Facebook
X
Pinterest
Copy Link
Zillow and Redfin have successfully engrained themselves into American culture. I know folks who browse these sites for hours a day, often just for the fun of shopping! They do bring value with the ease of searching and by centralizing all of the various public data connected to a home. But! Their estimate calculators are often greeted with derision by folks in the real estate industry. And there is good reason.
Here are two articles from Investopedia and The Close that are worth reading. I am hearing this conversation from both sides right now as I help seller’s and buyer’s negotiate offers and work through the art and science of pricing.
For example, the south end of Whidbey is averaging around $400 per square foot on the sale of homes and nice, large vacant lots of land are averaging around $35,000 an acre depending on location. But, many homes in the south end are owned for decades and have few homes that sell in a given year so Zillow really struggles to get a good comparison.
Here is my favorite part from The Close article, “Some savvy agents (and clients) have noticed that the Zestimate often changes once a property is listed to become much closer to, if not exactly, the new listing price. This means an on-market Zestimate benefits from the local, on-the-ground expertise of real estate agents (the ones who are actually pricing the properties) and has a much better chance of being on-target. It could be argued, therefore, that the on-market accuracy rate of Zillow’s Zestimate makes us look good—or maybe I should say agents are making Zestimates look good?”
So while agents are taking hits left and right in the press right now Zillow and Redfin are leaning harder than ever into local expertise and boots on the ground.
Keep these things in mind as you consider a Zestimate:
- How long has the home been owned? The longer the harder it is for an accurate estimate.
- How much turnover has there been in the neighborhood? Good neighborhoods, with valuable property are often generational. Comps can be really hard in these areas.
- What are the averages for square footage and other important data points over the last 6-12 months? The market moves incredibly fast now and even technology has trouble keeping up.
