Why Zillow Addicts Can’t Look Away

We’ve lived on our street for nearly 30 years. I’ve been to just about every open house and many neighborhood gatherings. As a result, I’ve been in nearly every home. Zillow indicates the homes in my neighborhood should sell for $400k or above. But that’s wishful thinking. We had one home sell for just over $400k and it was a home which was bought for a low figure, completely gutted , updated and outfitted with state of the art features. The owners planned to stay “ forever.” A job promotion changed that scenario. . When I go to open houses and question a home's price, real estate agents and sellers point to those Zillow figures - instead of taking a long, hard look at what buyers will see when they enter a home. I’m not paying top dollar for a home with an aging roof, older appliances , carpets that need to be replaced immediately and bathrooms and kitchens that need instant updates ...comps be damned.

Here’s a real-life example of why the Zestimate is about as grounded in reality as our tangerine-skinned leader: Before the market crash of late 2007, my house, according to Zillow, was supposedly worth $800,000. The housing market crashed and, six months later, my house was supposedly worth $700,000. If, at that juncture, you looked at the Zillow graph, it also said that six months earlier my house was worth $675,000, not the $800,000 Zillow said it was at the time. Zillow re-wrote history.

The value of a Zestimate is not in its accuracy but in its objectivity. Do you not have more reason to doubt your and your broker's biased opinions of the value of your home and the biased opinions of a buyer and his broker than you do of the opinion of an independent third party with no bias? In Getting To Yes, the well-respected, if not most-respected, book about negotiation and conflict resolution that is taught at Harvard Law School the authors, Roger Fisher and William Ury, advise that you "Insist On Using Objective Criteria" in your effort to Get To Yes. And Zillow's opinion provides you with objective criteria and is, therefore, worth taking into account. It is natural to mistrust the accuracy of an algorithm that you do not understand. But do you not trust the accuracy of the algorithm used in the "Black Box" that certain mutual funds use to invest your money in a way that is independent of the opinions of the analysts and salespeople at the firm?

If the website is indeed hiding estimates (I refuse to use their silly name for it, the apparent brand-name soap knockoff love-child of Paul Krugman and a beer keg) only so long as brokers give enough protection money, then the very presence of an embarrassing cartel-price estimate amounts to extortion—and perhaps Shill-Owe is a more appropriate name. I say "cartel-price", of course, because the obsession with that site is a mere symptom of house-flip culture, itself a symptom of the non-"housing" non-"free" non-"market". Some people would gladly read such appraisals once they have any roof over their head. Plowing those homeless away like so many snow dunes, as Rudy "Truth Isn't Truth" Giuliani would, won't help. A housing right would. Let's hope Paulie Five-Flats' seized digs will pave that road.

I always get tings wrung when it comes to my crib. So, I fib and sometimes ad lib. I did that when I did my FSBO and sold my crib for less tan the Zestimate. Made over $143,278 and left for Grease (it was legally not my home ... sorry honey).

I agree that the Zestimates can be wildly off base. It is though very useful to see the actual figures for what the house sold for at various times and the real figure for property taxes. Also the pictures are quite useful if you are actively shopping. For example I hate brown kitchen cabinets and I am not a fan of having an open kitchen intrude into my living room. This is great prior knowledge. And I can see if the pool has a child safety fence. I think it is great.

Expectations seems awfully high for these price checkers. Who believes everything they see on the internet anyway? It’s just fun to look at the pictures of inside houses in different neighborhoods and cities. I assume the actual sold prices are annual taxes are correct since they come from public records. The z- estimate is still guess, just assisted by a computer algorithm.

Is Zillow going to buy the house at the price they list? If not, then it's just 'Fantasy Real Estate', and as useful as that.

Each month I use Zillow to get an idea of the value of our home. However, what I do is go to all of the established home estimate sites, get all of their estimates, and then get an average of them. Although only an estimate, I also know that realtors overestimate the value of your home, on a regular basis. They want you to list with them, so the more they promise the more likely you will be to list with them.

This is old news. A number of academic studies have assessed the accuracy of the Zestimate. Also, Zillow used to provide a confidence interval, but they no longer do so. What this article actually shows is that people in the US do not understand statistically analysis.

Our house can fluctuate by tens of thousands of dollars within days...one way or another. We live in a community with no comparables as each home is historic and different. It’s really a “ guesstimate” given what the last few homes have sold for irrespective of the comparability or quality. It’s a joke. But one buyers take seriously.

