I SAW AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW RECENTLY WITH Spencer Rascoff, CEO of Zillow. The premise was that shopping for a home online is a lot like looking for a date using online dating services. This is particularly amusing to me. Zillow is a company that so many hate, but is also the most commonly used site for information related to real estate.

The problem with Zillow is that it is not a real estate company. It is a media company. The number-one complaint I hear about Zillow from real estate professionals and consumers is that you can’t trust the information on their site. This is why I was so amused by Mr. Rascoff’s comparison of shopping for a home to shopping for a mate: Ask any person who has ever used an online dating service and they will tell you that people don’t always tell the truth in their online dating profiles.

The purpose of an online dating profile is to attract attention and get a response. This is why people will sometimes exaggerate — or perhaps shade the truth a bit — when posting a profile. Basically, they don’t think people will be interested in them if they tell the complete truth or post a current picture. So they lie.

In his interview with CNN Money reporter Laurie Segall, Mr. Rascoff shared key words and phrases that are “turn ons” and “turn offs” to buyers shopping for a home online. For example, don’t use “cozy” in your home listing, as it is a code word for “small.”

There is a basic misunderstanding of what Zillow and most other online real estate resources really do. Zillow doesn’t sell houses; Zillow sells information, specifically information about people shopping for a home or looking to sell their home.

Since they are in the business of selling information, they spend millions of dollars researching how people react to the stimulus they provide through their website. Imagine if you had millions to research exactly what the man or woman of your dreams was looking for and could write the perfect profile to attract that person. Your email would blow up with people wanting to get to know you.

Most online real estate sites are in the business of selling advertising and capturing the contact information of potential home buyers and sellers, information they sell to real estate professionals. The goal of most online real estate resources is to have you to go to their site and click on as many pages as possible. The mother lode of all is to get you to complete a “contact me” form.

Most real estate professionals have access to legitimate resources. Most will gladly share this information with you and even sign you up for legitimate information feeds that email you whenever a property matching your profile is listed. Some real estate professionals even have apps for that. I use an app called Home Scouting MLS, which allows my clients to search real-time MLS listings anywhere in California.

Bottom line: There is a better way to shop online for a home, and you don’t have to kiss a bunch of frogs in the process.

Guy Benjamin (CAL BRE License #01014834, NMLS 887909) writes a weekly column for The Herald, offering general information on real estate matters. As it is impossible to address all possibilities and variations, he will try to answer individual questions by readers who contact him at 707-246-0949 or guyb@fairwaymc.com.height=”150″ />

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