merely “window shopping” with no real intention of purchasing a home or even having the financial means to do so – this was unfair to the latter since it lead to false hope. After two other failed attempts to leave the program (September) because I was persuaded to stay and try different approaches as they recommended to improve my ability to contact leads. Finally, in early November (13th) I had had enough and terminated my contract. I agreed to an $2,000 penalty if I terminated before the end the contract period; however, this present dispute goes directly to the heart the matter - - i.e., the Zillow Concierge Service failed to provide any more than mere impressions of individuals who clicked on a piece of property.
The main reason I purchase anything through credit card is for convenience and the ability to dispute a charge based on poor quality of a product and/or service and the inability to meet a standard level of expectation from that product or service. Last December 19, 2017, I was asked to participate in a survey by Zillow Group and I complied. Furthermore, I asked that the results be sent to me and they agreed. After completing the survey, I never received a copy of the results nor the $50 Amazon e-gift card as Zillow promised. That is because I’m sure the survey showed many of the same problems that I have outlined in the letter. Perhaps, Zillow would be willing to share with youthe results of the survey if you asked them for documentation to support this claim.
In November, I sent the “team” a list of email that had failed to produce a solitary lead See Attachment A. The November Concierge Premier Agent Scorecard was more of an indictment of them than myself because concierge had failed to contact many of the so-called leads as they noted before sending to me. Go figure that! In one case (See Attachment B, Mr. Templin Rolin had told concierge he was interested in renting a home, but instead, I was misinformed that he wanted to buy a home. This happened a great deal because Trulia (Zillow’s sister company focuses more on rental property and I got too much cross-over from them). Moreover, other realtors have agreed with me that Zillow’s program does not provide the level of service, i.e., “offer qualified leads of persons ready, willing and able to enter into contract to purchase real estate” that a cost of $1,000 per month would warrant. That is why I have made specific reference to a few things that the concierge service should have been able provide, without undue hardship to their processes, in order to assist us, as Realtors to obtain what we thought we had paid for according to the terms of the contract.
However, early on (September 5,2017) though I had already demanded that my money be refunded, Zillow managed to string me along. They continued to ignore my repeated request and told me to follow up with a 30-Day program to improve my access to qualified leads. Even though I pointed out, that on many occasions the concierge service itself was unable to contact the so-called leads or when Elise Alexander responded to me by email stating (“I see you have some leads, have you been able to get a hold of them?” See Attachment C)which is clear evidence that their so-called leads were merely impressions, and nothing more otherwise why would Elise distinguish between a verified lead and asking if I had successfully reached them?
To me this demonstrated, that what they called leads were nothing more thanimpressions. Their competitors, at Realtor.com explained the difference between their program and Zillow’s. Realtor.com actually provides a qualified lead, that is a real person that has been prequalified and ready to speak to a mortgage broker to determine how much home they can afford. Whereas Zillow maintains that when someone on their website uses their cursor over the picture of the property in question, the information conveyed to concierge regarding that person’s interest, constitutes a lead, when in fact, the industry denotes that action as merely animpressionwith much more left to be determined, in terms of gathering answers regarding the person’s ability to purchase a home i.e., “being qualified,” and thus, constituting a bona fide lead.
For example, many so-called leads that were sent to me had already promised themselves to other realtors or expressed displeasure at my attempts to ask them questions in order to qualify them; i.e., to ascertain their ability to pay a specific mortgage amount for the homes they were “interested in” and wanted to see. That is why I maintained that concierge, being first in line directly with the “so-called lead” would have been in a much more preferable position to gather this information as part of the initial, intake process rather than putting it at the backend for me to do it. For the most part, Zillow’s concierge service was a waste of everyone’s time, when if properly utilized, it could have been the lynch pin to this service being what I thought it was supposed to be.
For the record, I want to clarify that this dispute is all about dissatisfaction with the level of service provided by Zillow and it has nothing to do with the former contract dispute that was resolved in their favor as a result of the reading of the contract that stated I must pay a $2000 dollars penalty if I left the program early (see Attachment D)
I have been advertising with Zillow/Trulia for years. At first it was great! Then I needed help, as the calls I was getting all needed sorted. Some already had an agent, some needed to qualify for a loan, I even received calls from furious home owners that claimed someone put their house up for sale, or they blessed me out over the Zestimate! I expressed this issue to Zillow, and was told that I could have a team of " concierges” Eliminate all my issues, but I had to spend $1,000 a month. Thinking this would greatly increase my productivity, I signed up!!! During Late Jan; early feb. And for a total of 10 days, I received more that 45 calls. The so call "concierge” did nothing except schedule return phone calls at inconvenient times, which I was out of cell service or with other clients. During March 2017 I received less than 15 leads the entire month! April and May were the same! I was under contract until tthe end of May. When Zillow called to get me to pay for future marketing, I only wanted to pay for a zip code in which I would be in the top 3 agents. In the past there were 3 agents which appeared every time the zip code was selected. The "new” sales person kept telling me that it did not matter what number I was. So clearly Zillow promised me one thing, then changed the business model in March 2017. So I still paid Zillow the 1k a month, but was never notified of any change in what I was led to believe I paid for! I sold approximately 1 million dollars in sales during 2016, and never paid more than $375 a month During Late December 2016-the end of May 2017, I paid 1k a month and sold less than $200,000 from leads received from Zillow, yet paid $6k in advertising! Now I hear that other agents are getting all kinds of leads! Zillow needs to be brought to justice! They are major scammers!
For those who’ve had no problems with ZILLOW (yet) I have news. I was a premier agent for a good while, under contract, got enough leads that I had to sometimes switch my phone off! Needless, the leads NEVER panned out. I get a call that now the minimum payment needs to be at $500 and I won’t get any exposure at the amount I was at.
I agreed to the prorated amount to get to the $500. The $96 never came out of my account, the leads stopped COMPLETELY. My exposure was zero. I thought my account was closed for not meeting the "Minimum requirement”.
When I emailed, I got a one liner answer "we’re waiting till it's your billing cycle to make the change” In the meantime, no exposure, no leads. Not one call that I used to switch my phone off to I STILL got charged my usual come billing cycle. EVERY MONTH THEN ONWARDS! When I called I was told my manager was on vacation for 2 months!?!?!? Guess what? Still fighting that battle. It’s been almost 3 months now. Think twice!
