Can I Trust a Zillow Estimate For My Home?
Can I Trust a Zillow Estimate For My Home?
Margins for Error
Zillow has been said to average 18 to 20 percent higher or lower in-home estimates. Some have reported home values climbing in value even in declining market locations.
The problem with this is, Zillow has the potential to lose prospective buyers. For instance, a home may be overestimated on Zillow which will then deter any buyers looking to stay at a certain price point while also giving the seller an unrealistic pricing point. Some homeowners may see the price on Zillow and use that as the starting point for their home. If you’re seeking for a trusted home buyer, click here.
How Zillow Creates Estimates
“Zestimate” is what Zillow calls its estimating tool. Though there are multiple pricing factors placed in the formula, there is still room for error since Zillow is not actually looking at your home. The formula looks at the market pricing in the area, size of the home, the lot and all the features of the home including the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, pools and highlighted features.
Zillow relies on public records and user inputs such as realtor sales. With that fact in mind, Zillow cannot tell if your home is a rundown mess in your community or an updated, well-kept home. This is a huge factor in estimating your home’s value that is being unaccounted for.
Zillow is also unable to discern surrounding neighborhoods. For example, a very nice community that would add value to your estimate, but is just blocks away from lower-end communities. These factors can skew or be skewed by larger metro data that Zillow factors in that aren’t pertinent.
To put it simply – Zillow’s estimates come from an automated system, which means that it doesn’t have the ability to think for itself. This is the reason why oftentimes its home value estimates can be wildly off, sometimes to the tune of thousands of dollars. If you’re lооking tо ѕhоrt ѕеll уоur home, bе ѕurе tо talk tо уоur realtor, аnd only wоrk with someone who’s соmfоrtаblе with thе entire рrосеѕѕ. Click here to know more