/tiller-zillow-simple

Simple script to retrieve & write Zillow Zestimates® to Tiller-enabled spreadsheets

Primary LanguageJavaScriptMIT LicenseMIT

Tiller Zillow (Simple) Automation

The tiller-zillow-simple script is a simple Google Apps Script to scrape Zillow Zestimates® and insert them into the Balance History sheet of Tiller-enabled spreadsheets. This workflow is especially useful for tracking net worth.

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Adivsory

This simple script is designed for intermediate users and includes only lightweight error checking. We hope it meets your needs out of the box, but further tweaks may be required to get it working in your environment. As a one-off Tiller-Labs release, Tiller offers no warranties or support for this solution.

Setting Up Your Project

To configure your project, implement the following steps in Google Sheets:

  1. Visit Zillow and browse to the property you'd like to link.
  2. Click on the Public View link.
  3. Find the Zillow Property ID number in the URL— it will have a format similar to: ...homes/for_sale/48000000_zpid/47.63.... (In this example, the Property ID is 48000000.)
  4. Create a Zillow Web Services ID by visiting Zillow's API Overview page.
  5. Follow the link to Get a Zillow Web Services ID (ZWSID) and follow the steps.
  6. Open the Tiller Google-Sheets spreadsheet you'd like to integrate with Zillow.
  7. Click on Tools -> Script editor to open the spreadsheet's bound scripts.
  8. Copy the contents of zillow.js from this repo into the Google Sheets script editor.
  9. Set the zwsid variable (at the start of the code) equal to your new Zillow Web Services ID.
  10. Set the zpid variable (at the start of the code) equal to your new Zillow Property ID.
  11. Save the script file.
  12. Click on the Set Function dropdown in the control bar and select the zestimateInsert function.
  13. Click the run/play button.
  14. In the 'Authorization required' window that appears, click 'Review Permissions', then authenticate and allow the script to run.

If you've completed all the steps successfully, you should have a new entry in your Balance History reflecting the Zestimate® of the linked property.

Reporting on Multiple Properties

Most users will configure only a single Zillow Property ID like this:

var zpid = '11111111';

If you'd like to run the script against multiple properties, the zpid can be configured as an array:

var zpid = '[11111111, 22222222, 33333333]'

Taking This Solution Further...

Consider adding:

  • An onOpen() function to create a menu item to execute an update
  • Triggers to automate script execution