In April 2017 I contacted Zillow Premier Agent after receiving calls and emails that leads were tremendous for dollars invested. I had initially budgeted $300 per month but the account rep told me that to have 20%+ share of the zip code market with a minimum of 10 monthly leads and an ROI (return on investment) of 4%, I would need to invest at least $640. The agent said that the additional $64 bonus money he was giving me would get me to this point. The agent shared screen shots with me showing me lead activity and ROI activity. He told me I need only convert one lead to pay for it all and was confident that with a 4% ROI that would not be an issue.
Here is it now September 2017, 5 months later. I'm lucky to see 3 "leads" per month. I have zero ROI. Sometimes I go into the Zillow advertising account to see activity and they will claim I've had phone leads. Hmm... my phone never rung with this lead they speak of.
On the rare occasions I've actually received an online form inquiry, I call the consumer immediately, text and email. No response from the efforts. I find this incredibly odd since supposedly the consumer has requested info. I've even started wondering if Zillow employees submit fake leads to manipulate things. I have no proof of this but on other advertising sites I've used the consumers typically give some sort of response. When I spoke with my account manager they try to train me on contacting for-sale-by-owner listings. I was like, "Um, I'm not paying you $640 a month for training. I'm paying you for leads. Send them."
In short, I've taken $3,840 hard earned dollars (and food for my family) and literally stuffed it in an envelope sent to Zillow with absolutely nothing in return but a premier agent badge on my name in their website. Zillow is savvy about how they lock you into the contract and if you attempt to cancel your payment they will come after you and charge you even more. Dirty business practice. Lesson learnedd that if a company must lock you into a contract and hold you hostage, they have issues delivering on their promises.
If you are reading this and considering Zillow, please reconsider. Take your hard earned money and invest in door hangers, post cards or a really fancy food truck open house to intice potential clients.
I signed up for the monthly billing for their basic website for Realtors and it is not working due to some technical difficulties they are having. I asked the Billing Department to change my billing date to the date that this issue is finally resolved as I do not have access to a site that I paid for and I was told they could not do that as it is on automatic billing. They charged my credit card right away, but can not change my start date to the date that this is fixed. When I asked to speak to management I was told management does not take calls and they were unable to help me. This is one of the reasons why I don't work with Zillow as they love to take your money as an agent, but it is very difficult to get it back when they are in the wrong. We as agents should not allow Zillow to take over our internet marketing the way that they have until they learn how to treat the hand that feeds them.
I signed up as a Premier agent, $500 monthly. I called 23 days later to cancel my service as all the leads I was generating was not a regular buyers but all the leads were for foreclosures. The rep Sean Sweeney proceeded to tell me my profile was not inviting enough. I was told I can call and change my package anytime. When I said I wanted to cancel he was belligerent and told me I have a contract and deal with it. I paid all this money to better my business and this is a total rip off.
As a new real estate agent trying to establish my business I was creating a profile on Zillow, when less than a minute later a salesperson from Zillow called me to talk about their handy dandy Premier Agent Services. He caught me at a vulnerable time and got me all excited about my prospects were I to become a Premier Agent. I signed up stupidly without reading the ripoff rport first. I blanked out. Anyway, I was happy about the prospect, and the salesperson was so friendly and warm. He told me that there was this one zip code that I could purchase for the reduced price -they were running a special sale- of $500 per month and I'd be foolish to not jump at the opportunity, so I said OK. He said I was guaranteed a number of impressions every month, that I would be number two in that town, etc, etc. I would be one of 3 or 4 agents whose mug popped up when people looked at a listing. I signed up.
One thing he "forgot" to mention was that Zillow also sold a service to Premier Agents to block other agents from appearing, and I came to find out that my real estate company had worked out a deal with Zillow to include this handy dandy blocking feature as a perk for agents in our company. The main realtor in this zip code that I purchased is also from my company, effectively blocking me from appearing in more than half of the town listings. I got a couple of calls from people who were not serious, and thougth I was the listing agent. It was a total waste of money.
Three weeks later I had an emergency that precluded me from working in the next few months, and depleted my savings. I contacted Zillow and, oh surprise, they were not so friendly anymore. They were brief and would not return emails. It cost me a good deal more to get out of this service.
Please do yourself a favor and DO NOT ADVERTISE ON ZILLOW! Ask an experienced agent in your office for advice.
Zillows premier agent service is a complete scam. They deceptively con you into an six month impression contract with a minimum purchase amount. They do not properly explain that you will be under a contract. In fact I was under the impression of the exact opposite. It was explained to me that it is not contract and I could end the service at any time but would still have a continuation for 2 months as a fee. WRONG. When I called to cancel I was met with inconsiderate and rude comments like "you have selective hearing". Do not sign up with for this service, the sign up process is deceptive and misleading. The only way to cancel is to change your banking information.
I completed a survey following a Zillow search and was promised a $10.00 Amazon gift card if I requested it in an email. Tried to email the OnlineReportAccess.com site but was not allowed to send request.
We live in Peoria AZ 85381 and are trying to sell our home.
I wrote Zillow to ask how they estimated our home is be lower than our neighbors' home next door that sold for $318K in October 2014, when we have more upgrades (Cherry cabinets, a larger kitchen, hardwood flooring & a larger floor plan). His lame excuse was they have no control over how the zestimates is determined. If that is the case, why are they even giving “Zestimates” on their websites.
They are comparing our home with other properties that is not in our division/ community and much older built 20-30yrs older) and therefore our home is devalued.
Even though our Realtor says that any realtor who is experience in the industry will not refer to Zillow as their information is not accurate, one called me yesterday morning stating they found our property for sale on Zillow. Also, Consumers and banks do review and compare pricing with their Zestimates when considering making an offer or giving out loans. So don’t tell me Zillow has no control over the matter.
A class action should be formed against Zillow as they are reporting incorrect information such as property tax, HOA fee, estimating values of home where they have no business doing so. This hurts homeowners financially when trying to sell.
