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Old 09-24-2016, 07:08 AM
 
8,228 posts, read 14,186,965 times
Reputation: 11233

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I guess I've never understood the heartburn with Zillow because I have only used it to search to buy/rent.

Is the heartburn with sellers who have potential buyers trying to buy to a lower zestimate?

I don't really look at the zestimate but at the previously sold price if there is one, appreciation in the area,
compared with condition etc. I think most buyers realize that the zestimate is probably off depending on location.

But mostly I love zillow because it shows lot lines and birds eye view. For me its about the property more than the house.
I can instantly see whether the house is too close to the road, has neighbors squeezing in from every side, etc.
Its also convenient to not have to look up tax records to find the last sold price. Its just a lot of convenience period.
My only gripe is that you can't get a list of your saved homes to print out or download to excel.
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Old 09-24-2016, 07:13 AM
 
8,228 posts, read 14,186,965 times
Reputation: 11233
Quote:
Originally Posted by BoBromhal View Post
the people that post here may dismiss the Zestimate and Zillow at large as info-tainment. However, it is a real issue for the real estate industry, and not because weak-minded folks do indeed rely it for their actual data(some who post frequently on this forum) , but as much because an entire generation of folks generally follows the "if it's on the internet,it must be real".

There are sellers of over-zestimated homes who believe it really is the value, and harm the process and themselves. And there are buyers who see a Zestimate below the asking price and refuse to offer/negotiate above that $ figure.

Perhaps Zillow uses specific properties, and just doesn't reveal them. Redfin at least gets it better because (while their values differ significantly and often from Zillow) they show you what homes they've claimed are comparables. At least an intelligent and experienced Buyer can look at those and say "this house is, this house isn't, comparable". Redfin still uses a formula, or they wouldn't comp 30+ year old homes to new construction.
And there are realtors who don't really try to get their buyers or sellers the best deal.

Redfin is so regional.
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Old 09-24-2016, 07:56 AM
Status: "Made the Retirement Run in under 12 parsecs!!!" (set 22 days ago)
 
Location: Cary, NC
43,177 posts, read 76,826,386 times
Reputation: 45533
Quote:
Originally Posted by Giesela View Post
I guess I've never understood the heartburn with Zillow because I have only used it to search to buy/rent.

Is the heartburn with sellers who have potential buyers trying to buy to a lower zestimate?

I don't really look at the zestimate but at the previously sold price if there is one, appreciation in the area,
compared with condition etc. I think most buyers realize that the zestimate is probably off depending on location.

But mostly I love zillow because it shows lot lines and birds eye view. For me its about the property more than the house.
I can instantly see whether the house is too close to the road, has neighbors squeezing in from every side, etc.
Its also convenient to not have to look up tax records to find the last sold price. Its just a lot of convenience period.
My only gripe is that you can't get a list of your saved homes to print out or download to excel.
But...
People DO look at Zestimate.
A very intelligent guy just asked me this morning if it is accurate.

I did a CMA yesterday and the value I would list at is supportably $15,000--$20,000 over the Zestimate.
The Zestimate will be a topic of conversation, and likely for buyers I will never get to talk to.

The other stuff is generally openly available. My MLS offers Birdseye view, streetview, and lot lines and plats are on the county GIS sites.
You are just getting some convenience of working on one site that pulls it together. That the Zestimate misleads people routinely is unfortunate.
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Old 09-24-2016, 09:16 AM
 
8,228 posts, read 14,186,965 times
Reputation: 11233
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish View Post
But...

The other stuff is generally openly available. My MLS offers Birdseye view, streetview, and lot lines and plats are on the county GIS sites.
You are just getting some convenience of working on one site that pulls it together. That the Zestimate misleads people routinely is unfortunate.
Plus saving favorites and all on one site. Love it.
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Old 01-21-2017, 11:28 AM
 
Location: USA
5 posts, read 4,804 times
Reputation: 41
No they are just one. No other site that I know of puts a Zestimate on homes.
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Old 01-21-2017, 11:31 AM
 
Location: USA
5 posts, read 4,804 times
Reputation: 41
Quote:
Originally Posted by Surbiton View Post
So after 5 years of highlighting the fundamental flaws of Zillow Zestimates I thought it would be useful to have a consolidated thread of the questions asked and what I have learned. There are many other questions about Zillow and Zestimates that other contributors have posted and the common theme is how inaccurate Zestimates are whilst accepting some of the other information published by Zillow is useful to homeowners and prospective homeowners.

