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Maybe you are right, BUT what Zillow relies on is homeowners make 1 or 2 posts expressing their anger at nonsense Zestimates imposed on their home and then they disappear never to be heard of again. Consequently Zillow keep repeating the erroneous Zestimate and wait for the next outburst knowing that the complainer will go away and all will be forgotten. If homeowners kept the pressure on Zillow and reiterated the deficiencies of Zestimates then sooner or later Zillow would have to bow to the massive negative publicity and change how they impose Zestimates.
Truth is, Zillow could care less what you as a homeowner thinks of their Zestimates, you are not a factor in their business decisions. Zillow’s target audience is BUYERS. The primary and majority of people who visit their site are Buyers. Buyers love the lower zestimates. So long as buyers are flocking to the website, so long as they are not complaining about zestimates, Zillow has no reason to change the process. Yes, they will always be looking at improving their website, but to the extent they will invest huge sums to please some seller, no way!
So, no matter how much you whine, moan, groan and complain, what you want is meaningless to them. Might as well get over the fixation or you’re going to work yourself right into the looney bin.
1. People (prospective sellers) care about Zestimates because idiots (prospective buyers) sometimes base their offer on that figure.
2. People (homeowners) care about Zestimates because they feel insulted by the low number.
Why would anyone care what a inaccurate meaningless home value number means. I think your person value in terms of kegaltrons is only a 0.5. Would you like me to raise that? If so please prepare a 100 page report explaining why.
That's a madeup word that means nothing, I doubt you'll write that essay I requested so why care about a zestimate.
How much do consumers pay for the "Zestimate" on their home ?? Oh, that's right, they didn't pay anything for it and it's worth every penny spent.
The saying "when the product is free you are the product" comes to mind. Zillow needs inaccurate Zestimates to generate controversy to bring users to their website and increase revenues and time has come for this racket to be regulated to protect homeowners interests..
I think there are now about a half dozen of more free "calculators" that a buyer can use to estimate the value, so I don't see what you gain from protesting one. My impression is that that tend to give a range anyway. Some are too high, others too low, but if you average about 5 or so, you tend to get the general target. What you actually get for the house is the real value.
The Zillow issue is due more to the UNINFORMED buyers who think the zestimate is like Blue Book, which gives a fairly accurate estimate of auto values. These buyers annoy the crap out of agents and FSBO sellers. My houses zestimate is definitely whacked because my neighbors house sold a few months ago for MORE than my houses "zestimate" and it has less squ footage, less yard, no pool, and 1 less bedroom. The houses within a mile of mine are all selling for more than they did in the recession, yet according to Zillow my house is worth LESS than what I paid for it a year ago? Negative.
The Zillow issue is due more to the UNINFORMED buyers who think the zestimate is like Blue Book, which gives a fairly accurate estimate of auto values. These buyers annoy the crap out of agents and FSBO sellers. My houses zestimate is definitely whacked because my neighbors house sold a few months ago for MORE than my houses "zestimate" and it has less squ footage, less yard, no pool, and 1 less bedroom. The houses within a mile of mine are all selling for more than they did in the recession, yet according to Zillow my house is worth LESS than what I paid for it a year ago? Negative.
I haven't been on City Data for a few months and your comments sum up exactly the problem with Zillow. It beggars belief how they get away with imposing nonsense inaccurate home valuations the way they do and refuse ALL reasonable requests by homeowners to correct or delete the erroneous Zestimate. What has Zillow to lose by correcting inaccurate Zestimates when the errors are brought to their attention?
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