Zillow Talk

Rewriting the Rules of Real Estate

By: Spencer Rascoff, Stan Humphries

Narrated by: Spencer Rascoff

How do you spot an area poised for gentrification? Is spring or winter the best time to put your house on the market? Will a house on Swamp Road sell for less than one on Gingerbread Lane? The fact is that the rules of real estate have changed drastically over the past five years. To understand real estate in our fast-paced, technology-driven world, we need to toss out all of the outdated truisms and embrace today's brand new information. But how?

Enter Zillow, the nation's #1 real estate website and mobile app. Thanks to its treasure trove of proprietary data and army of statisticians and data scientists, led by chief economist Stan Humphries, Zillow has been able to spot the trends and truths of today's housing market while acknowledging that a home is more than an economic asset. In Zillow Talk, Humphries and CEO Spencer Rascoff explain the science behind where and how we live now and reveal practical, data-driven insights about buying, selling, renting and financing real estate. Read this book to find out why:

It's better to remodel your bathroom than your kitchen
Putting the word "cute" in your listing could cost you thousands of dollars
You shouldn't buy the worst house in the best neighborhood
You should never list your house for $444,000
You shouldn't list your house for sale before March Madness or after the Masters

Densely packed with entertaining anecdotes and invaluable how-to advice, Zillow Talk is poised to be the real estate almanac for the next generation.

Great book! Data driven and insightful

Would you listen to Zillow Talk again? Why?

yes

What other book might you compare Zillow Talk to and why?

Freakonomics or other books Stephen J. Dubner, Steven D. Levitt as they used interesting data to back up facts

What about Spencer Rascoff and Stan Humphries ’s performance did you like?

data driven analysis

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no

Any additional comments?

no

Real estate 101 information you need to know

All good information for both home buyers and sellers, agents that want to be in touch with what their clients are looking to for information.

A Real Estate 'Freakanomics'

Really enjoyed it, and as I'd hoped for. Multiple narrators kept it lively. While not a commercial for Zillow it did point out several tools they have I didn't know about.

Companion PDF to the audio book mentioned several times, will be audio useful since these findings are data driven. ...Though I haven't figured out how to access that yet through mobile. Maybe I'll have to use one of these "computer" things.

Refreshingly substantive

For once, a Real Estate book that sticks to the numbers and research. Too many REI books dedicate a major portion to motivational/ personal mindset topics. This one, although lacking in some performance aspects, delivers a good dose of useful, data-driven content. I only wish it went further and deeper into the data. Maybe other volumes...

Love the deep dive into the data

Always a pleasure to hear Stan and Spencer’s thoughts directly from themselves. I never finished the print version but I will probably listen to the audible version again. I miss you at Zillow, Spencer! Hope all is well :) - Joy N.