How accurate is Zillow?? (agents, sale, agreement, comparables)

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by Rick Houghton - Broker

Zillow is all over the board........it's based soley on square footage and does not take into account things like upgrade, lot locations, etc. How could it? Get yourself a good real estate agent and have them pull comps for you. There are too many variables for Zillow to gather in order to give you a good valuation.

Excellent advice. Valuation models do not see the properties they value.

Just last week, my own home's value doubled as did all surrounding properties. There is absolutely no factual basis for this kind of change and I am a Realtor and know the area comps. There is a $200K spread in the range they provided. It's is obvious to me that Zillow has a program bug somewhere along the line.

It's useless information.

[Boomerang]

Square footage price only matters to me if I'm renting a warehouse.
Homes are different. Some 1500sf floor plans have bigger rooms and better flow than a poorly designed 1800+sf plan. That doesn't even factor in the all-important LOCATION....

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by sjrep

Wife and I are contemplating a move. Zillow estimate shows a value that would pay off the mortgage, pay for selling expenses and leave me with a very small portion left over. I try to take everything I see on the web with a grain of salt, but if the estimate is close to accurate I may go for the move. If its over inflated then we are not going anywhere. What has been your experience??

Best I can tell you is to make an account, claim your house, then work on the pages including picking comps, adding any improvements you've done. My mistake was I had hubby fill in some stuff so I never dug into the site like I should have. Once i did that, I was able to bring my "zestimate" to where it should be.

[GLS]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

.......Zillow is Real Estate Porn.

Yeah, specifically S&M.

[rmorton]

Zillow is highly inaccurate if two neighborhoods are in close proximity and their prices have a big difference. It can be 20-30% over or under depending on which neighborhood it draws the comps. There is a neighborhood with 500-950k homes ajoined by a community of 250-350k homes. The 5-9k neighborhood had one house comped on zillow for 475,00 which was 150,000 off. 3 months later ir comped a house in the lesser neighborhood for 665,00. Beware. call a Realtor and get a free market analysis

[gevara2000]

thanxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[capecodcathy]

I always check Zillow when I'm doing a CMA because I know the Seller is the doing the same. I get a chuckle every time, but it's nice knowing in advance what information the Seller is getting.
Example, I comp'd a 4 bed, 2 bath home. Zillow had it at $575K. What they don't have access to is the 40 year old avacado shag carpeting and faux walnut panelling, throughout. One bathroom is a lovely shade of Harvest Gold, the other is neutral but has tiles falling out of the shower, holes covered with plastic. The kitchen needs to be gutted. They also don't know that in severe rain, the basement and lot floods, the electrical needs updating, the proximity to wetlands pretty much negates any significant expansion. While it has a new septic system, it's a very expensive one for maintenance due to the water table. The town just reassessed it at $422K. Still a chuckle.
When I showed them what a potential Buyer could purchase for $422-$575K they had to admit that their house was worth significantly less.
I felt like saying "don't shoot the messenger". I feel bad for people who get their hopes up based on a "zestimate" and I and others have to bring them back to reality.

[agreatlife]

Originally Posted by Roselvr

Best I can tell you is to make an account, claim your house, then work on the pages including picking comps, adding any improvements you've done. My mistake was I had hubby fill in some stuff so I never dug into the site like I should have. Once i did that, I was able to bring my "zestimate" to where it should be.

But the bigger question is WHY would you want to do that? Whey should we help Zillow? They don't do anything to help anybody, just want you to give them free information, and the spit back junk. Unless every homeowner updates them continuously, I don't see Zillow ever becoming anything more than the joke it is now.

Zillow frequently has expired homes showing as for sale, which also hurts sellers, then when called on it, they claim not their fault, and they do nothing. They have very wild zestimates, they don't respond to complaints, but they are more than happy for you to give them more information. No thanks.

[DMenscha]

I was sure I had posted on this before but I don't see it now.

I sold the house across the road from me. It was a severe fixer on 6 great, but obscured by brush, acres. It sold for $235K, within a month my "Zestimate" had dropped $100K on my house. Fortunately I only "lost" $500 in the last month

[pghquest]

Originally Posted by sjrep

Wife and I are contemplating a move. Zillow estimate shows a value that would pay off the mortgage, pay for selling expenses and leave me with a very small portion left over. I try to take everything I see on the web with a grain of salt, but if the estimate is close to accurate I may go for the move. If its over inflated then we are not going anywhere. What has been your experience??

Zillow estimates are way off, but if you look at the properties that previously sold on their website, near your property, it might give you an estimated selling price.

I think over time, Zillow will become more accurate as it continues to compile more data, but its just not in that stage yet.