Zillow stalking: The new national pastime

July 8, 2025

By Kim Komando

Confession time: I Zillow people. All the time.

Someone casually mentions they just bought a house in Aspen? I’m on it. I’m already hunched over my keyboard like a Nancy Drew reboot.  

New neighbor moves in with a Mercedes-Benz and suspiciously good patio furniture? You better believe I’m typing that address into Zillow before their moving truck finishes unloading.

Zillow knows if they’re legit or just really good at faking it for the ’gram.

🏠 Putting the real in real estate

You probably already use Zillow to dream-shop for your next home. But here’s the real power move: using it to fact-check people’s financial lives. 

Millions of people are doing the same (paywall link). Zillow isn’t just some real estate listing site anymore, it’s a national pastime.

In just the first quarter of 2025, Zillow clocked a mind-blowing 2.4 billion visits. That’s not a typo. 227 million unique visitors show up every month. We’re all snooping, and the data is just sitting there waiting to be explored.

📍 Zestimate is close

When you plug in an address at Zillow, the first thing you see is the Zestimate. That’s Zillow’s home value estimate. It’s calculated from public records, recent sales, tax data, local MLS listings, updates from homeowners and spidey senses.

Zillow says it’s accurate within 2% of sale prices for homes currently on the market and within 7% for off-market homes. I know, it’ll likely be too low for your home and too high if you’re buying.

You’ll also find the price history (what they paid and when), estimated rent, tax assessments, square footage and even neighborhood details. It’s like a financial X-ray. 

🪞 You can’t hide this stuff

Nope. Zillow doesn’t let you delete or hide your Zestimate or sale history. 

So the next time someone brags about their new place, or you’re wondering how your coworker suddenly upgraded their life, do what I do: Type in the address, and let Zillow spill the tea.

🤔 I get what real estate is. But I’ve always wondered what abstract estate is.