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We see a lot of misinformation in this industry and lately, a lot of it has been coming from Zillow. Zillow’s “Zestimate” sounds sexy, but more often than not it fails us by getting sellers’ hopes up about the value of their property by providing inaccurate information.
The Zestimate is found using an algorithm that doesn’t take into account many of the things that give your home value. Nuances like the school district, location, and upgrades that control the behaviors of a buyer are not taken into account by Zillow.
To demonstrate just how inaccurate a Zestimate can be, we have a great example to share with you today. We have a Zestimate for the house of the CEO of Zillow, which was put on the market in July 2015. The Zestimate for his home at that time was $1,491,000.
When the home eventually got listed on the market, it was priced at $1,295,000. That’s already a $200,000 deduction on what his own website said the home was worth! Over time, the market sent the message that the home was still overpriced, and priced reductions followed. By the time the home sold, it was eight months later. The home ended up selling for just $1,050,000. That doesn’t sound like a success story to us, and shows that basing your value off a Zestimate is probably not going to help you get top dollar.
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Basing your value off a Zestimate is probably not going to help you get top dollar.
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Other problems we’ve seen on Zillow include inaccurate or outdated listing information. A lot of times I’ll get a call from a buyer looking at a property on Zillow, and that property will either be sold or not even on the market yet. Our proprietary website solves this problem, as it pulls data directly from the MLS, which is updated in real-time. We want our clients to be able to see every property that hits the market, not just the ones that people choose to post or not post on Zillow.
If you have any questions for us or any suggestions for future video topics, give us a call or send us an email. We are always looking for ways to help you become more knowledgeable in the market so when it comes time for you to buy or sell, you’re ready.
