When you’re housing hunting, you count on your real estate agent to identify homes that tick all your boxes. But why stop there? You can take control of your search with the help of Zillow.
Narrow your search
Start by setting up a search on Zillow by typing in your preferred city or neighborhood. Then filter the results by identifying the key elements you’re looking for:
Listing type: Do you want homes sold by an agent or by an owner? New construction? Foreclosures or houses coming on the market soon? All of the above? We also show you relevant houses that have recently sold and for how much. Only interested in homes with open houses? There’s an option for that, too.
Any price: This filter lets you set minimum and maximum prices for your search so Zillow can find what’s in your price range. And there’s an easy calculator to help you figure out what you can afford.
Number of bedrooms: Looking for a studio, a manse with more than six bedrooms or anything in between? Zillow will show you what’s available.
Home type: Are you hunting for a house, a condo or co-op, or a townhome? Or are you looking for a lot where you can build a unique home? You can pick any or see them all if you want to keep all your options open.
More: You also can narrow your search by number of bathrooms, the home’s square footage, lot size, the minimum and maximum age of the home and how long it has been on Zillow. Plus you can add keywords like “view,” “waterfront” or “pool” to target features that are important to you.
You’ll see a map with pins on for-sale homes that meet your criteria. Click on a pin to see more details of each home. When you find one you love, you can “save” them so they’re easily findable when you log into your Zillow account.
Get mobile
Downloading the Zillow Real Estate App lets you take your search with you.
You can search from where you are (via GPS locator), type in an address or draw a custom region on the map. You’ll receive notifications when new listings hit the market, when a saved home drops in price or is sold, and if an open house is scheduled.
Zestimate
When you look at a for-sale home on Zillow, you’ll see the home’s Zestimate®, the home’s estimated market value based primarily on similar homes with past sales and homes currently on the market.
The Zestimate shows you:
• Zillow’s estimate (not an appraisal) of market value to give you a starting point in determining if a home is fairly priced
• How and by how much a home’s estimated value has changed in the last 30 days
• A graph that compares a particular listing’s value to similar listings in the town or ZIP code, how taxes on the listing have changed, and how many people are looking at this listing
History notes
Each for-sale home page provides information on price history — date and price the home has been offered and sold previously — and on property tax and assessment history.
Neighborhood info
For-sale home pages provide a quick view of your desired ZIP code. You can see the median Zestimate of homes there, how hot or cold the market is, the foreclosure rate compared to the city and country, how walkable or car-dependent a neighborhood is, and whether Zillow predicts home values in that neighborhood will rise or fall.
School data
Since a great school system is a must-have for many home buyers, Zillow provides a school assessment tool. Each listing shows “nearby schools” — public and private — and how the public schools are rated by GreatSchools.
School info also includes how many students in the school, and the student/teacher ratio.
Save and share
When you find homes you’d like to see or just remember for further reference, Zillow lets you save your searches for easy reference later. And, since it’s sometimes nice to get a second opinion, you also can share your finds with friends via email or on social media.
You can customize your saved search location by zooming in or out and moving the map, or by drawing your own custom search area with the draw tool.
If you want to see how the status of a listing changes, you can ask for email updates (as well as customize the frequency of updates). You also can request emails of new listings with your search criteria, which will help you jump on a great house quickly.
Source: zillow.com