Now I know how McDonald’s felt whenever they updated their marquee from “60 billion served” to “70 billion served.” Evidently, they stopped keeping track of how many burgers were sold a while ago, but it became one of those stats that stuck in your brain — even as a 12-year-old.
So, what does McDonald’s have to do with Zillow? Nothing, really, except for the fact that we just crossed a magic number threshold that we think is worth sharing. A few weeks ago we announced the ability for homeowners to claim their homes on Zillow.com and to update facts or post their own estimate.
Since then, more than 100,000 homeowners have taken us up on the offer. (103,000 as of this morning). OK, it’s not a billion hamburgers, but yes, we are pleasantly surprised to see how eager people are to claim their homes. Not so surprising is that California (23,500) tops the list, followed by Florida (13,000) and Washington state (12,000). Homes have been claimed in 46 states and the District of Columbia.
Most homes claimed by owners are single family residences (89%), and the average claimed home value is $477,581 (quite a bit above the current national Zindex of $269,445 – call it the California effect).
To claim your home, just go to your home details page, then under “Owner Tools” click on “Claim your home.” Or, read more about how the claiming process works. It’s your home… go ahead and claim it!
Update 1/24/2008: As of January 2008, claiming your home and editing your home facts will now have an impact on your Zestimate.