Here’s another item that’s been making the rounds lately. There’s a new tool on the internet called Zillow. It’s still in “beta,” but I definitely like the looks of it. This tools allows you to get the tax-assessed value — or if more information is available, a “Zestimate” — for a house at any address. Not only does this feed the curiosity bug crawling around inside of us (“I wonder what my new neighbors paid…”), but it’s yet another tool that will eventually bring house buyers and sellers closer together, bypassing the middlemen (brokers, agents, etc.).
I tried looking up my old house and it didn’t return a lot of information. While I did get the tax-assessed value (with no indication of how old the data were), Zillow couldn’t provide me with a Zestimate. It also could not provide a sale history, although I know that information for the township or county is easily found online. On the positive side, the interface is cool. It’s like Google Maps with its zooming capabilities.
This will be an excting tool to watch grow, and I have a feeling that by the time I have enough money to buy a house, I’ll make good use of it.
Published or updated February 8, 2006. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
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if you checked out zillow.com you gotta check out http://www.HomePricemaps.com