[caseysoftware]

That's my guess also. If they have details on the specific aspects in the specific markets that drives prices, being able to "jump on a deal" could work out well.

The question becomes if there are enough opportunities like that to move the needle for them.

If I had to guess, I would have guessed moving into Lending Tree's matchmaking area would be easier and have a better ROI.

[ssharp]

What specific details would they have that other's don't. I don't know how prevalent FSBO is on Zillow in some markets, but in mine it's extremely limited. I'd be shocked if it made up 5% of the residential market, probably closer to 1%.

The rest of the listings are from MLS systems and they pull housing data from county systems. For that, I'd assume there is a data broker and Zillow isn't integrating with thousands of counties. If that's the case, then both the MLS and county data can be had by anyone. With that information, you'd get lot details, house details, listing history, county tax valuations and sales history.

What other data do you need?

A lot of house flippers are agents because they get the MLS listings ahead of the public and can move faster on them. I don't know when Zillow gets their MLS data, but listings almost always hit Realtor.com a day before they hit Zillow, so I don't see that as an advantage either.

[jonknee]

> The rest of the listings are from MLS systems and they pull housing data from county systems. For that, I'd assume there is a data broker and Zillow isn't integrating with thousands of counties.

That's not the case, MLS is a giant mess and the reason why Zillow was/is amazing is that it aggregated and normalized lots of different unconnected systems. They still have gaps and it's common for an individual MLS to play hard ball and not give out their data, but it's still a large competitive advantage.

[avemg]

What's FSOB? Was it just a typo of FSBO (as in for sale by owner)?

[ssharp]

Yes, corrected.