Zillow is a joke. On my block one house sold for 720k and another for 700k. So how is it that Zillow pegs similar houses similarly situated on the same block at wildly divergent numbers? Plus, Zillow has no idea what's going on inside the homes or about their infrastructure. Zillow is a crap-shoot at best. What Zillow really is useful for is reporting what houses actually sold for and what current asking prices are for homes which are up for sale. You can get that information elsewhere but Zillow does save a lot of running around to get comps. Their "zestimates" are mostly useless.

Things are only worth what someone will pay on the day you want to sell. Also, it’s pie in the sky until it’s cash in your hand.

Limited algorithm. I live in semi rural N MS. Low number of sales of any cost around here. My neighbor, sharing our 5 acre pond bought his 6000 sq ft house on 6 acres for 700k 13 years ago and added at least 1200 sq ft to it and another 15 acres as a buffer. "The Zestimate ...is $602,591, ... decreased by $17,216 in the last 30 days. The Rent Zestimate... is $1,373/mo, which has decreased by $2,488/mo (sic) in the last 30 days." My 5000 sqft house on 11 acres with part of that pond, 4 Bdrms but room to make 5 or 6 if divided up, 5 baths, bought for 400k is only $234k now. The recent rental cost dropped 30%/mo. in a month. I am leaving sooon(retired, not a Trumpster, am a tree hugger and do not belong here) When I looked up my home a little over a year ago to prepare I was quite startled. I updated all the stats since the entry had no house or land info. That had no effect on the estimated worth. Still has not. I wonder if the tax assessment affected that since my wife's aggressive appeal halved its value. But it appears to be just nearby sales. They really cannot assess isolated rural homes. There are two other comparable houses within 2 miles.They were built for the owners who have not budged in the last 15 years.You are not getting my house for $234k. I'd burn it down first.

Yea, but it's still a lot of fun....

This Zillow estimate is unique in the USA. It is driven by greed, an essential motor in American life. That this "estimate" carries dangers is simply overlooked. Not very intelligent.

If you have a tendency toward mania it is easy to become addicted to realty websites. If you are even just thinking about moving, it can evolve into a regular case of house-porn. If you actually need to move, look out for post-purchase withdrawal. The maps, the school ratings, the crime stats and the prices — they become features of incessant comparison shopping. The only up side is that, unlike the instant gratification of Amazon shopping, there is no “Buy Now” button. The website developers have pegged the human frailty of shopping, the hunter-gatherer parts of our primitive brains. If they build it, we will shop.

Homeowners who want to follow the market can usually find recent “transfers” aka sales published in their local newspapers- sales prices are public info incentives the sale is recorded and ownership is transferred. Real estate agents will usually be willing to give recent sales info and ACCURATE assessments and opinions of value to homeowners as a professional courtesy. So much better than the often ridiculous and inaccurate zestimates /wild guestimates on Zillow which are a disgrace and a huge disservice to the market place.

I think the home value estimates on Redfin are more accurate than Zillow.

Zillow is a media company, an entertainment business that collects and repackages real estate data from local multiple listing services into entertaining features to market their data and to sell advertising. There are no industry standards or regulations that require them to be accurate or truthful. It's entertainment. Realtor.com is a real estate listing service closely associated with the National Association of Realtors, the real estate industry trade association. Realtor.com is bound by the trade association's code of ethics to provide accurate, truthful listing data.

A home's value is derived from what people are willing to pay for it. Like art.

Zillow is highly inaccurate in our area, in fact it creates wild market distortions. Why does it matter? ... well it sets the wrong benchmarks and expectations. Zillow should improve its algorithm or Close Shop!

I got that Zillow at invasive website at my sisters request; now I’m trying to figure out how to delete it from my iPad, And stop them from sending me further false, fake news!

This piece refers to the housing crash. Look New Yorkers, in the primary you just voted for the guy who caused that housing crash. Good going! https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/08/05/andrew-cuomo-and-fannie-and-fred... And I thought that New Yorkers were supposed to be smart and sophisticated.

Any investment property owner or manager can attest that Zillow can be and is, many times, wildly off-base and loaded with out-dated public records and erroneous data. My own property was undervalued to the tune of $700,000! Doesn't that sound ridiculous? Thats because it is ridiculous! Its over-automated, under-supervised data collection and entry. But in the end its really just sloppy business ethics and laziness on the part of Zillow.

