Comprehensive resource connects users with local experts to find relevant information, advice, and answers to real estate questions

SEATTLE, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Real estate Web site Zillow.com today announced the launch of Zillow® Advice, an online resource for consumers to find answers to specific local real estate questions. Located in the "Advice" tab on Zillow.com, Zillow Advice encourages consumers to "Ask a Question," tag it by topic or locality, and receive advice from Zillow's online community of local real estate experts - the 1.2 million agents, lenders and other professionals who use Zillow each month.(1)

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Zillow Advice adds to existing community features such as Zillow Discussions and Home Q&A, which allow for broader discussion topics or home-specific questions and answers. Currently, more than 40,000 contributions are made to Zillow.com by its community of users each day.(2)

"In today's changing and unprecedented housing market, homeowners, buyers and sellers are hungry for advice and information," said Rich Barton, CEO and co-founder of Zillow.com. "This is apparent in the traffic and activity we are seeing on Zillow, with unique visitors up 44 percent over this time last year - it's clear more people than ever are searching for answers. Zillow Advice is a place where people can ask questions, find information on a very specific and local level, and connect with the real estate professionals in their area who can help. This, in addition to Zillow's updated home value and for-sale data on 80 million U.S. homes, creates an invaluable resource for consumers trying to navigate today's market."

In addition to the "Ask a Question" function, Zillow Advice includes several features to help ensure consumers get the best answers possible from the Zillow Community:

• Localization - Users can tag questions by locality, at the state, city, or neighborhood level. Professionals and other Zillow users can then answer with information pertaining to that specific location. For example, if a user had a question about pricing their home in a specific Seattle neighborhood, a local Seattle real estate agent, or a recent seller from that neighborhood could answer with relevant information or advice.
• "Local Expert" Badge - Users who ask questions can notate the "best answer" to their questions. Those whose answers are frequently voted "best answers" earn points towards a "Local Expert" Badge - a way for the Zillow community to know which experts are active and frequently commended for their helpful contributions.
• Subscription - Professionals can subscribe to specific locations or topics in their area of expertise. When a question is tagged with a city, neighborhood or topic they have subscribed to, they are notified immediately via an email or RSS feed and can quickly respond with relevant information. This feature helps consumers connect quickly and easily with the local experts who can best answer their question.
• Key Word Search - Users typing in a specific word or phrase, like "refinancing" are directed to all the questions that have been asked, or discussions taking place on Zillow Advice around that word or phrase.
• Profile Pages - All Zillow community contributions link to a user's free Zillow Profile Page, where real estate professionals can choose to include contact information, photos and a narrative about their areas of service. Profile pages show all of an individual's contributions to Zillow.com - from active listings, to questions answered or discussion participation.

To try Zillow Advice, click the "Advice" tab on www.zillow.com, or visit www.zillow.com/advice-browse. For more information and commentary from the Zillow team, or to ask a question about the new features, visit the Zillow Blog at www.zillowblog.com.

About Zillow.com

Zillow.com is an online real estate community where homeowners, buyers, sellers, real estate agents and mortgage professionals find and share vital information about homes, for free. Launched in early 2006 with Zestimate® values and data on millions of U.S. homes, Zillow has since opened the site to community input, data and dialogue. One of the most-visited U.S. real estate Web sites, Zillow's goal is to help people become smarter about real estate in every stage of the home ownership process - buying, selling, remodeling and financing. In addition to the flagship Zillow.com, Zillow also operates Zillow Mortgage Marketplace (www.zillow.com/mortgage), an online mortgage resource allowing borrowers to anonymously request an unlimited number of personalized loan quotes from confirmed mortgage professionals, for free. Zillow is headquartered in Seattle and has raised $87 million in funding.

Zillow.com, Zillow, and Zestimate are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc.

1. Average of monthly unique visitors to Zillow.com for Sept., Oct., and Nov. 2008 was 5.4 million - Source: Omniture. 22% of Zillow visitors self-identified as real estate professionals in November 2008 - Source: Zillow site survey.
2. Community contributions to Zillow.com come from individual users and include questions asked and answered in Home Q&A, contributions to Zillow discussions, profiles created, home facts/details updated or photos added.

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SOURCE: Zillow.com

Web site: http://www.zillow.com/