It begs the question "Why does Zillow alienate so many homeowners by refusing to correct or delete inaccurate Zestimates?". It also seems from the home sale and the home purchase earlier this year by Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff raises questions as to whether Zestimates are subject to manipulation. The home he sold in Seattle for $1.05M in February had a Zestimate of $1.34M when the home was listed in July 2015 for $1.295M. As the list price kept reducing down to the agreed sale price of $1.05M, the Zestimate kept increasing to $1.75M. In the same timeframe the home Rascoff purchased in Los Angeles for $19.7M had a Zestimate of $13.2M when listed in early March for $20M, and subsequently the Zestimate has increased by 47% in six months to $19.4M. Coincidence? or the work of underling at Zillow sucking up to please the boss? Read the explanation by Zestimate architect Stan Humphries [URL="http://www.geekwire.com/2016/zillow-ceo-spencer-rascoff-sold-home-40-less-zestimate-1-75-million/"]Zestimiss: Why did CEO Spencer Rascoff's home sell for 40% less than Zillow estimate of $1.75M? - GeekWire[/URL]

When Spencer Rascoff accepted on Bloomberg TV a couple of years ago the findings by Clareity Consulting that 17% of all Zestimates are more than 24% inaccurate you would think he would consider it reasonable that homeowners who demonstrate inaccurate Zestimates should be allowed to 'opt out' of having an inaccurate Zestimate dictatorially imposed if they had issues about the damage and misery the inaccurate Zestimate caused. It is time our Government intervened and imposed some form of Regulation to protect millions of homeowners from Zillows flawed Zestimates as Zillow has demonstrated that they cannot be trusted to act in a fair minded way as they use Zestimates as 'clickbait' to attract Users to its website without any concern for the homeowners affected.

When I first posted about Zestimates 5 years ago I would have been satisfied if it helped explain issues about Zestimate accuracy to a handful of people. It's hard to believe over 300,000 have read my thoughts about Zestimates since I started. Equally, I am sure Spencer Rascoff, the Zillow CEO, didn't believe me when I said I would protest the nonsense Zestimate imposed on my home for 20 years if that is as long as it takes, in response to his email comment that he has a First Amendment Right to publish any valuation on homes. Zillow rely on people making one or two protests and giving up. If more people persisted in highlighting Zillows anti homeowner behavior then the issue would get resolved.

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/2595431-zillow-claim-we-just-dramatically-improved.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/2563493-beginning-end-zillow.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/2457302-how-embarrassing-zillow-ceo-he-struggling.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/2445890-how-can-zillow-claim-zestimates-starting.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/2403140-what-fundamental-problem-zillow-zestimates.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/2345534-zillow-gives-blunt-explanation-homeowner-we.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/2306067-zillow-now-makes-easier-homeowners-edit.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/2198455-zillow-announces-potential-upcoming-changes-your.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/2113326-zillow-launches-zillow-zestimate-forecast-predicting.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/2077721-zillow-zestimate-strategy-revealed-ceo-specer.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/1999299-has-zillow-determined-hosing-market-has.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/politics-other-controversies/1926837-does-white-house-do-due-diligence.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/1902629-everthing-independant-realtors-need-underdstand-about.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/home-interior-design-decorating/1798507-zillow-launches-zillow-digs-should-dogs.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/1778065-zillow-demonstrates-zestimate-gimmick-white-house.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/1770653-has-anyone-been-successful-getting-erroneous.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/1770653-has-anyone-been-successful-getting-erroneous.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/1498023-zillow-irrelevant.html[/URL]

[URL]http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/1363661-zillow-zestimate-algorithm-explained.html[/URL]
Buyer beware? Seller beware? You bet! How can anyone trust a site whose 50% right on the price (within 5% of listing)????????? Yep, 50 percent right. I could through darts and come much closer. Zillow sneaks that one by and on the right column of their Zestimate page then tell you that the MEDIAN error is less than 5%. I'm not a statistics guy, and I'm appalled that Zillow is even allowed to exist...

Here is the conspiracy issue behind the whole Zillow deal. (For the record I am an agent and refuse to do any business through Zillow)

When an owner puts his/her house up for sale through Zillow, the owner is not forced to update anything regarding the listing INCLUDING THE SALES PRICE. Read through Zillow's site for anything in any agreement that forces that to happen - it isn't in there...)

So a house in Zillow may be seen as SOLD, but the seller or buyer does not have to update the price they sold at. Like most markets, Public records do not update instantly, and it could take several months to update. Given that scenario, I will share what I saw and how Zillow has not control over the process, and thus their Zestimate is a load of BS.

In areas of one of the states I do business in, there is a particular concentration of population of a certain ethnicity (which one is not important and for the record this is not a discriminatory statement but merely factual since it is close to a religious temple and supporting businesses ). The market during the "selling season" [March through September] was so HOT that owners were putting their homes up for sale directly on Zillow at ridiculous prices. Zillow's estimates were way off on the high end and kept creeping up. The selling homeowners in the area of cluster townhomes in effect had blatantly conspired to maintain a false market pricing scheme through Zillow.

The issue here is that Agents through their MLS are obligated to report within 24 hours the deal - either listing or selling with the final price. Selling Homeowners are under no such obligation.

The buyer nor seller is under no obligation either! The Zillow questions asked for taking over a listing on their site are lame at best! For the record, the buyer may not even know what to do as far as Zillow is concerned.

Zillow then becomes a facilitator of market manipulation with no regulatory oversight (unlike REAL realtors) I take it not even in Texas where they are registered.

So beware of this whole Zestimate deal - as I am sure you would prefer to be on the right side of their 50% formula and not on the wrong side. The good neighbor policy doesn't quite cut it for many people.
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Old 10-29-2018, 01:47 PM
Status: "Made the Retirement Run in under 12 parsecs!!!" (set 22 days ago)
 
Location: Cary, NC
43,177 posts, read 76,826,386 times
Reputation: 45533
Bumped.

You GO, Surbiton!!
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