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Zillow's algorithm isn't that bad, it just has limitations. Zillow works decently in fairly large areas when the house is fairly standard. But if here aren't many comps or if the house is unique in some way its harder for Zillow to create a reasonable estimate. Around here, Zillow's Zestimates have been on the mark by about +/- 5%.
Zillow's algorithm will get better though, perhaps soon we won't need appraisals.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Humanoid
Zillow's algorithm isn't that bad, it just has limitations. Zillow works decently in fairly large areas when the house is fairly standard. But if here aren't many comps or if the house is unique in some way its harder for Zillow to create a reasonable estimate. Around here, Zillow's Zestimates have been on the mark by about +/- 5%.
Zillow's algorithm will get better though, perhaps soon we won't need appraisals.
As soon as zillow can see the actual condition of a house, they're still going to be out in left field. Agreed however that they can do a reasonable job in the more densely populated areas.
According to them I've "lost" 12 % of the value of my home in the past 30 days! We had a property that sold that was a real trashpile, literally for the value of the land it was on last month. I think the buyer is waiting for the end of fire season to burn it down
I exchanged a series of emails yesterday with a confused co-worker.
She has a listing on Zillow, entered in the form of a flyer.
Zillow allows ANYONE to attach photos to the listing, and someone had taken a crooked and out of focus cameraphone shot of a house across the street and posted it on the listing.
Zillow's disclaimer says that since it is a "community site" anyone can post photos. They can be flagged if a viewer thinks they are inappropriate, but there is no guarantee that they will remove something as damaging as a wrong house shot with a telephone.
Even with all the abundant scammers, Craigslist is not that stupid.
I told my colleague that Zillow is an advertising company, using bad-to-negligent-to-unethical real estate work as a platform.
This is just amazing to me. The OP is from North Houston and believes prices are on the way down. Other than a few areas in Houston we are flat or appreciating. Next in Houston you can still purchase for less than you can rent the same home for until you cross the 210K range.
Next foreclosures in the state of Texas are down 18% in August according to realtytrac.com. And if you check Houston housing inventory for August it is down by almost 3% on single family homes. Rents are up by nearly 11% since the begining of the year and our total sales are still at 2005 levels which were records for Houston, Texas at the time. At the end of June the Houston metro area had added 56,000 new jobs for 2008 and the average wage was up again.
Now with this said Houston has been affected by the credit market troubles and residents are finding their budgets pinched due to higher living costs. But for 50% of the homes on the market you can purchase for less than you can rent the same place for. Sounds to me like the Houston market will be just fine.
Now for other areas of the country rents are not declining with prices and soon things will be back in line. Most of this country was living in an asset bubble and now things are comming back into line. It happened with stocks in the late 90's with real estate now and soon will carry over to comodities. If you are smart you will not put your money into commodities as China has stopped buying and therefore most sets of raw materials are near their peak. If you look at markets over time you will notice that this cycle of bubbles repeats itself. This round has been more extreme but the same play book.
It will be tough for Americans over the next few years as it was difficult in the late 70's and early 80's but as long as the bond insurers stay solvent we will not see a depression. If you really want to watch what matters pay attention to the solvency of the bond insurers they are the wild card in all of this mess.
Government will bail them out. They already put in a backstop for AIG. I have no doubt the 700 billion dollar bail out will pass and turn in even a greater loss as the housing market continues to flounder. We will have a lost decade like Japan at the very best, and worst case, we'll hyperinflate. The cost of living and interest rates will rise due to the expansion of fiat debt money. Home prices fell at a record pace in July and will continue to do so. Hunker down. The only real estate with buying is rural ranch/farm type stuff. That way you can take advantage of all that money the government is printing as commodities continue to sky rocket. Plus if we have a complete collapse, land ownership will keep you and your family alive if you have the firearms to support your private property rights.
The bond insurers got bailed out a few months ago..MBIA and AMBAC if that's who you are referring to.
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