Zillow is always up to something. This time, along with their announcement that you can upload homes for sale as an agent, you can also upload your home as an owner with whatever ridiculous price you want to put on it… that magic number that would Make Me Move.
Just enter your address, claim your house, and the tax record detail magically appears. You can embellish your listing with photos and text, and a Zestimate (their suggested valuation on your home) will automatically appear with your listing.
Lucky for me the Zestimate on my house is way more than its true value, so I put my Make Move Price at just below, making me look like quite the online deal. Never mind that my neighbor’s house, valued by Zillow at $796,000, can’t seem to sell months later for $729,000…
Zillow is fun, but it can’t possibly follow all the subtleties of the market, so to get a true value, consult a professional. zillow
3 comments
Well said. Owners who list below the zestimate have a chance. Those listing above may be passed over. It all depends on how well zillow sold its guestimates to consumers.
Hi Diane. I just wanted to point something out with your take on Zillow. I just sold a property for $80K more than Zillow had it valued at. This property sold a month ago. I also sold another property for $40k more than Zillow had it valued this past May. I agree that Zillow is a good guide for “estimating” value, and is probably fairly accurate on “cookie cutter” properties, however it can sometimes estimate low. Both properties were unique in a sense, and one was listed with a realtor, while the other I sold myself on Craigslist.
Zillow’s methodology has inherent problems in some cases. The house next door to ours was built the same time, is smaller, has not been remodeled, but Zillow values it $450,000 more than ours. That house was purchased by present buyer 2 years ago, giving it a high price on public records. Ours was purchased by us 30 years ago, giving us a low public records purchase price. Both are tract homes built by same builder at same time, ours is larger and has been remodeled. The difference in the Z-Estimate is fallacious and is based only upon the method they approach valuations with, as the same local comparables affect both properties. I don’t think it is useful as a tool for any business purpose; I think it may have entertainment value or value in stimulating further analysis.