The service is similar to other offered by outfits like Lending Tree, but the quotes are written without having to disclose your contact information to a bunch of lenders. Zillow explains:

"Your name, address, phone number or Social Security number is not required. However, you need to be accurate in providing other background information — such as the type of mortgage loan you want, your income level and an assessment of your credit rating — through Zillow's secure system"

Zillow says the quotes you'll get aren't computer generated, and you can choose to contact only the lenders who appeal to you.

You will not receive "insta-quotes" done by a computer; these are hand-written mortgage quotes personalized to fit your loan request by confirmed mortgage lenders. Each lender that participates in the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is required to divulge all quotes, rates, and fees in the mortgage quote that is returned to you. You compare the information provided — including rates, and lender ratings — and then you choose the mortgage lenders to contact.

Zillow Mortgage Marketplace

Never mind that the automated listings the Seattle-based company provides are a far cry from a person walking through your house and tapping the bricks.

This is an obvious rear guard action by the real estate community trying to protect their good ol' boy network and strangle the flow of information to consumers. Let's hope Zillow can appeal, and Arizona's action doesn't inspire other states. — BEN POPKEN

Arizona bars online home price estimator [AP] (Thanks to Jame!)

The Journal looked at transaction prices recorded for 1,000 recent home sales in seven states, using data from First American Real Estate Solutions, a data provider in Santa Ana, Calif., and compared those prices with Zillow estimates, which didn't yet reflect the sales. The median difference between the Zillow estimate and the actual price was 7.8%

However, when Zillow is off, it is damn off, by 25% on one in 10 homes, and in one instance, by $2 million.

For this reason, experts recommend using ZIllow as a starting point. Consider it among a suite of tools, like consulting local experts, checking out neighborhoods yourself, and asking around for sale prices. — BEN POPKEN

How Good Are Zillow's Estimates? [WSJ via Blueprint For Financial Prosperity]

Keeping up with the Jones' just got a little more transparent. — BEN POPKEN

Zillow [Official Site]

Less than three months after Zillow's launch, RealEstateABC is in public beta. The new site lets users slide adjust property values for individual houses based on such factors as interior, exterior, lot size, view, privacy/noise and local market conditions.

Further detailed info on property values is had by adding comparative factors, such as distance from a certain address.

RealEstateABC [paraphrased from TechCrunch] (Thanks to Leonor!)

The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg and Katie Boehret took a look at Zillow last week and came to very much the same conclusion as we did: It's far from perfect, but it looks like a great tool for smart home buyers and sellers to use in the coming (happening!) FSBO revolution.

Plus, think how useful this is going to be to find out if the people who dress fancy at parties actually live in a nice place or not. Sadly, it doesn't work so well in New York at the moment, so we used Joel's parents' house for the screenshot. If you rob and murder them this evening, please don't tell them where you got the address.