The problem with Zillow and all of the other housing websites is inaccurate information. I bought a foreclosed house a few years ago, rehabilitated it and then sold it after owning it for five years. When I went to the websites to see how they represented it, sometimes the website displayed photographs and information about the home before it was foreclosed, some had photos while the house was in foreclosure and none of them showed the house as it was for the last five years. In other words, all of them posted extremely outdated information and were actively working against me as I tried to sell the house. I contacted one of the websites and complained. To their credit they removed the outdated information but never added more current information. This is the fundamental problem with websites of this nature: they claim to know something about us or our houses based on vastly outdated, inaccurate and partial information they gleaned from potentially malign sources. They are in fact worse than counter-productive.

It is quite amusing to see people who I am fairly sure believe fairly enthusiastically in the concept of markets establishing pricing try to argue that there is any such thing as a kind of "intrinsic value" to a house. Your house is worth what the next owner agrees to pay for it.

Consumer confidence is based on how people feel about things. It is only human nature to think your stuff is top notch, and desirable. Whether it be your house, your spouse, or your future. People who resonate with the idea that things are getting better are more likely to spend because their future looks bright. After selling one, and buying another house it was pretty clear that the thing that made those deals go through was the right buyer came along. Our house was perfect for the people who bought it. Our purchase was just right for us because if met all the items on our list of things we were looking for. The price was second. We sold for 10% less than our ask just so we didn't have to sit on it. Would got the new house for ~10% off their asking price. To try and grind them lower would have meant possibly losing to someone else. End result? If the house fits your needs and YOU don't think you overpaid, and will be living in the home for years to come, then it is much less about making a great deal financially and more about making a great deal for you and your family.

I find Redfin more accurate in estimating home prices, especially in neighborhoods that are not already gentrified. We had our home in LA appraised during a refinance and Redfin was accurate within a few percentage points while Zillow undervalued our home by more than 15%.

I use Zillo for virtual tourism. I find cities and their diverse neighborhoods interesting. For cities that I have not visited, especially in the midwest and east coast, I can see landscape, architecture, and market values to get a sense how a place looks, from older central cities to newer suburbs.

Zillow, even Redfin and MLS, estimates are based on per sf price of neighboring houses, number of bed rooms and baths, etc. and only a small consideration to other features. If you have a custom home among track houses, or other way around, algorithms ignore it. Quality of construction and special features can not be a factor in any electronic estimate. Whether you are a buyer, seller, or just a browser, take all home estimates on the net with a pound of salt.

The Zillow estimates are often way off base. We bought our home 4 years ago. In the first 2 years, the Zillow estimate showed the value up over 40%. Since then, the estimate has declined by more than 20%. All this for a house in a good neighborhood where all the real statistics show that prices have been steadily increasing during the entire 4 years. Today's Zillow estimate is probably closer to the real value than the up 40% number from 2 years ago, but the disparities make me question whether their algorithm is very sophisticated or perhaps that it consults the tea leaves.

I have always found Zillow to be light in its estimation of house values after selling three houses in the last few years. Those homes were sold after hiring estimators to establish a sales comps for each.

What is really crazy about Zillow is that a property can be MLS-listed, exposed to market for a standard time period, sell at arm's length, and even then they don't correct their usually-inaccurate Zestimates. While there are pretty good AVM's in this world which are particularly effective in the valuation of reasonably modern subdivision properties in dense suburban areas live Phoenix and San Diego, none of them have any credibility for rural, unusual or complex properties. Take it from a Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, there are many properties that even with a detailed interior inspection and years of experience in a market, are very, very difficult to accurately value.

Completely ignores home equity loans. People use Zillow to see if they might have enough to get a loan to improve the home. A real estate article that overlooks a big chunk of that economy...

A missing component that is common out here is the view or waterfront. Zillow dies not seem to take them into account in any logical way. I suspect that is the case anywhere that the actual land value varies because of unique features, either desirable or detrimental. The estimates are likely closer in a subdivision environment, but even so cannot take details into account.

Ten years ago I was at a party and talking to friends who were both real estate agents. Somehow I brought up the topic of the Internet and how it would transform traditional property sales. Neither agent believed that. Now Zillow is both their best friend and worst enemy. Whether its Zestimates are accurate or not is irrelevant. These estimates define the market for a given property. It's like every other piece of data on the Internet. It's real until proven fake. Maybe Snopes should be looking into every listing.

