how reliable is zillow?

[az99]

Originally Posted by Harbor Hopper

Yeah, isn't this just the lawsuit-happy response to everything now in the good 'ole USA. Someone costs you money, just SUE 'em! How about take responsibility for YOUR OWN ACTIONS! If ANYONE has ever lost money because of what Zillow or any other RE website told them, then it's 100% their OWN fault for not doing their own due diligence and research. COMMON SENSE PEOPLE!!!!!!!

OK Mr. smartguy , then what is a persons recourse if the sale price of their home is negatively affected by Zillow or other total BS website? Write Zillow a letter and ask them to make up the difference?

I hate attorneys probably more than the average person but what else can be done? The previous poster to me seems to have done all he could.

Zillow and Carfax are just 2 prime examples of companies making money at the expense of the consumer. There are many proven cases of how these companies cost people $.

It is 2014 and like it or not lawyers have been allowed by other lawyers to run this country into the ground. But you need one to do almost anything of major $ value or dispute.

[SJNE17]

az99--zillow runs algorithms using a variety of source data. a lot of times, the data is bad, old, or just completely and utterly wrong.

no appraiser will use zillow as any basis of fact in valuing property, as no bank, agency or lender will approve it as a form of establishing value.

it's merely a handy tool for consumers that should be used as a starting point: pictures, address, most recent tax roll, listing agent info (if available), etc.

suing them claiming damages would be like suing the local news weather forecaster for getting it wrong on the day you had an outdoor picnic planned.

sadly, i'm sure there's a lawyer out there who would take such a case on anyway. for jurisprudence's sake, of course....

[Harbor Hopper]

Originally Posted by az99

OK Mr. smartguy , then what is a persons recourse if the sale price of their home is negatively affected by Zillow or other total BS website? Write Zillow a letter and ask them to make up the difference?

Recourse?? There is no recourse because the SELLER determines how much he/she will sell their property for, NOT a website. If a buyer says "but the Zestimate for your house is only $xxx", then it's time you or their agent educates them. In the end, it's the SELLERS decision whether to accept an offer or not. You CAN'T blame anyone else or a website for YOU accepting a low offer. It's ALL on you as a seller. This means you need to know the market and your area's market conditions. If you don't, then you'll need a comparable market analysis to determine the correct listing price based on recent comparable sales

[az99]

So we all seem to at least agree that Zillow Zestimates are not accurate.

Very true what you say about the seller setting the price, but. My neighbor is going thru this right now. He has a price that he, his realtor and appraiser feel is more than fair. But the Zestimate is quite a bit lower. Each offer he has gotten is based off the Zillow pricing.

So what does he do? Whether it is BS or not buyers are using it as a tool to pay less than true value in some cases. If the Zillow number was not out there I believe in many cases the sellers would get more and have easier sales. Not so much in a hot market like Fla. but more so in markets where things don't sell so fast and there are many more variables.

Here in Pa. the local bank does use Zillow as a reference for home values when doing home equity loans. In many cases they are so low the people then have to pay for an appraisal.

Hopefully Zillow will be just a memory when I am ready to sell.

[Harbor Hopper]

Originally Posted by az99

So we all seem to at least agree that Zillow Zestimates are not accurate.

Very true what you say about the seller setting the price, but. My neighbor is going thru this right now. He has a price that he, his realtor and appraiser feel is more than fair. But the Zestimate is quite a bit lower. Each offer he has gotten is based off the Zillow pricing.

So what does he do? Whether it is BS or not buyers are using it as a tool to pay less than true value in some cases. If the Zillow number was not out there I believe in many cases the sellers would get more and have easier sales. Not so much in a hot market like Fla. but more so in markets where things don't sell so fast and there are many more variables.

Here in Pa. the local bank does use Zillow as a reference for home values when doing home equity loans. In many cases they are so low the people then have to pay for an appraisal.

Hopefully Zillow will be just a memory when I am ready to sell.

