What's a Zillow?

Zillow is a new online tool designed to help buyers, sellers and homeowners estimate the value of their home. It's actually quite impressive even though the data is not always perfect. Zillow arrived on Wednesday and immediately slowed down to a crawl. It seems to be moving a little faster today. You can type in an address and instantly (just not on Wednesday) see some details of the home including the date and purchase price of the last sale and data on comparable sales. Most importantly you get an estimate of the value. I inputted some addresses in the Ledyard area and found many of the evaluations pretty close to market value. Unfortunately, the site couldn't find some home listings at all.  I wouldn't rely on it for a home evaluation but it does provide some interesting information, good mapping, and a graph of a homes estimated value over time. And the best part is that the service is free. I think it is a very useful tool for buyers, sellers, homeowners and even real estate agents. But I don't think it will be replacing me anytime soon!