Another house down the street (5mins walk from us) in our community with same floor plan and sq. foot sold at $345K July 10th, 2015 , therefore we priced our house for sale at $345K (apart from Trulia’s estimate too) but Zillow says they estimate our home value to be $318K. (same as our neighbors' home next door that sold 2 yrs ago -Oct 2014 with no upgrades) Seriously?
We can't sell our house because of their “Zestimate”. Zillow obviously is ignorant to the fact that we’re not in a recession and AZ housing has improved a lot in the past 3 years. Why are they devaluing our home and getting away with it and not getting their facts straight.
1. JAN 5TH 2016, Zestimate® was : $329,677 ( I saved the email)
2. March 8th 2016 Zestimate is $318,077
3. We think it should be $345K ( $125/ sf) . Other homes in the valley have been selling in that price per square foot. Some are even selling at $136/ sf)
We have not had a sale in our neighborhood for past 8 months, therefore Zillow is doing comparables with properties outside our vicinity which is a much older neighborhood built in 80’s and 90’s. Our home was built in 2004.
Zillow needs remove "ZESTIMATES from their websites" and to be held accountable for their inaccurate calculation and leave estimates of Real Estate values to the experts based on appraisals and comps. We shouldn't be losing so much value because Zillow is playing the role of an appraiser when they are not licensed to be one; not doing their homework and their Software algorithm is producing incorrect info.
Feb 17, 2015 –Zillow bought out Trulia and now we’re really screwed because Trulia’s previous estimate on our property was $345K. Trulia’s website is no longer up to show proof.
I wish a class action is put in motion to make Zillow accountable for their actions. Everyone who is reading this, please join forces and take action. Let’s speak up in one voice! Thanks!
The Sales Representative, Dominic Medina at Zillow, told me a service I signed up for called gold would get my listing "featured" and shown on the top by subscribing and paying for the Zillow service.
The property never showed up at or near the top. I called and tried to get in touch with Mr. Medina at Zillow. He didn't respond well at all, taking days to get back to me. Email from the Zillow's technical support indicated that this package I subscribed to was never designed to put the listing on the top. It was mis-advertised and I should not be charged at all. I need full refund for everything I paid ($350) to Zillow.
I finally heard from Mr. Medina at Zillow, but the issue was not resolved to my satisfaction. I spoke to his manager, Chris Smith at Zillow. He said that "Zillow is no refund company" so even that they did not deliver what I asked for and cancelling the service in mantter of a couple of days. My money $350 will be not refunded.
Do not waste money, and remember they will be no refund since Zillow is no refund company.
Zillow called me to sell me advertising on their real estate website stating that a positon in the zipcode I was interested in had opened up, insinuating that there was not a lot of agents allowed in each zipcode. I told him I wasn't interested as I wasn't selling real estate anymore but my wife was. He asked for her number and I gave it to him. He called her and she explained that she hadn't had any sales and was just starting out. She also informed him she couldn't afford it. She also pointed out that she didn't even have a website set up.
The Zillow sales rep convinced her she would get so many leads that she would make enough money to pay for the ads.
She signed up for just under $800 a month and a six month contract. Then he informed her she had to go into the site they set up for her and get clients to provide feedback and to fill out all kinds of other information. This after she had told him she was just getting started and hadn't sold any houses that year. She then found out that anytime she showed up on a Zillow pager she would be one of three agents on the page and you only showed up occasionly. When she checked the zillow pages there were well over 50 agents for the one zipcode! Many from huge agencies that she was now supposed to compete with. Many of the agencies had all these sales and gold stars by their names and she was supposed to hope someone clicked on her picture and submitted their info for her to call them
When she tried to cancel with zillow she was told that she would have to pay for two months to get out of the contract and that was all she had left anyway. He also informed her that the first couple of months not to expect any activity, so apparently you pay $800 a month for nothing.
Zillow announced in the news shortly after her contract expired that they were going to be focusing more on the superagents who spend $5000 a month with them.
My wife was out almost $5000 and in the total six months she was with Zillow got 10 leads and only four that she was actually able to speak with. So a half a lead a month and none of them wanted to buy only get more info on the house listed on Zillow.
When Zillow merged Trulia in September of 2015, they did not notify any of the Trulia clients (real estate agents under contract) that they were changing from a market share business model using zip codes to an impression based model similiar to Zillow. Furthermire, they diluted the advertising presense by combining both Zillow and Trulia impressions, but do not let the client know how often you show up on a particular website.
In my opinion, each and every Trulia contract has been subject to contractional changes without approval and is subject to a "class action lawsuit".
The Trulia/Zillow premier agent lead generation service over promises but miserably fails to deliver. I strongly advise anyone considering this 'service' to allocate their hard earned funds into another marketing strategy. When I spoke with a marketing/sales rep I was very specific in what I was needing or requiring from their service and depsite my specificity of requirements they yes, yes, yes'd me and did not meet their lead generation obligations.
I aksed for buyer leads above $500k, in two specific towns, I only wanted verfied or 'real buyers' and I did not want to be locked into a long term contract with them.
>Well, the $500k minium threshold was totally ignored by them, they had the audacity to send me leads under $100k and others in the $200k - $300k range. When I questioned them on this they had the nerve to tell me that we never guarantee a $ threshold, this totally contradicted what I was told by their first sales rep. Denial, denial, denial that is their M.O.
>These leads contrary to what they claim were not verfied in my experience in dealing with them. Upon receiving the lead I called the prospect 5 -10 times, emailed 5+ times and in one instance when I did finally get to speak with a so called prospective buyer, he told me he was not looking to buy anything and to not 'bother' him. I also found it curious that when I received several email reponses all included the phase "I can appreciate your persistence but", how in the world can several different people [whom I assume do not know each other] use this exact phrase. It was at this point that I realized the trulia/zillow lead generation service ripped me off.
>Finally, they did lock me into a 6 month contract at $110 per. When I called to voice me displeasure with the paucity of and poor quality of so called leads, they had the nerve to tell me the following. Well, we see that for the $ amount you are spending you are only receiving 10% of the 'internet impressions' but if you want to double the fee you are paying you will certainly increase your odds of having more highend leads. This is always the sales pitch with them, spend more money and then spend even more money. Well, I will never spend another dollar with zillow/trulia as long as I remain in the real estate field. Caveat emptor!
David Whetzel has his name listed as the contact person for leasing 250 Gardendale Ferndale, Mi.
