Zillow is a major topic in the real estate world these days. Just a few months back, news hit that Zillow would be operating like a brokerage! Just a day later the real news came out.....

Zillow is peddling seller leads, not becoming a broker

Quoted the Inman articale May 23, 2017

Either way this wasn't good news for real estate agents. Zillow has always been a leader in gathering buyers and selling their information to real estate agents. When this news hit, my profession was wondering how was this all going to play out? How would our profession stay alive? Zillow does not make it easy, thats for sure.

Jake and I get the Zillow craze. Ill admit, I use Zillow! I use it to find properties when I can not locate them among the MLS's I am associated with and that is it.

When Jake and I decided to open up our own TN Real Estate Firm, we had to think about Zillow. Do we allow our MLS to feed our sellers information to Zillow? Do we budget any money towards Zillow? We have decided not to feed the monster in the sense of buying leads. We do recognize the advantage for our sellers to have their listings on Zillow for buyers to see, so we have gone ahead and implemented that. So buyers will still be able to see all of our listings, we just wont be in a pool of agents getting 1 buyer to contact when they request additional information. So for all intense and purposes; Zillow - Not to Use for us.

When you make your way to the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, and you are looking for property, Zillow will be your main searching tool....Or does it have to be? You are always welcome to use our site or speak to one of us directly to discuss your dream home options. If you decide to use it, and request information on a property, your information might go out to dozens of agents in this beautiful area. What that agent does with your information is up to them. Some might call right away, some will use text and some might use all of the above for days. As a consumer, if I gave my information to Wal-Mart for instance, and 12 cashiers called me, text me, and emailed me about getting in their line, I think I would run for the hills. No pun intended!

This post is not intended to upset anyone in our profession. This is not in any means a post to boycott Zillow, this is simply a post about the pure truth about what happens to information once given to Zillow. This is strictly a buyer beware post! Jake and I would like to go back to the old fashion way of doing business. We would like to talk to you. We would like for you to come to our office, make yourself a cup of coffee and have a sit down to go over your dreams of home ownership in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, or Sevierville. We hope to talk to you real soon. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us directly at 865.280.2569

Thank you,
Theresa Raymond
Broker/Owner
TN Smoky Mtn Realty
2004 Red Bank Rd #1
Sevierville, TN 37876