You signed up on Zillow. Now what?

Do you ever wonder what those online home search sites, like Zillow, are doing with your info? What is their business model to make money? How are they choosing the agents to show on the listing pages? Who will contact you about your house value?

The answer is pretty simple. They are selling your info to agents...and lenders.

The Zillow statement to agents about their end-game specifically is "We provide the technology and bring consumers to our marketplace. You provide the human connection and expertise. We’re betting on you, Premier Agents."
Meaning, they provide the portal of entrance on the web to the consumer but they need Premier Agents (a.k.a. paying agents) to be there not only to be the funding but also actually provide assistance to the buyers and sellers visiting their site.

Doesn't sound too bad, really. I mean, they are selling your info to licensed agents. And if that agent is an experienced, dedicated agent it's a win.
But if you already have an agent... or if they sell your info to a team of agents where you might get the "newbie" then not so much. There are nearly 20,000 agents in MN...

They also said "We do extensive research on consumer behavior and that research has demonstrated that consumers have a wide variety of needs and wants."
So keeping in mind they are "watching you" and that's OK if you're ok with it and it's improving your experience.

And Zillow said "Clearly, buying a home is more complicated and expensive than opening an app and getting a ride, but today’s on-demand economy is driving a lot of business decisions." So keep in mind that while they are facilitating for you to "put the cart before the horse" so to speak when they you browse homes on a whim, you still need to recognize that you are entering complicated territory and it's best to make sure the agent you connect with online is looking to truly help you and not just complete a transaction or sale.

Most agents have public facing websites (like the one you are on now) that pull in the same active home for sale listings as Zillow so if you have an agent, check out their site instead.
Better yet, ask your agent to get you alerts right from the MLS for homes that meet your specific criteria so you are not wasting your time on broad searches. In the twin cities, our agent MLS is called NorthstarMLS. No, you can't get access without an agent setting it up. No, that other MLS online site you see is not it either, it's just another brokerage with a very creative (and publicly confusing) name.

Wondering about Zestimates? Be careful. The accuracy is no better than just taking the average of all the used cars on a lot and applying it to the one you want to buy. If you are buying a Porche, that pricing model may benefit you. If you are buying a Kia, not so much.