Use the real estate portal Zillow properly

The largest and most famous real estate portal in the USA is called Zillow. I have in my article Property prices in Cape Coral already reported about it. Numerous properties for Cape Coral are listed on Zillow with pictures and many details. The platform is available on the web and as a smartphone app free of charge to disposal. In this article I will explain the most important key data of a property on Zillow. The information appears in a dialog, when you click on a property.

Price and location

I already mentioned the price of the property in the article Property prices in Cape Coral .. The address is directly below the price. For better orientation I have the Streets in Cape Coral, Florida dealt with in a separate article.

Size of the property

On the screenshot above, next to the price is the number of bedroom (3 bd = three bedrooms) and Baths (2 ba = two bathrooms). This is typical of American villas. In addition, the Living space in square foot (sqft) specified, in which 1 sqt approximately 0,9 qm corresponds. For the sake of simplicity, you can move the comma two places to the right and then move the value away 10 % pull off. Out 1,507 sqft are then approx. 150 sqm minus 10 %, so about 135 square meters.

costs per month

You can see directly below the address Is. payment (estimated payment). This is the estimated cost of the property in US dollars, converted to a month. Multiply the value by 0,82 you get the monthly costs in euros.

If you click on Price and tax history, the costs are further broken down into Principal & Interest (Mortgage costs after deducting a customary down payment of 20 percent), Mortgage insurance (Mortgage insurance for down payments of less than 20 percent), Property tax (Property tax, Calculated from the house price and a local tax rate), Home insurance (Household items, building- and liability insurance in one for damage caused by fire, Hurricanes, Flooding, etc.) HOA fees (Home Owner Associations cover the costs of maintaining the public areas of the building such as. e.g.. garden, Pool, Terrace, Elevator and often also waste / water and garbage charges) and Utilities (other services such as. water- and channel costs, heater, Electricity and internet). By the way: Unlike in Germany, there is in Florida no real estate transfer tax. That's what the annual property tax is for (clear) more expensive than here. The tax history shows the real assessment bases for collecting property tax from the past. This is also a good way of assessing the property's increase in value.

More details and outlook

Based on the numbers, the description of the property and the stored images, you can get a very good impression. Of course, this does not replace the on-site inspection. However, you don't have to be on site for this. Brokers often offer a remote tour via video broadcast. In addition, a Processing company and a Appraiser switched on. In the USA there is no land register like here in Germany. Accordingly, the purchase contracts are not made by notaries either, but closed by the real estate agents. Both buyers and sellers have their own broker, who must have a license. The brokers also negotiate and write the contracts. But more on that later in a separate article.

Conclusion: The real estate portal Zillow helps investors a lot

A real estate portal like Zillow would probably be a real nightmare for German privacy advocates. For someone like me, who is interested in an investment in a vacation property in Cape Coral, however, it is a real help. I have the article about this About US real estate and freedom written. But whether I am still so happy about it after the purchase, that my house is completely transparent, I do not know yet…