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Only ML S data will show concessions, at least in the state's where I h ave lIved. I sold my house last week but had to give some closing cost help and leave washer/dryer (20 y/o so no big deal). Zillion won't know that.
Just as an example, for my house, the "recent sale" is actually the sale of a condo that sold several months after we bought our house. The sales data for our house is nowhere to be found on zillow. I have emailed zillow about this at least 3 times and they will not correct it. So, it shows a recent sale price that is about 1/3 what we actually paid (because it was for a 1 bedroom condo, not a 5 bedroom house, and the condo is in a different area).
Also, the zestimate for my house is $100,000 higher than our asking price. It also gives a value range of $305K – $965K. How can that possibly be accurate?
My house is only one example of the issues with zillow.
For the OP, if you have never purchased property before, I really think you should get a buyers agent to help you with the sale. That person can look up the recent sales for you and explain the contract and other paperwork to you. They'll explain the full home buying process (offer, negotiation, inspection, financing, etc.).
Also, as other people said, tax assessments do not give you market value. In Chicago, a house that would sell for around $600,000 has a tax assessment of $62,000. No one gets a nice house in a good area of Chicago for $60,000.
Only ML S data will show concessions, at least in the state's where I h ave lIved. I sold my house last week but had to give some closing cost help and leave washer/dryer (20 y/o so no big deal). Zillion won't know that.
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Right.
Z or T will not tell viewers about incentives received by buyers, like seller paid closing costs or home warranty purchased by seller for buyer.
In my market, sellers commonly will pay $2500--$4000 CC for the buyer in the $200000 price range. Z and T do not relate that fact, which should be material to any buyer.
Our MLS members record those items.
Scraping data off the tax sites means that Z and T can be weeks or months behind the market. Our tax people are overworked and run behind continually during peak sales periods. The MLS is much more timely.
Of course, Z and T are are advertising and lead generation venues posing as real estate sites to pander to amateurs.
A better idea - have the house appraised by a certified appraiser if you can. Assessed value too often is not even remotely close to the actual market value.
Sorry, but Zillow and Trulia are rarely accurate when it comes to current assessments and taxes. For the area in which I am buying, they both report 2009/2010.. when the area already has 2012/13 assessments on the books.
More smoke & mirrors!
OK, maybe they are inaccurate for taxes and assessments. Futhermore, who cares about tax value? But as I clearly stated, Zillow and Trulia are accurate for "sold" price. Do you dispute their accuracy in this category?
OK, maybe they are inaccurate for taxes and assessments. Futhermore, who cares about tax value? But as I clearly stated, Zillow and Trulia are accurate for "sold" price. Do you dispute their accuracy in this category?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikitakolata
I have to agree, zillow is not accurate.
Just as an example, for my house, the "recent sale" is actually the sale of a condo that sold several months after we bought our house. The sales data for our house is nowhere to be found on zillow. I have emailed zillow about this at least 3 times and they will not correct it. So, it shows a recent sale price that is about 1/3 what we actually paid (because it was for a 1 bedroom condo, not a 5 bedroom house, and the condo is in a different area).
Unless you're planning on buying that exact house, I wouldn't call listing price, DOM, or any of the other statistics you mentioned "powerful tools for the public." When I price a house or estimate its value I pay give little weight in my analysis to list prices whether the house is currently on the market or already sold. There was a house last year in my town that listed for $900K and was on the market for 10 days. When I tell you the house sold for $750K does that start looking like usefull or useless information? Sold data is the most important data.
Agree, sold data is the most important data. It is available, and accurate, on Zillow and Trulia in many states including MA. I think DOM is an important data point as well.
Quote:
Misinformation. There is no difference between value and sales price. Tax assessment is different from sale price/value and Zestimate is some made up fantasy number. FYI . . . I just sold my personal residence for $328K and the Zestimate report email I got shortly after reported the Zestimate as somewhere in the neighborhood of $225K I believe. That's a pretty serious disconnect from reality.
As I said the Zestimate is unreliable. But the sold data is spot on. Tax "value" and sales price are different.
Right.
Z or T will not tell viewers about incentives received by buyers, like seller paid closing costs or home warranty purchased by seller for buyer.
In my market, sellers commonly will pay $2500--$4000 CC for the buyer in the $200000 price range. Z and T do not relate that fact, which should be material to any buyer.
Our MLS members record those items.
Scraping data off the tax sites means that Z and T can be weeks or months behind the market. Our tax people are overworked and run behind continually during peak sales periods. The MLS is much more timely.
Of course, Z and T are are advertising and lead generation venues posing as real estate sites to pander to amateurs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RE Skeptic
Agree, sold data is the most important data. It is available, and accurate, on Zillow and Trulia in many states including MA. I think DOM is an important data point as well.
...
Poor OP.
You makes your choices and lives with the results.
Innocent 1st time buyers tossed into the murky void of Z and T? I hope not.
Recent July sale in Raleigh.
Z shows it sold in 2006.
MLS shows $15,500 in financial concessions at recent sale, plus a $385 Home Warrany purchase by seller, yet Z is "accurate?"
Buyer needs to know about concessions as well as gross purchase prices and how recent sales happened.
Nothing beats the MLS for sales data. DOM is nearly irrelevant, since valuation is at time of sale, not hundreds of days ago.
As I said the Zestimate is unreliable. But the sold data is spot on. Tax "value" and sales price are different.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish
Poor OP.
You makes your choices and lives with the results.
Innocent 1st time buyers tossed into the murky void of Z and T? I hope not.
Recent July sale in Raleigh.
Z shows it sold in 2006.
MLS shows $15,500 in financial concessions at recent sale, plus a $385 Home Warrany purchase by seller, yet Z is "accurate?"
Buyer needs to know about concessions as well as gross purchase prices and how recent sales happened.
Nothing beats the MLS for sales data. DOM is nearly irrelevant, since valuation is at time of sale, not hundreds of days ago.
As Mike has pointed out, the sales data of syndication sites is incomplete. Not only that, it's old. Sales are usually posted in MLS within hours or at worst a day of the closing. If Zillow or Trulia is getting that information from public records it's going to be a while before it's there. This spring saw the market turn on a dime around here and there was as serious spike in values. If you were thinking of selling would you want to base your home's value on data that months old or hours old in this situation?
DOM is a completely irrelevent data point on its own. You'd need to know the pricing history as well and you'd need to know the local market intimately in order to get the other data necessary to interpret any of it. Websites like Zillow and Trulia only give consumers enough information (and also an equal amount of misinformation) to allow them to be dangerous primarily to themselves.
DOM is a completely irrelevent data point on its own. You'd need to know the pricing history as well...
DOM is very relevent for an active listing. Zillow will also tell you when a house has been temporarily taken off the market to reset the DOM.
As I stated, Zillow provides a very detailed timeline of pricing ("pricing history"). Perhaps you should take time to check this site out before blindly criticizing it.
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