I had a suspicion this was in the works and my suspicion was confirmed in an email from Brian Brady seconds ago. Zillow will be the leading sponsor of the Bloodhoundblog UnChained Conference this May.
Quoting Zillow’s David Gibbons in the release:
In 2008 we are increasing our bet on Realtor 2.0 and I’m excited to announce that the Bloodhound Blog Unchained conference will be brought to you by Zillow. Bloodhound blog is read daily by thousands of real estate professionals and is arguably the most influential blog read by real estate insiders. The blog’s written by Realtor 2.0 for Realtor 2.0. From May 18th to 20th the bloodhounds are hosting a conference that will distill the best practices for profiting from the revolution in social media and real estate. BHBU is also possibly the only Mortgage 2.0 conference of the year with a separate track dedicated to loan officers and mortgage brokers. If social media is part of your marketing plan for 2008 I recommend that you get to Phoenix for this event.
Here’s a quote from Brian Brady:
Among the many potential sponsors who contacted us about Unchained, we selected Zillow for its leadership in the Real Estate 2.0 community. Its actions have always been consistent with its stated goal of being a media company aligned with real estate professionals.
Zillow.com has publicly announced its intention to provide a mortgage offering, as well as the current property database. As a mortgage professional, I anticipate this release and hope we’ll be able to feature at at the Bloodhoung Blog Unchained Social Media Marketing Conference-brought to you by Zillow.
David Gibbons and Drew Meyers live in our interactive world. Their commitment to the RE.net community is unparalleled and they are always looking to find ways to make the Zillow product offerings benefit individual practitioners’ businesses. That commitment is perfectly aligned with the goals of Unchained; practitioners helping practitioners.
We are proud to share the title of this conference with Zillow and welcome them as our partner.
An email comment from Greg Swan of Bloodhoundblog:
BloodhoundBlog has grown up with Zillow.com. We’re consistently second or third on a Google search for Zillow.com, and Debunking Zillow.com is one percent or more of our traffic every day. On the other hand, we’ve also been big boosters of the tools Zillow has built to help sellers, buyers and in-the-trenches Realtors and lenders get the job done.
We’ll be teaching Zillow-farming tactics at BloodhoundBlog Unchained, so Zillow is a natural fit for us. We’re very grateful for the faith they’ve shown in us.
Greg Swann
Things to do
At 4:15 EST, 1:15 PST, Brian Brady will be a guest on:
http://www.realestateradiousa.com/
He’ll be discussing the upcoming Unchained conference, the Zillow sponsorship, and the mortgage market.
Real Estate Radio USA is a provocative, opinionated, conservative talk radio show promoting and encouraging the promulgation of wealth through real estate.
Real Estate Radio USA is broadcast to a worldwide audience via the Internet and soon to be found on terrestial stations across America.
It is hosted by the Sultan’s of Short Sales, the Crusaders of Capitalism, and the Prophet’s of Profit…Barry Cunningham and Barry Johnson.
Visit the BHBU site for information
Congratulations to Zillow, Brian, Greg, and BHBU.
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Thanks, Benn.
You were awfully close to the secret yesterday, when we talked. You have a keen insight as to what’s happening on the RE.net
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I am happy to support any effort that aims to bring more into the 2.0 fold. Good on you guys for taking the risk. My feeling is Zillow just made that risk fade into the night.
congrats to Brian, Greg, the BHB and all the folks at Zillow. Quite an interesting, and hopefully successful, partnership.
Thank you so much for the coverage, Benn.
Someone explain to me how a company that:
1. will not let an owner, who asks, opt-out of a grossly inaccurate zestimate when the home is listed for sale [so that 2 different values (one a starting point, the other well thought out) are displayed to confuse a buyer]. This violates the principle that an OWNER (or listing agent) has the right to decide HOW their property is advertised. IMO, a grossly inaccurate zestimate is false & misleading, yet it STAYS, (wow, starting points are very powerful on zillow)
2. will allow anyone to list the home for sale without the homeowner’s, or listing agent’s, knowledge and consent. This violates the principle that owners, or LA, have the right to decide WHERE their property is listed (some folks do not want their property advertised for any number of reasons– Zillow doesn’t respect that right)
3. will allow anyone to place their business card ad on the home they listed without the homeowner’s, or LA, knowledge or consent (can I come by your house and put my business card on your mailbox or for sale sign?)
4. Will allow anyone to answer questions regarding that home without the homeowners, or LA, knowledge or consent. The red flag system will not erase misleading information in a Q&A from the internet– ask them).
Is providing a service to OWNERS or listing agents who object to these practices? And are not real estate agents charged with the fiduciary duty to protect their owner/client interests?
I think “Debunking Zillow” (cited in the post) is one of the finest pieces of commentary on the subject of the zestimate, which remains the main draw of the site. The fact that Zillow has added features to help real estate agents advertise and list on the site does not redeem them from the condemnation as expressed in that post. It’s like allowing the con man to continue his fraud simply because he decides to don a t-shirt with your logo on it.
Zillow is pro-buyer and not pro-owner (for the reasons above). Fine. But IMO, Web 2.0 is not about empowering the buyer at the expense of the seller/homeowner.
Having said all that, I recognize that accepting sponsorship money does not mean the organizers support all the sponsor’s practices. So that’s fine, take their dough. However , it is my understanding that the conference will teach agents how to market on zillow, which goes against the imperative expressed in “Tell the World Zillow is Bunk” (by Greg Swann,event organizer), and I quote:
“It is the duty of the entire real estate community — and in this company I include the recent dot.com entrants, licensed and unlicensed — to guard consumers from hoaxers, con-men and frauds. I have no doubt that the owners of Zillow.com have the best of intentions. Nevertheless the results they produce are necessarily erroneous — and I have zero doubts that they know it. I think this is a case where everyone who cares about the true value of homes — or simply The Truth in the abstract — should stand up and be counted.” AND here,s the key quote:
“If we are silent when confronted with the public’s gullibility toward the Zillow.com fraud, we are complicit in that harm.” (id.)
Money and principles make strange bedfellows.
Here’s the link for “Tell the World, Zillow is bunk” from where I took the quote.
http://www.bloodhoundrealty.co.....log/?p=188
I think the Unchained event will be the biggest impact for bloggers in 2008 and I am looking forward to it. I have high expectations, so don’t let me down. I also can’t wait to put “real” faces behind the names.
“so don’t let me down.”
Absolutely not, Rob. We’re having a mortgage 2.0 track, too (on Sunday). Are you planning on coming Sunday?
What time does it start? I may have to come out a day early, but I will plan to.
We’ll have the mortgage track going around NOON-4PM on Sunday. Let’s talk; I’ll e-mail you.
Thank you so much for the coverage, Benn
congrats to Brian, hopefully successful