The address is incorret for the picture of the house. He claims to be a missionary who has been transferred to Virgina and needs to lease his house. He will try to get a deposit to hold the house.
I talked to him and he could very well be out of the country.. Here is his ploy:
Hello,
How are you doing today? We are pleased that you have an interest in our house. My house is still available for rent, and all i want is someone who i can put my trust in and a God-fearing person. I rented my house to some families and i must say am really disappointed in them. They claim to be very neat and honest, and also they could not afford to pay the rent for 4 months, which is very bad. I am looking for a responsible & clean tenant that will be able to take good care of my house. We want responsible adults/family that are neat and also believe that they have what it takes to take care of our house as if it were theirs. My wife and I initially had it up with a Realtor agent but had a change of mind in leasing it out ourselves because the agent that was in charge of our rental property was asking too much for an agent fee and also increasing the rental price which made people stay away from renting and we needed someone to occupy the property asap. The reason why our house is up for rent to own is because I got transferred to Virginia on a Missionary Work by my church here. I will be away with my family for at least 2 to 3 years or more. I will start by telling you more about me and my family. I have a daughter named Amy, 21yrs who attends University of Minnesota as a medical student, she has a lot going for her and she is also down to earth in all that she does to keep us happy. I'm a Missionary man here in Virginia, and got married to a lovely wife who is a member of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Its a spacious and lovely home. Utilities are included except for the cable and internet that you will be handling yourself and Pets are allowed in the property. Kitchen completely equipped, Kettle - Toaster - Dishwasher - Freezer - Microwave - Oven - Dryer - Heat - Water-Washing Machine. Please make sure these questions are filled correctly because the best way you answer with your comment will impress me the more to accept your application. The home is available for long term or short term lease.
I am horrified to learn that though Zillow.com. my home has been approved for a bank approved short sale. I am in loss mitigation which stops foreclosure proceedings to hopefully work out arrangement to become currect on my mortagage. I lost two jobs I am single over fifty and applying for disability which can take awhile to get. I currently and my whole life since the age of 12 deal with serious PTSD issues. Reading all that Zillow put on their website without my knowledge or my lenders knowledge they seem to be trying to sell my home. In an already terrible shameful situation that has my stress level off the charts. I cry all day a person interested in my home came to me with five pages printed this past month. I don't know what to do I am scared I don't want to lose my home i am doing all I can to work with the bank and I am confused on how false information can be given out to anyone about my home. I'm embarrassed to even go outside during the day or when it light out I know my neighbors also know. I just want to cry as writing this. I hope the Lord will being the right lawyer to help me and others like me.
Zillow Reviews
I entered an inquiry about listing errors in my listing. Messages Zillow and immediately received a text from "Alex from Zillow" She said "got your note and asked if I'd be free to talk in 10 min." After several texts back and forth, she said she's a buyer's agent and can't help me. I know how Zillow works, if you inquire about a property, sometimes Premier Zillow buyer agent will receive lead. But she is somehow getting these leads and sending info. She stopped responding when I told her I was list agent and I responded saying that she said she worked for Zillow.
Alex Grace (all variations of first name) is not in the national association of realtor's database of agents, nor an agent on Zillow's site. When I called the number, it's a landline service that just states the name and that they will get back to me, with woman's voice saying "Alex Grace". When I called from my Google Voice number, the message referred to Zillow Group and that they can't assist me because I'm not calling from the phone number I inquired with.
No legitimate realtor would have their phone line setup that way. It's designed to avoid getting caught. I have screen record of this call. And screenshots from the text.
Christopher Lopez (with Nigerian accent) claims to be the home owner of 3738 Mound Avenue, Ventura, CA. He tells people he is no longer interested in selling the home and ask that they not contact the real estate agent. Deposit is $1000. He then claims to have his attorney send over fake receipt with his name Christopher Loper Properties on it - there is no such record of a business.
Zillow is not showing all the information or accurate information. The listing information is outdated or not valid. The entire overall description sometimes lacks videos and or relevant information to the consumer.
Zestimate is completely irrelevant as it has no bearing on price. they are numbers that make no sense and no one has personally done any sort of pricing in the area of similar houses to come up with the Zestimate. Corrupt and misleading information!!
We sought to sell our house approximately 1 year ago. Our town is growing at a rapid pace, and property inside the city limits is highly desired. We offered our home at 215,000. The real estate agent seemed to think we should be able to sell somewhere around that price. After we had no offers, we decided to do some updating.
We installed new flooring and carpet in some areas of our house. We realize our home is an older one, but many older homes were selling for 200 to 300 thousand. We then decided to try selling again on our own. I was flabbergasted when I looked at Zillow and saw that our home value had dropped by 80,000 in one month!
We put our house on "for sale by owner" and updated information that was years out of date. 2100 sq ft house on one level, 550 sq ft garage/shop, 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, masses of built in storage, metal roof, heat pump, built by the original owner for himself and family, .23 acre lot, fenced yard, walking distance to schools, many other amenities.
Zillow gave an estimate (Zestimate) of $374,000 after we updated the info, but a week later dropped the zestimate to $306,000 - for no reason we could see. We tried repeatedly to get the estimate changed - was told it's done by algorithm and can't be changed. We tried to get them to remove the zestimate altogether, was told they can't do that. Since the estimate drop, no one has "saved" the listing and fewer and fewer people are looking at the listing. This is costing us many possible customers, but we have no way to change what Zillow has done.
Right after the "Zestimate" was dropped 68,000, a pop up appeared suggesting we could save trouble and sell the house to Zillow! This seems like a scam and we are apparently helpless.
Why don't we just remove the listing? Because Zillow won't let us. We have to choose between saying it's no longer on the market (which isn't true) or it's sold (which also isn't true.) I don't know how Zillow is allowed to get away with this - we have filed a complaint with out state Attorney General and plan to file one with the FCC as well.
This man is a scam. I just moved out of this home. I moved in 9/19/2018. He charged me a late fee for the prorated month I moved in. He advised $500.00 for lawn care that I was not aware of and we did nott speak about. The leae amount was $100 more than what he told me the rent was. After I moved in he called me about 2 weeks later threatening me with eviction. He wont write you no receipts.
