What's worth more to you, Trulia or Family Dollar Store?

I find it very interesting and a little bit ironic that Zillow is buying Trulia for $3.5 Billion and The Dollar Store is buying Family Dollar for $8.5 Billion. How can it be that a dollar store is worth more than twice that of an online housing search engine?

Putting it in this perspective, there seems to be more value in cheap, everyday goods rather than free, useless information. The business world is getting it right!

In my opinion, Zillow and Trulia have always been parasites sucking the blood from the real estate industry. They only exist to make money from the advertisers on the site, many of which are real estate agents. These are the same agents that give their listing information to these sites, for free, so that these sites can then turn around and charge the real estate agents for advertising on their own listings! Talk about a scam! 

These same sites then use unsubstantiated information to tell unsuspecting (and yes, somewhat gullible) individuals what their house is worth. Are these the same people that believe everything they read on the internet? I think there is a good possibility.

Ok – if you live in a brand new, cookie cutter development, then maybe Zillow will get your home value right, or close. But if you are like most people, and live in a unique home that maybe has had some remodeling, or has been around for more than 5 years, the “zestimate” will be bogus. It’s simply an algorithm based on what homes nearby have sold for. It doesn’t look at, what we call in the real estate business, the amenities. Is there a busy street nearby, a park, a school, are the floors or countertops upgraded, have the bathrooms been remodeled, etc., etc.? I think you might get the idea. Every home is unique and these amenities will either add or subtract from the value. 

A “zestimate” is easy, however. You don’t have to talk to anyone and suddenly you are an expert and know all about home values. Bull. It’s just information. Knowing what to do with the information is the wisdom an experienced and professional REALTOR® brings to the table. Don’t be fooled (or be a fool) and believe everything you read on the internet. Some of it is just not true.

Penny pinchers unite! That cheap merchandise is getting you more for your money than the free useless information. But being penny wise and pound foolish still puts you on the short end of the stick.