It lists my home lower than my neighbor's by $7K. Their house is falling apart. We've done over $40kin upgrades and elevated the house out of the flood zone for $265K. Good laugh.

I’m an unrepentant Zillow addict. But NOT for my House. It’s a very relaxing bedtime ritual : Lounging about on the couch, sipping the allotted glass of wine, and perusing the listings for downtown Seattle Condos. Yes, we’ve been there at least ten times for Vacations. But I have learned so much about neighborhoods and types of buildings, and the maps are excellent for really learning about the City. We WILL be retiring there. Or maybe sooner, because I’m off to buy a few Lottery tickets. Seriously.

Zillow is susceptible to claims and even lawsuits by brokers and owners that Zestimates of property values are too low or too high. It's just part of the game. "Market value" is the actual price -- less brokers fees and transfer taxes.

Aside from the gross statistical margin for error (which it takes forever to drill down and even find on the website), Zillow never actually enters the house. The numbers have no idea the condition of the home, the layout, the desirability of the location; Numbers cannot measure the more intrinsic qualities

Thanks to Zillow I know the approximate value of anyone’s house in America. Thanks to social media I can see what your curated life looks like, often your family too, and also what your career is all about. With a tiny bit of effort I can learn far more. You do know that this type of individual exposure and lack of privacy is largely unique to America. This is a great time to be a con man!

Oh, Zillow. I don't know what algorithms it uses, but I do know that my single-family home is listed by Zillow as a six-plex and my son's single-family home is listed as a rental. Simply starting off with the assessor's records would have ruled out these scenarios, but Zillow apparently doesn't go to that much trouble.

I call these scams "Pop Appraisals." They abuse Automatic Valuation Model (AVM) technology. Their only purposes are as website traffic count drivers to support higher advertising rates and sales lead generators. As a real estate broker, I routinely see the confusion in consumers who are not "In on the game," and are victimized by these raw scams. We are overdue for legislation and regulation to reign them in. State legislatures have not provided responsible legislation for plaintiffs and courts to cite. Real Estate Commissions, and Appraisal Boards are not supported with enforceable legislation to fulfill their missions to protect consumers with responsible regulations. National Association of REALTORS has not brought the REALTOR Code of Ethics up to modern requirements to promote Duties to the Public. I suggest legislation/regulation to support the following: 1. Make pop appraisals, whether Zestimates, or other abuses of AVM technology, only permitted for any property when all property owners have specifically, with clear documentation, opted-in for them. 2. Make viewers of pop appraisals scroll and click through disclaimers for each pop appraisal accessed, requiring viewer acknowledgement that pop appraisals are for entertainment only. 3. Standards and accountability. Register/license to provide pop appraisals. Open standards, open algrothims, so the process can be transparent. Loss of registration/license authority if valuations do not meet a reasonable norm.

Of course, the estimates are not accurate, or at least, should always be assumed to be a rough guide based on local information. The problem is not Zillow, but most people's misunderstanding or literalness when interpreting numbers. On the flipside, Zillow has no idea of the money put into a home, specifically renovations. Even then, most people assume that the money they spend increases the home value equally when it might be better to assume that maybe 50% of the renovation expense is recoverable, but only on some areas like the kitchen and the bath, and only if recent.

zillows estimates are not always accurate. No one can do an accurate appraisal without actually seeing a home and doing a thorough market research appraisal. The problem with zillow estimates is that people will look at the site and think its a bona fide value for a house and a homeowner who is trying to sell their home is stuck with that false perception.

Zillow's algorithm could use improvement. Our neighbor's home that is a two bed one bath without a garage is valued higher than our 3 bed 2 bath with garage.

When my wife and I sold several houses in the past, our first step was to pay a professional appraiser for an appraisal that would be accepted by local lending institutions in issuing mortgages. These appraisals allowed us to price our houses accurately, and also facilitated buyers following through and completing transactions without wasting our time on supposed sales that finally failed due to buyers'mortgage contingencies. We found the money spent on obtaining professional appraisals before pricing and listing our houses was money very well spent. I have no idea why this is not standard practice.

Antitrust? Look at the realtors. Zillow gives us a--perhaps false-- sense of control. I can see what my house is worth and even put it on the market without giving someone $80k just to get into MLS.