Miami Realtors: how accurate do you feel Zillows "Zestimate" is? (sales, apartments)

[Lusiphur]

To echo what everyone else said, it's not.

That said, neither are most Miami realtors. The number of properties listed at stupidly high asking prices here (with no budging or negotiating) is absurd. Especially when these properties sit on the market for years. Or when nearly identical properties sell for a fraction of their price. There's a unit in my building that's being sold by the former chairman of the condo board. It's smaller than my place, has worse views, a terrible layout, no updates, and a much smaller outdoor area. He wants 50% more than my place (a penthouse, as well) is worth.

[elchevere]

Yup..not sure why a realtor would waste their time with such an overpriced listing unless they, like the owner, are hoping an all cash buyer looking to launder some money comes along and is the ultimate buyer.

Then there are those owners who are renting out their places (with their monthly payments covered) and go on the market hoping to find some putz who will overpay their higher than market asking price, often with the buyer then having to inherit and assume the role of landlord for a few to several months until the rental lease expires. In this and the above scenario it tells me the seller is not truly motivated.

Finally, I came across a listing agent who insisted on making a 4% commission (his portion only), to the detriment of the seller (same listing agent neglected to get the property listed on Zillow, and Redfin...other than that, he is doing a heckuva job for his client).

Originally Posted by Lusiphur

To echo what everyone else said, it's not.

That said, neither are most Miami realtors. The number of properties listed at stupidly high asking prices here (with no budging or negotiating) is absurd. Especially when these properties sit on the market for years. Or when nearly identical properties sell for a fraction of their price. There's a unit in my building that's being sold by the former chairman of the condo board. It's smaller than my place, has worse views, a terrible layout, no updates, and a much smaller outdoor area. He wants 50% more than my place (a penthouse, as well) is worth.

[bmw335xi]

It’s easy to do a CMA yourself, I mean if you have an agent who is competent it’s easier to do it through the MLS, but still you can do yourself.

Go on redfin.com, filters, choose Sold Homes within 1 year. And just look at all the sold homes in that building and area. Look for properties similar size, look at the sold price per square foot, compare the views, updated-ness etc. It’s easy to do.

[elchevere]

Yup...only issue is logic and analytical data do not often apply on one or both sides of the proposed transaction. Also, not sure if these sites include all cash transactions, do they??

Then there is subjective data....some very nice remodeled units at Waverly, as an example, are taking a big hit and have been reduced considerably thanks to construction of Monad Terrace next door. Some of the owners on the construction side who are motivated have dropped their prices at least 10% whereas others are priced as though nothing has changed and no construction is taking place at all. Not sure how, if at all, real estate sites account for such construction in coming up with their estimated values.

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

It’s easy to do a CMA yourself, I mean if you have an agent who is competent it’s easier to do it through the MLS, but still you can do yourself.

Go on redfin.com, filters, choose Sold Homes within 1 year. And just look at all the sold homes in that building and area. Look for properties similar size, look at the sold price per square foot, compare the views, updated-ness etc. It’s easy to do.

Is

[Marc Middleton]

Originally Posted by elchevere

Then there is subjective data....some very nice remodeled units at Waverly, as an example, are taking a big hit and have been reduced considerably thanks to construction of Monad Terrace next door. Some of the owners on the construction side who are motivated have dropped their prices at least 10% whereas others are priced as though nothing has changed and no construction is taking place at all. Not sure how, if at all, real estate sites account for such construction in coming up with their estimated values.

Yep, I've been saying this all year. You can get direct bay '01 and '02 line units under $850k now where as it was $950k-$1.1ML 2-3 years ago. Waverly is the best bang for your buck right now because of MONAd and some desperate sellers. Before it was Floridian because of the lobby construction and West Ave was torn up. Now that's done so prices will start to come back to market again. And you get 'nothing but blue' from all rooms where as the waverly will still give you some city/building views even in the '01 and '02 lines because of how the building is shaped.
But, waverly is a better location given what's around you vs Floridian is more convenient to get off the island.


I've been showing the Waverly like crazy to clients lately, units are going much quicker now and no longer sitting on the market.

[miagal]

Price estimate is way off. Homes on the market are usually accurate.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by miagal

Price estimate is way off. Homes on the market are usually accurate.

Homes on the market have only become more accurate relatively recently.

[arekusu]

Would you guys say Red Fin is "more accurate?" I am simply trying to establish a more accurate value of homes in certain areas, that's all. Just doing research for when the time comes to buy a SFH.

Looking at the recently sold listings has the draw back of being shown the price the home was sold for AFTER the down payment, so you don't really get to see the actual sale price (and you don't know how much they put down).

As I mentioned above this is just for my own research, I'm not quite at the stage to get a Realtor involved to start running comps, etc.

Thanks

[Corrie22]

"Looking at the recently sold listings"

This is a recent experience we had in our neighborhood......YMMV

Some of the realtors that work our neighborhood were grossly under reporting what the houses sold for.....leaving out a zero on the end.....as a result, zillow's algorithm grossly under valued the houses that were still on the market. The zestimate was off by hundreds of thousands.

This happened with more than one realtor, at more than one company, and went on for months. When confronted with it, they said it was a mistake. It's only a mistake if you're stupid enough to believe that no realtor ever looked at Zillow or had someone mention it in all those months....and no realtor ever tried to get someone to take a lot less for their house, because the buyer quoted zillow.

[ruski]

I find RedFin more reliable.