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For all of you who think Zillow is a joke, you won't be laughing when you'll be selling your house and you list your house higher that Zillow's estimate! Prior to putting up my house for sale my real estate agent told me the first thing I needed to do is to update some items on Zillow, including all the improvements I made so that it would increase my estimate. She also told me to email Zillow to see if they would increase the estimate. Buyers really look at Zillow and base their decisions on the website's estimates. Also, my neighbor is a real estate agent and manages properties and recently she told me she was having hard time renting a property because Zillow had the rental estimate lower by around $300 per month and she couldn't rent it because of it. She tried to explain to the individuals that the last place that rented was much higher that what Zillow said but they wouldn't have it. I asked her, do people really look at that for real, and she said most definitely! So you can laugh at Zillow's estimates, until you decide to sell or rent your property. Then, it's not a laughing matter.
For all of you who think Zillow is a joke, you won't be laughing when you'll be selling your house and you list your house higher that Zillow's estimate! ....So you can laugh at Zillow's estimates, until you decide to sell or rent your property. Then, it's not a laughing matter.
Wildly wrong 'zestimates' suddenly become fixed within a few days of listing them, all the time, without anyone having to do anything.
And all those people who believe them? Are not engaged enough with a realtor to become corrected on this first basic truth: Zestimates aren't accurate. It's a misconception that literally takes a few seconds to correct. No biggie.
For all of you who think Zillow is a joke, you won't be laughing when you'll be selling your house and you list your house higher that Zillow's estimate! Prior to putting up my house for sale my real estate agent told me the first thing I needed to do is to update some items on Zillow, including all the improvements I made so that it would increase my estimate. She also told me to email Zillow to see if they would increase the estimate. Buyers really look at Zillow and base their decisions on the website's estimates. Also, my neighbor is a real estate agent and manages properties and recently she told me she was having hard time renting a property because Zillow had the rental estimate lower by around $300 per month and she couldn't rent it because of it. She tried to explain to the individuals that the last place that rented was much higher that what Zillow said but they wouldn't have it. I asked her, do people really look at that for real, and she said most definitely! So you can laugh at Zillow's estimates, until you decide to sell or rent your property. Then, it's not a laughing matter.
You are right.
But, really, a lot of the joking and laughter is out of frustration and with a healthy dose of sarcasm.
These are unregulated abuses of AVM, Automated Valuation Model, technology. Abusing AVM technology for public appraisals for profit is totally unregulated and there is no reliable legal recourse for the scamming.
There have been lawsuits against Zillow for their Zestappraisals, but since there is no regulation of the practice, they have failed.
And, Zillow doesn't care who they hurt, as long as they get site traffic, so they can maintain billing levels for their Premier Agents who financially support the appraisals as legitimate, also in search of profits without caring who is hurt.
Legislatures, appraisal boards, real estate commissions, and NAR need to step up and provide a framework that includes accountability for incompetence and dishonesty.
This would affect many more abusers than Zillow. They are just the company who popularized pop appraisals using AVM.
I agree, given how seriously many buyers/sellers look at Zillow estimates, there should be some accountability, given that often it can make or break a sale of a home. I have two properties and on the reatal, Zillow's estimates are spot on compared to others that recently sold in the neighborhood. My main property is about $25k below what the homes area selling in the area and about $200 less for rental estimate. I may be selling my current rental next yr. and renting out my current property; if I do that, I will definitely work on Zillow to increase the rental estimate as it would more difficult to rent which current estimate. So yes, whether we like Zillow or not, we have to accept that in many parts of the country Zillow's estimates matter and should be taken seriously.
I agree, given how seriously many buyers/sellers look at Zillow estimates, there should be some accountability, given that often it can make or break a sale of a home. I have two properties and on the reatal, Zillow's estimates are spot on compared to others that recently sold in the neighborhood. My main property is about $25k below what the homes area selling in the area and about $200 less for rental estimate. I may be selling my current rental next yr. and renting out my current property; if I do that, I will definitely work on Zillow to increase the rental estimate as it would more difficult to rent which current estimate. So yes, whether we like Zillow or not, we have to accept that in many parts of the country Zillow's estimates matter and should be taken seriously.
I get what you're saying. I'm a seller and I was a landlord, and sometimes I wonder if Zillow is hurting me. I don't think it is, though, because the market around here is fairly hot, and buyers here tend to do better research than just looking at Zillow.
If it helps, I see you're in Reston. Property in Reston isn't going to have any problems selling. I'm over in Loudoun. Our area isn't as hot as yours, but even so we've already had 5 buyers stop by to take a look and the house hasn't even listed yet (it will in a few more days).
In addition, the odds are high that Amazon will choose Reston/Herndon for HQ2. If that happens you'll be sitting pretty. Booy I wish they'd make that announcement sooner rather than later, LOL.
OTOH, I agree that there are some well educated people who believe in Zillow, mostly because they have high estimates and they soooo want to believe it. My brother is annoying in this way. His zestimate has his house at more than $1 million. In reality, it's maybe worth $800K, but he loves to brag about his zestimate, and he loves to try to convince other people (and himself) that it must be true. Sometimes I want to punch him. Fortunately for him he's not selling, so he doesn't ever have to find out the truth.
Last edited by Piney Creek; 09-02-2018 at 09:03 AM..
I agree, given how seriously many buyers/sellers look at Zillow estimates, there should be some accountability, given that often it can make or break a sale of a home. I have two properties and on the reatal, Zillow's estimates are spot on compared to others that recently sold in the neighborhood. My main property is about $25k below what the homes area selling in the area and about $200 less for rental estimate. I may be selling my current rental next yr. and renting out my current property; if I do that, I will definitely work on Zillow to increase the rental estimate as it would more difficult to rent which current estimate. So yes, whether we like Zillow or not, we have to accept that in many parts of the country Zillow's estimates matter and should be taken seriously.
"Accountability" is long overdue.
But, also, no AVMs should be publicized for sales lead generation unless the property owner positively opts IN for the appraisal, with documentation of that choice maintained by the appraisal purveyor.
And, a standard, open-source algorithm should be required.
These people are recklessly hurting people to generate revenue, and that needs to stop.
My Zestimate is way off but when I go down to estimate based on market appreciation, it seems more in line with the value. The market appreciation has the value at last sale price in late 2014 plus the market appreciation since sale of 26.6%.
Why does anyone pay any attention to these zestimates?
Because it is readily available, without registration or "lead capture abuses."
Agents/Brokers/Firms play hide and seek with more data than Z can offer and wonder why people don't embrace them. It is laughable.
Transparency by brokers will help them rise above the scam sites, but even today, they withhold MLS search results unless they can capture a lead to abuse.
I'm not sure how big a joke it is. When I refinanced my house I didn't think it was going to be worth what it appraised at but Zillow was spot on.
Maybe the area you live in has something or a lot to do with it. Zillow has been fairly accurate in my area with prices of other homes that have sold as well.
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