This home is infested with roaches and chick monks come through the chimney. He is very rude and unprofessional. He put a immediately vacate typed letter in my mailbox for no reason. He tried to get me to move out and pay a whole years rent. He filed eviction and did not show up in court.
I moved out 11/17/2018 and he already listed this property for rent while I was living in the unit. He kept all my security deposit and will not answer or text me back. Please don't waste your time or money. He also did this to others. Please do your research on this man before making a decision. This man is a scam to keep your deposit money. Stay away!
I find it very interesting that Zillow’s response to my dispute was to send a copy of our contractual agreement. I do not dispute that a contract was entered into; however, I do dispute that although I made payments in good faith, I never received the level of services that a reasonably prudent person would expect for $1000 per month. For the record, although I have a lifetime of experience as a real estate agent, (a Realtor since 1979) I have not realized a single, solitary dollar from my “investment” in Zillow’s Concierge Service. Furthermore, I stipulate that the facts, as stated in this response to their response, fully explains my argument regarding the basis for any contract which, in this particular case, is a promise of payment for a promise of a service to be provided. Moreover, when one party fully complies, and the other party fails to live up to its side of the agreement, by either misrepresentation of terms or fraud, then that constitutes breach of contract. I lived up to my side of the contract, but Zillow failed to do the same and therefore, breached the contract. At no time did Zillow agents acknowledge this breach or that they owed me anything as a result of their failure to provide actual leads that could be verified and contacted as potential buyers “ready, willing and able,” i. e., “qualified buyers” of real property as I had understood the contract for $1000/mo. had stipulated. After all, why should they because as they maintain and counted on – they had a contract, they had my money, and they had a credit card company willing to decide in their favor, regardless of whether they, in fact, lived up to the contract terms or not.
Background Facts
I had so much success with my Google ad words campaign to attract showers that I attempted to branch out to find qualified buyers, so I tried Zillow Premier Agent Concierge Service. My budget for Google ad words (another vendor that I pay with my Capital One card) runs approximately $500 a month in I’ve gotten over 150 verified sellers respond since June, 2017. So, I’m quite familiar with Internet advertising and what I expect for my marketing dollar.
When I originally contacted Zillow in August 2017, I had originally intended to start out with $500 on a smaller monthly budget plan (the same as my Google account, but after speaking with Trent Kwon, one of their top sales consultants, he persuaded me to upgrade to the premier agent concierge service for $1000 per month with the six-month contract. That was significantly more expensive then my Google ad words campaign, but I expected to be able to match these new-found sellers on the Zillow campaign with my Google ad words source for buyers.
But I recognized early on that most of the so-called seller leads were obviously just people poking around on the Internet “window shopping” for houses they wanted to see with no regard for being prequalified by a mortgage lender. Moreover, even after explaining to the more legitimate Zillow leads that I would be willing to be a buyer’s agent at no cost to them-- they balked at signing any agreement even though I explained that Alabama law required me to disclose the different agencies involved in the buying and selling of real estate.
Then, I requested that concierge telephone operators qualify these “buyers” by explaining to them the significance of being pre-qualified and getting those who wanted to “see” a property, agree to allow an agent to become their buyer’s agent before they let them speak to me. This would save me considerable time to operate the other parts of my business. Their response was to give me a 10-page instruction sheet on how to spend hours trying to contact the people they called leads. In fact, when I pointed out, that Concierge had acknowledge difficulty connecting with several leads. Furthermore, a recent blog that I had been asked by Zillow representatives to become a part of to share thoughts on how to improve their process. However, I noticed many complaints from other real estate professionals, about the same problems that I had encountered with respect to so-called leads who were merely “window shopping” with no real intention of purchasing a home or even having the financial means to do so – this was unfair to the latter since it lead to false hope. After two other failed attempts to leave the program (September) because I was persuaded to stay and try different approaches as they recommended to improve my ability to contact leads. Finally, in early November (13th) I had had enough and terminated my contract. I agreed to an $2,000 penalty if I terminated before the end the contract period; however, this present dispute goes directly to the heart the matter - - i.e., the Zillow Concierge Service failed to provide any more than mere impressions of individuals who clicked on a piece of property.
The main reason I purchase anything through credit card is for convenience and the ability to dispute a charge based on poor quality of a product and/or service and the inability to meet a standard level of expectation from that product or service. Last December 19, 2017, I was asked to participate in a survey by Zillow Group and I complied. Furthermore, I asked that the results be sent to me and they agreed. After completing the survey, I never received a copy of the results nor the $50 Amazon e-gift card as Zillow promised. That is because I’m sure the survey showed many of the same problems that I have outlined in the letter. Perhaps, Zillow would be willing to share with youthe results of the survey if you asked them for documentation to support this claim.
In November, I sent the “team” a list of email that had failed to produce a solitary lead See Attachment A. The November Concierge Premier Agent Scorecard was more of an indictment of them than myself because concierge had failed to contact many of the so-called leads as they noted before sending to me. Go figure that! In one case (See Attachment B, Mr. Templin Rolin had told concierge he was interested in renting a home, but instead, I was misinformed that he wanted to buy a home. This happened a great deal because Trulia (Zillow’s sister company focuses more on rental property and I got too much cross-over from them). Moreover, other realtors have agreed with me that Zillow’s program does not provide the level of service, i.e., “offer qualified leads of persons ready, willing and able to enter into contract to purchase real estate” that a cost of $1,000 per month would warrant. That is why I have made specific reference to a few things that the concierge service should have been able provide, without undue hardship to their processes, in order to assist us, as Realtors to obtain what we thought we had paid for according to the terms of the contract.
However, early on (September 5,2017) though I had already demanded that my money be refunded, Zillow managed to string me along. They continued to ignore my repeated request and told me to follow up with a 30-Day program to improve my access to qualified leads. Even though I pointed out, that on many occasions the concierge service itself was unable to contact the so-called leads or when Elise Alexander responded to me by email stating (“I see you have some leads, have you been able to get a hold of them?” See Attachment C)which is clear evidence that their so-called leads were merely impressions, and nothing more otherwise why would Elise distinguish between a verified lead and asking if I had successfully reached them?
