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Reasons to use ZipRealty.com
Home value estimates: ZipRealty uses a combination of techniques to estimate your home’s value. The site provides a price history chart that shows your home’s value over time, letting you see where you are in the peaks and valleys of recent property values.
It also lists “SmartZip” estimated home value, and get this: The site compares ZipRealty’s “automated valuation model” (AVM) to other sites’ estimates, such as SmartZip, HomeGain, Eppraisal.com and even Zillow’s “Zestimate.” That kind of transparency is rare. ZipRealty says its AVM estimate is based on “publicly available home sale data and derived through a proprietary statistical formula.”
Another interesting home value tool allows you to find comparable home sales and adjust the house results according to number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage and distance from your home. Finally, users can request an expert opinion from a local ZipRealty agent.
Listing check tool: If you’ve ever found the perfect house online and contacted the agent, only to be told the house sold weeks ago, you know the frustration of outdated listings. But if you enter an address into ZipRealty’s “Listing Check” tool, you’ll be able to confirm whether a home is still on the market.
ZipRealty says over 15% of the listings on other home search websites are “stale, expired or inactive.” This tool will give you confidence you’re not wasting your time on a home that’s already sold.
Mobile app: Clareity Consulting, an information and IT consultancy serving the real estate industry, rates the ZipRealty mobile app No. 5 of 15, giving it high marks for being well-organized with a “smart-looking home screen with two-color graphics.” Clareity also praises the app’s real estate tutorials, interactive map and draw-a-search features.
Android and iOS user reviews like the app’s interface and the desktop syncing, but complain about a lack of search parameters, duplicate listings, crashes and instability. “Overall this is a pretty good app, but not quite in the same league with the top players,” says Clareity.
The bottom line
With search capabilities and listings at least comparable to the competition, ZipRealty is a worthy home search alternative, though users in unserved cities will need to lean on other search sites such as Zillow, Realtor.com or Trulia.
Ultimately, ZipRealty is a real estate brokerage firm rather than simply a home search tool. Its job is to promote its own agents and serve a local customer base, just like a Century 21 or Re/Max office down the street. As an online house hunting site, and without the fee discounts of Redfin, its head-to-head competitor, ZipRealty does the job but doesn’t distinguish itself.
More from NerdWallet:
Hal Bundrick is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email:
hal@nerdwallet.com @halmbundrick
http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/mortgages/ziprealty-review/ 
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