Why Zillow Is the Best Way to Creep on Someone

Nothing feels more intimate than seeing the inside of someone's home. From the architectural features to the relaxing bedroom decor, each house offers a glimpse into the lives and personalities of those who live there. And Zillow, an app designed to help renters, buyers, and real-estate professionals, has become the ultimate tool for satisfying this voyeuristic curiosity without ever stepping foot inside.

Whether I want to snoop on a friend's new home or revel in the details of a multimillion-dollar house I pass on the street, Zillow tells me everything I need to know about a person: how much money they have, if they're at-home gym people, or whether they have an affinity for West Elm rugs.

“People who find themselves creeping on Zillow are often seeking a glimpse into someone else's world,” psychologist Reena B. Patel says. “They may be curious about what someone else's house looks like and how they live, or they may just be curious about how much they paid for the house.”

Of course, creeping on Zillow satisfies my blatant curiosity to know everything about everyone around me. But the universal experience of being a “Zillow peeper” goes even deeper than that.

Experts Featured in This Article

Reena B. Patel is a psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst.

Why Do People Love Creeping on Zillow?

People use Zillow for a lot of reasons, and to be honest, it's rarely because they're genuinely looking to rent, buy, or sell. “A primary reason why people find themselves creeping on Zillow may be to compare their own life with the life of someone else's,” Patel says.

For the same reason I creep on other social media platforms, Zillow gives me unlimited access to a lot of information about someone I otherwise wouldn't have. If I want to see what my ex is up to, I can feel better about myself when I see the grungy townhome he shares with six other fraternity brothers. If I want to look into how much my neighbor is selling their house for, I can do that too. And for my ultra-competitive cousin, I can see how much she put down for her apartment — purely for curiosity's sake, of course . . . and maybe so I can one-up her at Thanksgiving this year.

On a deeper level, browsing through homes on Zillow also lets me explore lifestyles different than my own. On Zillow, I don't live in a house with my boyfriend in the suburbs of Kansas City. Instead, I explore what it would feel like to live in a beachfront villa in South Carolina or a high-rise apartment in New York.

Picturing my life as a coastal grandmother on Zillow sometimes inspires me to make that my reality. It makes waking up for my work day a little bit more worth it. But in other cases, browsing through Zillow is merely a relaxing form of daydreaming — a compilation of “wow, what if?” moments I have over and over again.

Zillow peeping isn't just a me thing, though. Really, it's a universal experience. On an episode of Bravo's “The Valley,” Janet Caperna shared her love of Zillow peeping, saying, “Of course I've looked up my friends' houses on Zillow. Any time I get an address, the first thing I do is put it into Zillow and give myself a little house tour.” Honestly, relatable. And even TikTok influencer Tinx admitted to doing it as a pre-first date check.

All that to say, don't feel ashamed for your urge to creep on Zillow, even if it does make you feel like you're in a nonconsensual virtual house tour. “It is a normal feeling to be curious and have a desire to know more about someone,” Patel says.

That said, if your Zillow peeping begins to feel like an “obsession” or something that “preoccupies your mind,” that's when it might not be so healthy anymore, says Patel. At that point, it may be best to speak with a mental health therapist about your underlying motivations and feelings.

Ultimately, whether out of curiosity, comparison, escapism, or inspiration, using Zillow to creep may just be the most underrated form of self-care of all time. Who needs Instagram, Facebook, or Venmo, when I can see who chooses to sleep under popcorn ceilings?

Taylor Andrews is a Balance editor at PS who specializes in topics relating to sex, relationships, dating, sexual health, mental health, and more. In her six years working in editorial, she's written about how semen is digested, why sex aftercare is the move, and how the overturn of Roe killed situationships.