To me this demonstrated, that what they called leads were nothing more thanimpressions. Their competitors, at Realtor.com explained the difference between their program and Zillow’s. Realtor.com actually provides a qualified lead, that is a real person that has been prequalified and ready to speak to a mortgage broker to determine how much home they can afford. Whereas Zillow maintains that when someone on their website uses their cursor over the picture of the property in question, the information conveyed to concierge regarding that person’s interest, constitutes a lead, when in fact, the industry denotes that action as merely animpressionwith much more left to be determined, in terms of gathering answers regarding the person’s ability to purchase a home i.e., “being qualified,” and thus, constituting a bona fide lead.
For example, many so-called leads that were sent to me had already promised themselves to other realtors or expressed displeasure at my attempts to ask them questions in order to qualify them; i.e., to ascertain their ability to pay a specific mortgage amount for the homes they were “interested in” and wanted to see. That is why I maintained that concierge, being first in line directly with the “so-called lead” would have been in a much more preferable position to gather this information as part of the initial, intake process rather than putting it at the backend for me to do it. For the most part, Zillow’s concierge service was a waste of everyone’s time, when if properly utilized, it could have been the lynch pin to this service being what I thought it was supposed to be.
For the record, I want to clarify that this dispute is all about dissatisfaction with the level of service provided by Zillow and it has nothing to do with the former contract dispute that was resolved in their favor as a result of the reading of the contract that stated I must pay a $2000 dollars penalty if I left the program early (see Attachment D)
I have been advertising with Zillow/Trulia for years. At first it was great! Then I needed help, as the calls I was getting all needed sorted. Some already had an agent, some needed to qualify for a loan, I even received calls from furious home owners that claimed someone put their house up for sale, or they blessed me out over the Zestimate! I expressed this issue to Zillow, and was told that I could have a team of " concierges” Eliminate all my issues, but I had to spend $1,000 a month. Thinking this would greatly increase my productivity, I signed up!!! During Late Jan; early feb. And for a total of 10 days, I received more that 45 calls. The so call "concierge” did nothing except schedule return phone calls at inconvenient times, which I was out of cell service or with other clients. During March 2017 I received less than 15 leads the entire month! April and May were the same! I was under contract until tthe end of May. When Zillow called to get me to pay for future marketing, I only wanted to pay for a zip code in which I would be in the top 3 agents. In the past there were 3 agents which appeared every time the zip code was selected. The "new” sales person kept telling me that it did not matter what number I was. So clearly Zillow promised me one thing, then changed the business model in March 2017. So I still paid Zillow the 1k a month, but was never notified of any change in what I was led to believe I paid for! I sold approximately 1 million dollars in sales during 2016, and never paid more than $375 a month During Late December 2016-the end of May 2017, I paid 1k a month and sold less than $200,000 from leads received from Zillow, yet paid $6k in advertising! Now I hear that other agents are getting all kinds of leads! Zillow needs to be brought to justice! They are major scammers!
For those who’ve had no problems with ZILLOW (yet) I have news. I was a premier agent for a good while, under contract, got enough leads that I had to sometimes switch my phone off! Needless, the leads NEVER panned out. I get a call that now the minimum payment needs to be at $500 and I won’t get any exposure at the amount I was at.
I agreed to the prorated amount to get to the $500. The $96 never came out of my account, the leads stopped COMPLETELY. My exposure was zero. I thought my account was closed for not meeting the "Minimum requirement”.
When I emailed, I got a one liner answer "we’re waiting till it's your billing cycle to make the change” In the meantime, no exposure, no leads. Not one call that I used to switch my phone off to I STILL got charged my usual come billing cycle. EVERY MONTH THEN ONWARDS! When I called I was told my manager was on vacation for 2 months!?!?!? Guess what? Still fighting that battle. It’s been almost 3 months now. Think twice!
In April 2017 I contacted Zillow Premier Agent after receiving calls and emails that leads were tremendous for dollars invested. I had initially budgeted $300 per month but the account rep told me that to have 20%+ share of the zip code market with a minimum of 10 monthly leads and an ROI (return on investment) of 4%, I would need to invest at least $640. The agent said that the additional $64 bonus money he was giving me would get me to this point. The agent shared screen shots with me showing me lead activity and ROI activity. He told me I need only convert one lead to pay for it all and was confident that with a 4% ROI that would not be an issue.
Here is it now September 2017, 5 months later. I'm lucky to see 3 "leads" per month. I have zero ROI. Sometimes I go into the Zillow advertising account to see activity and they will claim I've had phone leads. Hmm... my phone never rung with this lead they speak of.
On the rare occasions I've actually received an online form inquiry, I call the consumer immediately, text and email. No response from the efforts. I find this incredibly odd since supposedly the consumer has requested info. I've even started wondering if Zillow employees submit fake leads to manipulate things. I have no proof of this but on other advertising sites I've used the consumers typically give some sort of response. When I spoke with my account manager they try to train me on contacting for-sale-by-owner listings. I was like, "Um, I'm not paying you $640 a month for training. I'm paying you for leads. Send them."
In short, I've taken $3,840 hard earned dollars (and food for my family) and literally stuffed it in an envelope sent to Zillow with absolutely nothing in return but a premier agent badge on my name in their website. Zillow is savvy about how they lock you into the contract and if you attempt to cancel your payment they will come after you and charge you even more. Dirty business practice. Lesson learnedd that if a company must lock you into a contract and hold you hostage, they have issues delivering on their promises.
If you are reading this and considering Zillow, please reconsider. Take your hard earned money and invest in door hangers, post cards or a really fancy food truck open house to intice potential clients.
I signed up for the monthly billing for their basic website for Realtors and it is not working due to some technical difficulties they are having. I asked the Billing Department to change my billing date to the date that this issue is finally resolved as I do not have access to a site that I paid for and I was told they could not do that as it is on automatic billing. They charged my credit card right away, but can not change my start date to the date that this is fixed. When I asked to speak to management I was told management does not take calls and they were unable to help me. This is one of the reasons why I don't work with Zillow as they love to take your money as an agent, but it is very difficult to get it back when they are in the wrong. We as agents should not allow Zillow to take over our internet marketing the way that they have until they learn how to treat the hand that feeds them.
