Why Doomscrolling Misleads Chicago Buyers and Sellers

Have you spent late nights scrolling through Zillow, Redfin, or endless real estate TikToks & Instagram reels? You’ve likely felt overwhelmed by mixed signals, hot takes, and algorithmic guesswork.

The problem isn’t the information; it is that doomscrolling buries you in noise when you need clarity. And when you’re making a six- or seven-figure move, clarity matters.

Doomscrolling may feel productive, but it rarely helps you make smarter decisions in Chicago’s fast-moving market. Most people don’t realize this until they speak with an experienced agent. That’s when the gap becomes obvious.

Portals Can Entertain, But They Don’t Guide Sound Decisions

Portals excel at inspiration. You can track neighborhood energy, skim active listings, or get a feel for pricing ranges. That part works.

But when you need transaction-grade accuracy, portals fall short because they only show what they’re allowed to show. The MLS carries the full public dataset. Portals receive a limited feed.

That means private exclusives, pre-market listings, detailed deal terms, and buyer behavior never show up on your scroll. You’re watching highlights, not the full game tape.

Chicago Housing Derails The Algorithms

Chicago isn’t a uniform housing market. Our inventory ranges from 19th century greystones to glass-and-steel high-rises. You also have townhomes, rowhomes, 2-4 flats, coach houses, and buildings with wildly inconsistent square footage.

Algorithms lean on averages. Chicago requires nuance. A portal doesn’t understand that outdoor space adds meaningful lifestyle value, or that attached parking can shift price by tens of thousands. It can’t see renovations, micro-block demand, or building-specific quirks.

The Real Chicago Market Lives in Your Agent’s Head

Your agent tracks the information that portals can’t access or interpret. That includes buyer quality, showing behavior, off-market options, and the underlying signals that predict whether a listing will move or stall.

For example, serious buyers create consistent follow-up patterns.  Some properties receive repeat visits that show strong intent. None of this appears on a portal.

One Buyer’s Journey From Doomscrolling to Clarity

Nina had been scrolling through Zillow every night for four months. She tracked price drops, saved listings obsessively, and watched every TikTok tour and Instagram reel she could get her eyes on. Nina convinced herself she understood the market.

She felt prepared when she toured her first condo in Bucktown. Nina had already checked the Zestimate, compared beds and baths, and studied similar units. She walked in with confidence.

But after the showing, her agent shared the context she couldn’t see online. Two buyers scheduled second visits before her. One had been submitted strong offers in the neighborhood for months and was ready to move fast. Another came from an agent known for clean, reliable contracts.

Nina also learned that the portal’s square-footage estimate was off by nearly 300 square feet, and that the algorithm undervalued the private deck. The Zestimate had anchored her expectations far below reality.

Within an hour, Nina realized she had been preparing with incomplete information. She regrouped, reviewed comparable sales in the MLS, and, with the information provided by her agent, shifted her focus from algorithmic pricing to actual market value.

Nina didn’t win that first home, but her next offer succeeded because she understood demand, timing, and buyer behavior.

Doomscrolling Creates Fake Confidence

Buyers often walk into showings with portal-driven certainty. They quote portal values, assume a listing is weak after two weeks on the market, or compare similar-looking units online. None of those assumptions includes real-time buyer intent, which dictates whether you win or lose a home.

Doomscrolling Even Distracts Sellers From the Signals That Matter

Sellers frequently panic when a Zestimate dips or a portal view count slows. Algorithms shift automatically. They can’t read showing quality, agent feedback, or private comps.

When sellers chase portal values, they risk underpricing or overpricing. Both choices cost money. Pricing strategy should follow your agent’s interpretation of demand and actual market value, not a fluctuating estimate.

Making Meaningful Comparisons

Real comps reflect renovations, micro-block demand, recent sold data, and off-market activity. Algorithms miss all of that. Your agent should walk you through recent sales, including those that never made it to the public portals.

FAQs About Getting Past Endless Scrolling

Is doomscrolling real estate portals actually harmful, or just inefficient?

It becomes harmful when it replaces real analysis. Portals provide fragments of information without context. When buyers and sellers rely on those fragments to make timing or pricing decisions, they act on misleading signals.

Why don’t Zillow or Redfin reflect what is really happening in Chicago?

Because Chicago is too nuanced for averages. Building quirks, renovations, parking, outdoor space, and micro-block demand all matter. Algorithms cannot accurately weigh those variables, especially in older or non-uniform housing stock.

What information do agents see that portals don’t show?

Agents track buyer quality, showing patterns, follow-up behavior, off-market options, and which contracts tend to survive attorney review. These signals reveal intent and momentum, which portals cannot measure or display.

How does doomscrolling create false confidence for buyers?

Buyers begin to believe they understand pricing and leverage based on online comparisons. Without insight into the competition, agent reputation, or buyer readiness, that confidence breaks down the moment real offers come in.

Human Insight Always Beats the Scroll

Portals remain useful for inspiration, but they cannot guide your next move. Buyers need clarity on payment terms, awareness of off-market opportunities, and guidance on sequencing strategies. Sellers need buyer-quality signals, showing interpretations, and price positioning informed by real demand.

Chicago’s market rewards buyers and sellers who understand nuance beyond online estimates. Partner with an agent who can translate raw data into direction and help you move forward with confidence. Reach out to MG Group to start a conversation with our team.