I've NEVER met a realtor that would submit an offer based a Zillow estimate. That is retarded. And to say that multiple offers based on Zillow have been submitted makes me skeptical as to the truth of this story.
Zillow isn't in your neighborhood. Zillow is not an appraiser. The end.

[Old Gal]

I agree wholeheartedly with HH on this one.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Harbor Hopper

Recourse?? There is no recourse because the SELLER determines how much he/she will sell their property for, NOT a website. If a buyer says "but the Zestimate for your house is only $xxx", then it's time you or their agent educates them. In the end, it's the SELLERS decision whether to accept an offer or not. You CAN'T blame anyone else or a website for YOU accepting a low offer. It's ALL on you as a seller. This means you need to know the market and your area's market conditions. If you don't, then you'll need a comparable market analysis to determine the correct listing price based on recent comparable sales

Mr. Smart guy, HH, has constantly pointed out that Zillow is NOT very accurate, and should not be relied on. He has posted it on this site over and over and over to many different new posters (new if you have been posting less than 2 years). So he is right. And it is true that buyers and sellers determine the price of their property in a deal. Not Zillow, and not Carfax or any other website who make no guarantees for accuracy.

Unfortunately, most people have very little if any recourse against such sites as long as there are people who use them, recommend them, visit their sites, and encourage their advertisers. Most of us here don't especially when there are better sites to visit for information like the local MLS's which have gotten better and better, and we including HH have recommended over and over again.

Also, don't blame HH for his free spending habits, and over paying for stuff all the time - like his new house.

ha ha, HH, I know how tight you are - I've seen the shiny first penny you earned.

[Big House]

Originally Posted by az99

So we all seem to at least agree that Zillow Zestimates are not accurate.

Very true what you say about the seller setting the price, but. My neighbor is going thru this right now. He has a price that he, his realtor and appraiser feel is more than fair. But the Zestimate is quite a bit lower. Each offer he has gotten is based off the Zillow pricing.

So what does he do? Whether it is BS or not buyers are using it as a tool to pay less than true value in some cases. If the Zillow number was not out there I believe in many cases the sellers would get more and have easier sales. Not so much in a hot market like Fla. but more so in markets where things don't sell so fast and there are many more variables.

Here in Pa. the local bank does use Zillow as a reference for home values when doing home equity loans. In many cases they are so low the people then have to pay for an appraisal.

Hopefully Zillow will be just a memory when I am ready to sell.

If banks are using Zillow as a reference for determining home values - then they are bigger fools than they were when they helped cause the housing market to crash. And, if they are - then they are on their own when making a loan, because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not guarantee those loans, and they will never be able to sell them to the bundlers that buy mortgages either.

Buyers always are willing to offer prices much lower than the real value, everyone wants to invest in deals that are lower than safe market conditions - that's how money is made. Don't blame Zillow for shroud buyers and low ball offers. I don't think you always offer more than what things are worth - cuz if you do, then you are about to get a whole lot of DMs with some "fabulous deals!!"

[SJNE17]

az99, if a bank is using zillow as basis for value in their underwriting, that's one seriously dumb bank.

regulators would have a field day if they're selling through to the agencies.

if portfolio/balance sheet, well, i revert to last 5 words of the the first sentence.

that neighbor who's getting offers from buyers/buyers' agents using zillow have morons for buyers' agents. if i was a buyer and my buyer agent said, "hey, i have a great idea, let's use zillow as basis for an offer," i'd fire him/her on the spot. comps are actual, closed transactions, not an algorithm deriving value based in part on stale 1-2 year old title transfer data from some hick municipality who records everything on paper or uses a trs-80 computer with manual input by a half-blind 90 year old volunteer with cataracts the size of diver scallops.

good grief man, you got sum dumb real 'state people over yonder!

for example, zillow once had my house valued at 7 figures. while that'd be awesome, it's sure as heck not that. but there it was, right on the monitor. i had to contact them and point out the sale date was wrong, the taxes were wrong, and the value was less than half of what was posted based on an actual valuation from a real appraisal (done in conjunction with refinancing).