Are Zillow “Zestimates” Accurate? NO!!!

Have you ever used Zillow to price your home for sale? If so, you are probably familiar with their “Zestimate,” the website’s automated approximation of what the property is worth. This so-called “value” is automatically computed three times per week based on millions of public and user-submitted data points. Zillow may do its best to give you an accurate price of what a home is worth. In the end, their best isn’t necessarily good enough. Zillow prides itself as being the most popular online real estate information website. However, the Los Angeles Times published an article which shows that the “Zestimate” may not be as accurate as you would think. One of the examples in the article based on research conducted in Carlsbad, California, showed the “Zestimates” were wrong 95% of the time.And for a fantastic local example, we are currently in escrow on one of our Agoura Hills listings. Before we actually put the home on the market, our newly signed seller contacted us completely confused and infuriated because the “Zestimate” listed the home’s value at $665,695 after we told him we were planning on listing somewhere in the mid-$800s. We explained that Zillow’s “Zestimates” are often quite inaccurate and listed the house according to plan at $838,888…the result? The home quickly went into escrow and, in line with the findings of the L.A. Times article, the inaccuracies continue, as Zillow’s “Zestimate” was off by more than 20%!

As real estate experts, we are committed to providing our clients with the most accurate information in this highly competitive real estate market, and it is our responsibility to inform our clients that Zillow is not necessarily indicative of “true” real estate prices. If you’re looking for an accurate assessment of your home’s worth, don’t hesitate to give us a call – we’re always here to help!