Las Vegas Real Estate Blog

Sell it Faster With EZ Ads on Zillow.com Learn

Zillow.com is now one of the AR sponsors now.

But I have a dilemma... I wrote on this subject a while ago on this post: Is Zillow.com going to hurt the Realtors?  Zillow.com may have an impact on the real estate industry - but it will be a mixed bag for consumers. If anything, it may have the effect of dampening home prices somewhat by arming the buyer with more negotiating power to dicker for lower prices. Read more...

Received 16 comments on the blog you may go read them all but few are here below:

• I wonder how much this will affect home prices. It may even make it easier to put the house on the market at the right price, as there will be an outside force that the seler will be able to check with to evaluate their listing price. If we do our homework, this could work out well for Realtors. Andrew Trevino Wilkes-Barre Homes For Sale
• Zillow is a scam and they always seem to be the hindering factor when it comes to buyers who surf the net before purchasing a home. They believe everything they read and I think zillow is dangerous in my book! MAUREEN STACCATO Associate Partner
• As far as my experience with Zillow is that their "Zestimate" is always much lower than the real value of the property. Often the info. (br.#, ba.#, sq.footage are incorrect...) I don't see the use of it but to confuse the buyer and disadvantage the seller.
• Zillow is at least 100k+ off very often in Portland.Portland Oregon Real Estate Broker * Jennifer Bukaty *
• These companies are definitely to be watched.  Look at the lawsuit with housevalues.com that is going on.  Unreal expectations are generated from these sites.Rey "Steak Dinner" Gallegos: Loan Officer Las Vegas, NV
• Zillow's zestimates are definitely not an accurate way for homeowners to base their listings price. It has become a challenge for a lot of Realtors to convince prospective sellers from setting a realistic sales price because of Zillow. by Vincent Martinez

Should we advertise on their site? Good Idea? When their price (Zestimate) is clearely conflicting with our listing price... and the same page we have different informations?

Have you seen lately, on your right side of the Blog Post,that are new AR Sponsors? It coughed my eye as I read :"single property websites. FREE-Unlimited listings."

It is a very well structured site with lots of marketing tools and a control panel where you can manage, update and make changes to your listings... Photos, videos, open house dates, post it on Craigslist etc.

• RealBird® Map-based MLS Search  map-based IDX search widget for your website and blog
• RealBird® Real Estate Yellow pages Put your business on the map. Advertise your business on SearchOnMaps.com
• Listing widgets  - Market your listings via listing maps, RSS, sidebar widgets and more
• Maps and driving directions  - Add private labeled maps and driving directions to your website and blog
• http://www.realbird.com/member/?p=member.widgets.mlssearch
• RSS, GeoRSS feed and badges
  Create website and blog widgets using the RSS feed of your featured listings.

I know the good stuff when I see one... This is a great site to advertise your listings, and is here to stay. Has a professional look and create great fliers, widgets...

You don't have to belive me just go and see... You'll like it.

Reverse mortgages are becoming popular in America. Reverse mortgages are a special type of home loan that lets a homeowner convert the equity in his/her home into cash. Best candidates for Reverse morgage? Homeowners in their seventies or older

Reverse mortgage is a loan against your home that you do not have to pay back for as long as you live there. With a reverse mortgage, you can turn the value of your home into cash without having to move or to repay the loan each month. The cash you get from a reverse mortgage can be paid to you in several ways:

• all at once, in a single lump sum of cash;
• as a regular monthly cash advance;
• as a "creditline" account that lets you decide when and how much of your available cash is paid to you; or

No matter how this loan is paid out to you, you typically don't have to pay anything back until you die, sell your home, or permanently move out of your home. To be eligible for most reverse mortgages, you must own your home and be 62 years of age or older.

What are the hidden surprises of reverse mortgages?

Rising Debt, Falling Equity with a reverse mortgage, you are taking the equity out in cash. So with a reverse mortgage:

• your debt increases; and
• your home equity decreases.
• As your debt grows, your equity shrinks, unless your home's value is growing at a high rate.

But most home values don't grow at consistently high rates, and interest is charged on most mortgages. So the majority of reverse mortgages end up being "rising debt, falling equity" loans.