Those sites, however, usually answer only a few of the myriad questions that prospective buyers have about houses. They often don't address subjects like: How is the neighborhood? Is it on a busy street? Is there any nearby place for the kids to play?
The Home Q&A feature enables any user to ask a question about a property and expect an answer. Since its April 4 launch, the site has already fielded 2,000 queries, 700 of which have been answered, according to spokeswoman Amy Bohutinsky.
"People are jumping in and using the feature," she says. "A lot of agents are answering the questions."
Questions run the gamut from "How much are the sewer taxes" to "Is there frequent crime in the area" to "Who plows the dirt road."
Zillow hopes that the information exchanged will enable house hunters to narrow down their list of houses to physically examine without leaving their computer.
