Rate Your Neighbor: Zillow’s Newest Tool
With this new neighbor-rating tool, home values are going through the roof. But, is this tool a good thing? Find out more about Rate Your Neighbor, and then see how your neighbors rank YOU.
As you may have read, the social media platform NextDoor rolled out its Rate Your Neighbor feature to 10 major U.S. markets last year, instantly becoming the siteβs most-used feature in all cities in which it was beta-tested. Within the feature, residents can give each other one to five stars in categories like Neatness, Lawn Maintenance, Noise Level, and Helpfulness. Neighbors with the highest ratings earn special badges informing other users of their elite status. Neighborhoods with high averages were suddenly more popular β¦ which brings in Zillow.
Seeing the home values actually rise in a highly rated neighborhood, Zillow saw opportunity in Rate Your Neighborβs overwhelming popularity and has now officially partnered with NextDoor. Zillow has fine-tuned the rating system for use on its own site, adding categories that matter most to homebuyers and allowing anyone who visits Zillow to see the ratings of neighbors in surrounding homes that are currently on the market. βIβve become obsessed with checking the rating system on Zillow now,β Madison Durak admits. βI donβt even think of making an appointment to view a home anymore if the neighbors rate less than a four out of five. Itβs a total game-changer for home buying.β
Madison has been on the quest for a three-bedroom house with an open floor plan and a big backyard for her dog, but sheβs not willing to make an offer without knowing who will be found next door. βIβve gotta have awesome neighbors,β Madison says. βI grew up on a street full of families with parents who really knew each other and did life together. And I want to have that experience now as an adult.β She admits sheβs βbasically addicted toβ the Rate Your Neighbor tool, and by the looks of things, this is headed to be a major disruptive force in real estate β¦ and the way neighbors interact.
Zillowβs new ratings categories help homebuyers like Madison know exactly what to expect from their neighbors before they move in while not disclosing anything related to race, gender or age. Here are four additions to the rating system and our remarks, as honestly, weβre a little flabbergasted that this rating system exists and we arenβt quite sure itβs a good thing β¦
Garage Vibes
βHomeowners across the board agree good neighbors keep their garages tidy and their garage doors shut when the space is not in use,β says Zillow spokesperson Bridget Tanga. βThatβs why weβre giving residents the opportunity to rank their neighborsβ garage habits. A clean, well-organized garage with closed doors and spotless, newer model cars inside is sure to earn a five-star rating and may even help surrounding homes sell for a higher price.β As evidence, Bridget cites a recent study from Consumer Reports suggesting positive neighbor ratings can increase the value of a home by as much as 10 percent.
Our thoughts: We hate seeing messy garages, too.Β
Trash Can Takeback
Thanks to Zillow, neighbors can now rate one anotherβs trashcan etiquette, perhaps encouraging some neighbors to improve their questionable trashcan habits. βEveryone on our street knows trash pickup is on Wednesdays,β says Brentwood, Tennessee resident Anneliese Scemo. βSo when the single mom at the end of our cul-de-sac kept leaving her trash can out until Friday or even Saturday afternoon, my husband and I both gave her a two out of five on Rate Your Neighbor. That fixed the problem,β Anneliese giggles triumphantly. βZillow sent her a notification about her new rating and after that, she never left her trash can out past Wednesday again!β
Our thoughts: We did ask Zillow if they will have a passive-aggressive rating β¦ they have yet to reply.
Animal Instincts
Want to avoid moving next door to a crazy cat lady or a breeder of bloodhounds? Be sure to check Zillowβs Rate Your Neighbor results before you sign those closing papers. Now, you can find out about your future neighborsβ barking dogs, non-neutered cats, or squawking parrots before deciding whether you want to live next door to them. Residents who upload photographic or video proof can also report pet owners who let their dogs poop on other neighborsβ lawns. βAny evidence of this kind of behavior gives that neighbor an immediate overall rating of one out of five stars,β Bridget confirms. βOur research shows homebuyers have zero tolerance for anyone who lets their dogs do their business on a neighborβs property without bothering to clean up afterward. I mean, thatβs just gross.β
Our thoughts: We donβt understand how Zillow says they arenβt disclosing race, gender or age if they are accepting video or photos. But, technology has come a long way, so maybe there is some software that removes the people and only shows the pets?
Personality Check
Residents can now reward especially friendly neighbors by giving them a five-star personality rating. They can also use this category to put cranky neighbors on blast. Thatβs exactly what Cad and Cayleigh Amadan did after moving next door to a retired bachelor who yelled at them each time their Cavapoo set so much as a paw on his property. The couple ended up moving a few months later, but not before sharing their thoughts on Rate Your Neighbor. βWe had no problem giving the guy a one-star rating,β Cad says. βWe felt a responsibility to let this manβs future neighbors know what theyβre getting into before they buy a house anywhere near him.β
βWeβre planning on starting a family soon,β Cayleigh adds. βCan you even imagine what a man like that could do to a young childβs self-esteem? We ended up having to put our Cavapoo on anti-anxiety meds!β
Our thoughts: Weβre still perplexed on why someone would rate a neighbor poorly since it affects their own home value. But, as people would rather yell at each other on social media than have an actual conversation, perhaps itβs worth the home value decrease?
Rate Your Neighbor appears to be having an impact on the real estate market. βEarly results indicate houses with high neighbor ratings are selling an average of 20 days sooner than houses with low neighbor ratings,β reports Bridget. βWeβre excited to see what kind of impact Rate Your Neighbor has on the marketplace over time. We believe it could also actually inspire neighbors to be kinder to each other, knowing their rating could impact their homeβs overall value.β
For Madison Durak, Zillowβs new feature is simply making her search for a dream home a little less stressful. βI just want to live next to people who look and act like me,β she explains. βI donβt think thatβs too much to ask. Rate Your Neighbor lets me pinpoint which neighborhoods have cool people who share my aesthetic and which ones are filled with weirdos and jerks.β
So, what do you think? Is Rate Your Neighbor a good thing or a bad thing?Β
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Published on April 1, 2021.
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We believe in laughter and April Fools jokes.
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Lindsay Ferrier
Lindsay Ferrier is a Nashville-based travel writer and author of the blog Suburban Turmoil.