Parenting

From The Confessional: These Zillow-Addicted Moms Are Judging Your House

by Cassandra Stone
franz12/Getty

Don’t lie, we’ve all logged into Zillow to check out the digs of people we know (and how much they spent)

Whether you’ve lived in your home for a decade with no plans to move or you’re actually in the market for a new home — you’ve spent some time on Zillow, admit it. Some serious time. Because peeping inside other people’s homes is fun! Looking inside someone else’s home is not just an activity for Sunday morning cable access shows anymore, thanks to Zillow and other realtor apps. We can peek at just about any house we want to, anytime we want to.

Some people more than others, though. Like these moms, who are looking up the homes of perfect strangers, new acquaintances, and frenemies on the regular. Why? Curiousity. Oh, and to judge.

Whenever I get someone’s address to send a gift or card, I immediately look up their house on Zillow to see pictures and how much money they paid for the house.

Confessional #25806506

I like to online "window shop" and house hunt on Zillow for my "dream home". This is what I do for fun now.

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I stalk an old friend's (who dumped me) beautiful new home on Zillow. I am consumed with envy.

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Raise your hand if you’ve ever looked through homes online and asked yourself “What the HELL do these people DO for a living?!” as you perused through 2500 square feet of space you couldn’t even imagine filling. Or wondered how people could possibly afford to pay thousands and thousands of dollars a month on a mortgage alone?

We just moved and I love my new house but I still spend hours each week cruising through houses on Zillow.

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I only use the Zillow app to see how big/small my neighbors, and friends house is and how much they paid. And I get to see who’s in pre foreclosure! #Nosey!

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I have such bad house envy - I go on Zillow to pretend like I actually have the means to buy a home - feels like this is going to take forever :(

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Sometimes it’s nice to go on Zillow to see how ordinary people decorate. And sometimes it’s nice to go on there to see how people you know in real life who are selling their home decorate. No reason, really, just…nosy. And judge-y.

Instead of actually working on my writing (which might actually make me some money) I'm staring at houses on Zillow that I can't afford.

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(Oof, feeling personally attacked from that one.)

I zillow my friends houses. Also play dates.

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I look up all of my son's friends' addresses on Zillow to see the value of their homes. I am secretly delighted when our house is worth more.

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I'm obsessed with looking up people's houses on Zillow...do I think if I know what their home is worth then I can know what they're worth as a person? very weird, I know.

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Outside of being nosy, doesn’t everyone look up houses way out of any realistic budget we have set just to daydream for a hot second? Is it healthy? Probably not, no! But it’s all right there at our fingertips, so why not?

I routinely look at houses online that I would never be able to afford and daydream about living in them.

Confessional #4340062

When I get depressed about our financial situation (which is pretty often lately) I look at houses for sale (that we'll never be able to afford unless we win the lottery) and daydream about how I'd decorate them.

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It doesn’t matter why anyone uses apps like Zillow or Realtor. But let’s be honest, we all use them for the same reasons.

I am addicted to Zillow.

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