Should you Trust Zillow’s Zestimates? No, you shouldn’t.
According to Zillow’s own website, a Zestimate is merely a starting point when you’re thinking about a home’s value. The estimate is generated based on public and private data. The public data may be accurate, but the private data might not be.
If you’re a home seller who knows that people are going to see your listing on Zillow, wouldn’t it benefit you if the Zestimate comes in a little bit higher? Of course it would!
“Zestimates can be tweaked and manipulated.”
Also, remember that Zillow has never been inside your house or any house listed on the site. They don’t know how each home stacks up to other homes in the area. Large cities have more public data to pull from to create their Zestimates, but here in the New Orleans area, most of us don’t live in traditional neighborhoods, which makes it much more difficult to get an accurate Zestimate.
Zillow even admits that 75% of the homes in San Diego County have Zestimates that are off by 10% more or less than the home’s actual worth. The average home price in San Diego is around $700,000, so if it’s off by 10%, it could swing $70,000 above or below its market value. Here in New Orleans, our average home price is around $275,000, so a 10% margin could still be $25,000 to $30,000.
Think of Zillow like you would WebMD. If you’re just curious about a health condition, you can look on WebMD to see what might be causing it. However, if you’re serious about your health, you’d go to a doctor instead, right? It’s the same thing with real estate: If you want to know what a house is actually worth, you need a real estate professional to help you.
If you’re a homeowner interested in getting an estimate of your property’s value, send me your Zestimate. I’ll do a comparative market analysis on your home and compare that estimate to your Zestimate—we’ll see how accurate your Zestimate is. We guarantee to our home sellers that we’ll sell your home within 45 days or less, or else we’ll pay you $1,500.*
The Birdsong Group would also love to hear from potential homebuyers! Remember, if you buy a home with us and you decide in the first 12 months that you don’t like it, then we’ll sell it for you for free.*
In the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions you have. We look forward to helping you with your next real estate transaction. Have a great day!
*Terms and conditions apply.
