Do zillow and trulia have accurate information?

[Mary R.]

I came across some OLD info regarding zillow and trulia (Dec 2012) "...stop searching for real estate on nationwide portals like Trulia and Zillow! ..."

 https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/12/2...

Is this still true, or have they corrected this situation? Is information, at least as availability and up to date listings are concerned? 

[Christopher Phillips]

@Matt Gibson

Each area has its quirks. Some areas Realtor.com data is better than Zillow data or vice versa.

Some areas have non disclosure issues like Texas. So, you can't get good data since many sellers want to hide their prices after a sale.

The other issue is that owners can claim a property on Zillow and manipulate the data. They can unintentionally add things or leave things out. So, you always have to verify all information.

Also, on occasion, public record data like notices of default, listing dates, sold dates, can be behind or entirely not correct. There can a 6-9 month delay in some areas for updating the county clerk records.

And many agents are notorious for not updating their listings. So, you call up and it's "under contract."

So, as with anything, you have to verify things.