Conspiracy theorists are taken aback by the news that Realtors are supporting Zillow in their fight to keep Arizona from banning it from us poor Grand Canyon State saps.
A state agency’s efforts to stop Zillow .com from offering property-value estimates in Arizona are drawing criticism from some Realtors who think regulators are overstepping their authority. The critics also are targeting an Arizona Board of Appraisal reform bill they fear will muzzle anyone from offering an opinion about property values unless he or she is a licensed appraiser, Realtor or attorney. Phoenix real estate broker Greg Swann said that the legislation, Senate Bill 1291, is narrowly written to block Zillow from offering its estimates. It also could affect other online services from offering property-value estimates using what are called automated valuation models, he said. “This is legislation to stop progress,” said Swann, adding that state regulators are being Luddites in trying to halt the advance of Internet commerce.
Of course there are claims that this isn’t a Zillow bill:
The Arizona House is expected to consider the bill on Monday, said Deborah Pearson, director of Arizona Board of Appraisal. The legislation is not aimed at Zillow but rather is intended to update statutes that have not changed since 1991, Pearson said. The Board of Appraisals has not found any other online entities that are violating the state law, said Pearson, the board’s director.
I’m guessing that they Board of Appraisals must be needing their eyes check if they can only claim that Zillow is in violation.
For fun you can read the whole Senate Bill 1291 and see what this fuss is about, specifically:
“Appraisal” or “real estate appraisal” means a statement independently and impartially prepared by an individual setting forth an opinion as to the market value of real property as of a specific date and supported by the presentation and analysis of relevant market information any of the following: (a) the act or process of developing an opinion of value. (b) An opinion of value. (c) Pertaining to appraising and related functions such as appraisal practice or appraisal services.
I believe such a change to the Arizona Revised Statutes would mean that I would be in violation if I told my neighbors how much their house might be worth. Slippery slope if you ask me!
6 Comments
I have taken a look at the proposed changes to the bill in Arizona, and it does not appear to have anything that limits Zillow.com (dependent on interpretation). The proposed changes are actually in line with the 2006 edition of USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice). You can read more about USPAP here (http://www.appraisalfoundation.org/s_appraisal/sec.asp?CID=3&DID=3)
More on this later….I’m actually in a USPAP class right now.
Just to add to my last comment and to give a response to your last statement. This part of the statute addresses it…
“This chapter does not apply to:
2. A natural person, a corporation through its officers or a partnership through its partners that deals in GIVES AN OPINION OF VALUE OF that person’s or its own property and does not receive special compensation for the transaction IF THIS OPINION IS NOT REFERRED TO AS AN APPRAISAL.”
@ Cameron Rex
So it would appear that this is aimed at Zillow. Why make such a statement unless you were aiming the legistation at Zillow? I mean Zillow does say their “opinion” is not a apprasial. I mean where does this all lead?
Zillow was amended out of the bill yesterday.
Just saw a listing on the Northwest Multiple Listing website where a home is listed with the words “priced below Zillow appraisal.” Obviously that’s nonsense. Zillow provides Zestimates which is another word for Guestimates. They get their data from public records and if that data are wrong so are Zillow’s. An appraiser is a licensed professional. Zillow never pretended to a be a substitute.
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[...] >Update to Zillow v. Arizona (James Fee) For the real estate-obsessed among you. This Arizona flap doesn’t really have a specific link to the world of newspapers and journalism, on which I try with varying degrees of interest to keep the blog at least semi-focused. As I said before, however, Zillow and services like it more generally represent the incredible, and mostly missed, opportunity newspapers have in real estate data. [...]