Did someone say 'Alexa, search Zillow for my next home'? If so, that would be where most buyers start the search process. Zillow is the leading application of the real
estate market search engine. It is the most searched platform used in the world
for residential real estate. The
usability has evolved since its origin 20+ years ago. In general, it connects
buyers with sellers, renters with property owners, and real estate
professionals with potential clients/customers. In addition to buying, leasing,
selling a home, Zillow has elevated its concept and creates a one stop shop to
be able to complete the home buy/sell/lease process as a whole. You can obtain
a loan, complete rental applications, and find your home estimated listing
price value (Zestimate) all on Zillow.
The functionality of the app varies from how you use it as a customer selling verses a customer buying /leasing. As a customer interested in buying/leasing the functionality is similar. The app mostly uses SQL programming to search for data that provides you results, based on your filters set. Once your filters are set based on your location, budget, rooms, etc. the results are pictured on a map as well as listed for individual view of the homes as a layered view on the phone app. Once you select a home your interested in, you can save to your favorites as well as request a tour and review additional photos, and key details on that home. The app provides you details about the home, the schools, the estimated monthly payment amongst other things. For a rental your options are to tour and apply for the home. The app is truly geared towards someone interested in buying or leasing homes.
But what is it missing? Is it all inclusive of EVERYTHING a buyer needs to make a final decision of what may be the largest purchase of there life? Does it keep up with the technology advancements of AI being incorporated to help buyers consider other elements, areas, price etc.? If I were to recommend any improvements with Zillow’s main consumer platform application, I would suggest they add a feed to HOA public information where applicable, and get them a shiny new AI bot named 'Zippty'. Zip (for short) can help buyers not only consider other options they may not have seen, but the results are produced faster, and learned from things the buyer searches for on other platforms or apps.
Overall, the functionality of the app and the website work smoothly. With it being the most used search engine for residential real estate searches, it has levels of customization and features for you as a consumer to come back daily, when search for a home is a priority. It also has a feature to set up push notifications of new listings based on your saved search criteria. Zillow dominates the real estate industry as the #1 tool with Redfin being the next as its closest competitor.
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