I signed up as a Premier agent, $500 monthly. I called 23 days later to cancel my service as all the leads I was generating was not a regular buyers but all the leads were for foreclosures. The rep Sean Sweeney proceeded to tell me my profile was not inviting enough. I was told I can call and change my package anytime. When I said I wanted to cancel he was belligerent and told me I have a contract and deal with it. I paid all this money to better my business and this is a total rip off.
As a new real estate agent trying to establish my business I was creating a profile on Zillow, when less than a minute later a salesperson from Zillow called me to talk about their handy dandy Premier Agent Services. He caught me at a vulnerable time and got me all excited about my prospects were I to become a Premier Agent. I signed up stupidly without reading the ripoff rport first. I blanked out. Anyway, I was happy about the prospect, and the salesperson was so friendly and warm. He told me that there was this one zip code that I could purchase for the reduced price -they were running a special sale- of $500 per month and I'd be foolish to not jump at the opportunity, so I said OK. He said I was guaranteed a number of impressions every month, that I would be number two in that town, etc, etc. I would be one of 3 or 4 agents whose mug popped up when people looked at a listing. I signed up.
One thing he "forgot" to mention was that Zillow also sold a service to Premier Agents to block other agents from appearing, and I came to find out that my real estate company had worked out a deal with Zillow to include this handy dandy blocking feature as a perk for agents in our company. The main realtor in this zip code that I purchased is also from my company, effectively blocking me from appearing in more than half of the town listings. I got a couple of calls from people who were not serious, and thougth I was the listing agent. It was a total waste of money.
Three weeks later I had an emergency that precluded me from working in the next few months, and depleted my savings. I contacted Zillow and, oh surprise, they were not so friendly anymore. They were brief and would not return emails. It cost me a good deal more to get out of this service.
Please do yourself a favor and DO NOT ADVERTISE ON ZILLOW! Ask an experienced agent in your office for advice.
Zillows premier agent service is a complete scam. They deceptively con you into an six month impression contract with a minimum purchase amount. They do not properly explain that you will be under a contract. In fact I was under the impression of the exact opposite. It was explained to me that it is not contract and I could end the service at any time but would still have a continuation for 2 months as a fee. WRONG. When I called to cancel I was met with inconsiderate and rude comments like "you have selective hearing". Do not sign up with for this service, the sign up process is deceptive and misleading. The only way to cancel is to change your banking information.
I completed a survey following a Zillow search and was promised a $10.00 Amazon gift card if I requested it in an email. Tried to email the OnlineReportAccess.com site but was not allowed to send request.
We live in Peoria AZ 85381 and are trying to sell our home.
I wrote Zillow to ask how they estimated our home is be lower than our neighbors' home next door that sold for $318K in October 2014, when we have more upgrades (Cherry cabinets, a larger kitchen, hardwood flooring & a larger floor plan). His lame excuse was they have no control over how the zestimates is determined. If that is the case, why are they even giving “Zestimates” on their websites.
They are comparing our home with other properties that is not in our division/ community and much older built 20-30yrs older) and therefore our home is devalued.
Even though our Realtor says that any realtor who is experience in the industry will not refer to Zillow as their information is not accurate, one called me yesterday morning stating they found our property for sale on Zillow. Also, Consumers and banks do review and compare pricing with their Zestimates when considering making an offer or giving out loans. So don’t tell me Zillow has no control over the matter.
A class action should be formed against Zillow as they are reporting incorrect information such as property tax, HOA fee, estimating values of home where they have no business doing so. This hurts homeowners financially when trying to sell.
Another house down the street (5mins walk from us) in our community with same floor plan and sq. foot sold at $345K July 10th, 2015 , therefore we priced our house for sale at $345K (apart from Trulia’s estimate too) but Zillow says they estimate our home value to be $318K. (same as our neighbors' home next door that sold 2 yrs ago -Oct 2014 with no upgrades) Seriously?
We can't sell our house because of their “Zestimate”. Zillow obviously is ignorant to the fact that we’re not in a recession and AZ housing has improved a lot in the past 3 years. Why are they devaluing our home and getting away with it and not getting their facts straight.
1. JAN 5TH 2016, Zestimate® was : $329,677 ( I saved the email)
2. March 8th 2016 Zestimate is $318,077
3. We think it should be $345K ( $125/ sf) . Other homes in the valley have been selling in that price per square foot. Some are even selling at $136/ sf)
We have not had a sale in our neighborhood for past 8 months, therefore Zillow is doing comparables with properties outside our vicinity which is a much older neighborhood built in 80’s and 90’s. Our home was built in 2004.
Zillow needs remove "ZESTIMATES from their websites" and to be held accountable for their inaccurate calculation and leave estimates of Real Estate values to the experts based on appraisals and comps. We shouldn't be losing so much value because Zillow is playing the role of an appraiser when they are not licensed to be one; not doing their homework and their Software algorithm is producing incorrect info.
Feb 17, 2015 –Zillow bought out Trulia and now we’re really screwed because Trulia’s previous estimate on our property was $345K. Trulia’s website is no longer up to show proof.
I wish a class action is put in motion to make Zillow accountable for their actions. Everyone who is reading this, please join forces and take action. Let’s speak up in one voice! Thanks!
The Sales Representative, Dominic Medina at Zillow, told me a service I signed up for called gold would get my listing "featured" and shown on the top by subscribing and paying for the Zillow service.
The property never showed up at or near the top. I called and tried to get in touch with Mr. Medina at Zillow. He didn't respond well at all, taking days to get back to me. Email from the Zillow's technical support indicated that this package I subscribed to was never designed to put the listing on the top. It was mis-advertised and I should not be charged at all. I need full refund for everything I paid ($350) to Zillow.
I finally heard from Mr. Medina at Zillow, but the issue was not resolved to my satisfaction. I spoke to his manager, Chris Smith at Zillow. He said that "Zillow is no refund company" so even that they did not deliver what I asked for and cancelling the service in mantter of a couple of days. My money $350 will be not refunded.
Do not waste money, and remember they will be no refund since Zillow is no refund company.
Zillow called me to sell me advertising on their real estate website stating that a positon in the zipcode I was interested in had opened up, insinuating that there was not a lot of agents allowed in each zipcode. I told him I wasn't interested as I wasn't selling real estate anymore but my wife was. He asked for her number and I gave it to him. He called her and she explained that she hadn't had any sales and was just starting out. She also informed him she couldn't afford it. She also pointed out that she didn't even have a website set up.
