How accurate is Zillow?

[corn18]

Although I have never viewed Zillow as being reliable for home values, what I am completely baffled by is how a property across the street from me can be valued almost $30k higher!

Well, you'll find out soon enough. If it sells for that, then you have a great comp. Tom

[DaveInPgh]

Well, you'll find out soon enough. If it sells for that, then you have a great comp. Tom

Yeah, I am looking forward to seeing the status change from Active to Contingent. They have it listed for $205k. I have worked with their agent as both a buyer and a seller and she is really good with her valuations. I suspect it will sell between $195k and asking price, and it won't be active for more than 30 days.

The Zestimate is more of a curiosity thing than anything else. Just the desire to understand the nuts and bolts behind their valuation and why there is such a huge difference between my property and one the County values exactly the same.

[cypher1]

It's good enough to give a VERY general idea, but I wouldn't base any decisions off of it.

Agreed. In fact I'm more likely to go off of the County's assessment, even if it doesn't follow market value. I just looked mine up on Zillow, and there's no way its worth 322k in the market. I'd be lucky to get 250k after my kitchen remodel.

[scfr]

Based on the 2 homes I've owned since Zillow came in to existence, it's OK but far from perfect. For example, it shows my current home at a value that I think is accurate long-term, but doesn't take in to account that I'm in a "hot" neighborhood in a "hot" city. I'd say it shows a "mean reversion" value, which would be fine for net worth calculation but not as a selling price if I were to list my home right now.

It's been a year-and-a-half since I wrote the above statement. The current Zillow estimate on our house is still off, but in the opposite direction. Now I think it's on the high side, while at the time of my original statement I thought it was on the low side. In the past year-and-a-half, our local real estate market has not grown as much as the nationwide market has.

I'm going to keep on using my own conservative valuation for my net worth calculations.

[DaveInPgh]

Yeah, I am looking forward to seeing the status change from Active to Contingent. They have it listed for $205k. I have worked with their agent as both a buyer and a seller and she is really good with her valuations. I suspect it will sell between $195k and asking price, and it won't be active for more than 30 days.

The Zestimate is more of a curiosity thing than anything else. Just the desire to understand the nuts and bolts behind their valuation and why there is such a huge difference between my property and one the County values exactly the same.

UGH! The asking price was dropped to $190k. I didn't expect that!

Because I know this Realtor is really good at what she does, there are only two scenarios that come to mind.

1. She was intentionally reaching a bit to try to take advantage of the high demand for property in this area.

2. The seller is highly motivated. He was unable to get around on his own, so I suspect he moved to assisted living.

Hoping the price doesn't drop anymore.

[tripods68]

Zillow gives you a good price range.

We use it personally to determine how much my house could sell for this summer. I also used Trulia and Redfin to get a good gauge of the housing market in our area. We look at the MLS recent sold homes to find the comparable with RE agent's feedback. But it doesn't mean, my house would sell at the market without some upgrade/repairs. We knew it needed work. Often times, sellers think their home would sell at market without any time of repairs or upgrade. Wrong!

I still have to do some home improvement; new countertops, new flooring, fresh paint, replaced light fixtures, etc.

Even with the upgrade listing versus offer often varies greatly depending on people's taste or taste preference. Some see your home a great rental place, some see it as good starters home. Its all subjective at the end of the day.

Fortunately, we got a good offer in and we accept it.