The Zillow sales rep convinced her she would get so many leads that she would make enough money to pay for the ads.
She signed up for just under $800 a month and a six month contract. Then he informed her she had to go into the site they set up for her and get clients to provide feedback and to fill out all kinds of other information. This after she had told him she was just getting started and hadn't sold any houses that year. She then found out that anytime she showed up on a Zillow pager she would be one of three agents on the page and you only showed up occasionly. When she checked the zillow pages there were well over 50 agents for the one zipcode! Many from huge agencies that she was now supposed to compete with. Many of the agencies had all these sales and gold stars by their names and she was supposed to hope someone clicked on her picture and submitted their info for her to call them
When she tried to cancel with zillow she was told that she would have to pay for two months to get out of the contract and that was all she had left anyway. He also informed her that the first couple of months not to expect any activity, so apparently you pay $800 a month for nothing.
Zillow announced in the news shortly after her contract expired that they were going to be focusing more on the superagents who spend $5000 a month with them.
My wife was out almost $5000 and in the total six months she was with Zillow got 10 leads and only four that she was actually able to speak with. So a half a lead a month and none of them wanted to buy only get more info on the house listed on Zillow.
When Zillow merged Trulia in September of 2015, they did not notify any of the Trulia clients (real estate agents under contract) that they were changing from a market share business model using zip codes to an impression based model similiar to Zillow. Furthermire, they diluted the advertising presense by combining both Zillow and Trulia impressions, but do not let the client know how often you show up on a particular website.
In my opinion, each and every Trulia contract has been subject to contractional changes without approval and is subject to a "class action lawsuit".
The Trulia/Zillow premier agent lead generation service over promises but miserably fails to deliver. I strongly advise anyone considering this 'service' to allocate their hard earned funds into another marketing strategy. When I spoke with a marketing/sales rep I was very specific in what I was needing or requiring from their service and depsite my specificity of requirements they yes, yes, yes'd me and did not meet their lead generation obligations.
I aksed for buyer leads above $500k, in two specific towns, I only wanted verfied or 'real buyers' and I did not want to be locked into a long term contract with them.
>Well, the $500k minium threshold was totally ignored by them, they had the audacity to send me leads under $100k and others in the $200k - $300k range. When I questioned them on this they had the nerve to tell me that we never guarantee a $ threshold, this totally contradicted what I was told by their first sales rep. Denial, denial, denial that is their M.O.
>These leads contrary to what they claim were not verfied in my experience in dealing with them. Upon receiving the lead I called the prospect 5 -10 times, emailed 5+ times and in one instance when I did finally get to speak with a so called prospective buyer, he told me he was not looking to buy anything and to not 'bother' him. I also found it curious that when I received several email reponses all included the phase "I can appreciate your persistence but", how in the world can several different people [whom I assume do not know each other] use this exact phrase. It was at this point that I realized the trulia/zillow lead generation service ripped me off.
>Finally, they did lock me into a 6 month contract at $110 per. When I called to voice me displeasure with the paucity of and poor quality of so called leads, they had the nerve to tell me the following. Well, we see that for the $ amount you are spending you are only receiving 10% of the 'internet impressions' but if you want to double the fee you are paying you will certainly increase your odds of having more highend leads. This is always the sales pitch with them, spend more money and then spend even more money. Well, I will never spend another dollar with zillow/trulia as long as I remain in the real estate field. Caveat emptor!
David Whetzel has his name listed as the contact person for leasing 250 Gardendale Ferndale, Mi.
The address is incorret for the picture of the house. He claims to be a missionary who has been transferred to Virgina and needs to lease his house. He will try to get a deposit to hold the house.
I talked to him and he could very well be out of the country.. Here is his ploy:
Hello,
How are you doing today? We are pleased that you have an interest in our house. My house is still available for rent, and all i want is someone who i can put my trust in and a God-fearing person. I rented my house to some families and i must say am really disappointed in them. They claim to be very neat and honest, and also they could not afford to pay the rent for 4 months, which is very bad. I am looking for a responsible & clean tenant that will be able to take good care of my house. We want responsible adults/family that are neat and also believe that they have what it takes to take care of our house as if it were theirs. My wife and I initially had it up with a Realtor agent but had a change of mind in leasing it out ourselves because the agent that was in charge of our rental property was asking too much for an agent fee and also increasing the rental price which made people stay away from renting and we needed someone to occupy the property asap. The reason why our house is up for rent to own is because I got transferred to Virginia on a Missionary Work by my church here. I will be away with my family for at least 2 to 3 years or more. I will start by telling you more about me and my family. I have a daughter named Amy, 21yrs who attends University of Minnesota as a medical student, she has a lot going for her and she is also down to earth in all that she does to keep us happy. I'm a Missionary man here in Virginia, and got married to a lovely wife who is a member of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Its a spacious and lovely home. Utilities are included except for the cable and internet that you will be handling yourself and Pets are allowed in the property. Kitchen completely equipped, Kettle - Toaster - Dishwasher - Freezer - Microwave - Oven - Dryer - Heat - Water-Washing Machine. Please make sure these questions are filled correctly because the best way you answer with your comment will impress me the more to accept your application. The home is available for long term or short term lease.
I am horrified to learn that though Zillow.com. my home has been approved for a bank approved short sale. I am in loss mitigation which stops foreclosure proceedings to hopefully work out arrangement to become currect on my mortagage. I lost two jobs I am single over fifty and applying for disability which can take awhile to get. I currently and my whole life since the age of 12 deal with serious PTSD issues. Reading all that Zillow put on their website without my knowledge or my lenders knowledge they seem to be trying to sell my home. In an already terrible shameful situation that has my stress level off the charts. I cry all day a person interested in my home came to me with five pages printed this past month. I don't know what to do I am scared I don't want to lose my home i am doing all I can to work with the bank and I am confused on how false information can be given out to anyone about my home. I'm embarrassed to even go outside during the day or when it light out I know my neighbors also know. I just want to cry as writing this. I hope the Lord will being the right lawyer to help me and others like me.