Whether a real estate investor, a homeowner, or just someone interested in real estate, a common question for all is “how accurate is Zillow for home values”?
The truth is, while Zillow can provide a rough idea of a home’s value, they are not near accurate enough to be relied on when trying to determine the true value of a home.
Real Estate Agents vs Zillow When Determining a Homes Value
To understand “how accurate is Zillow for home values” and why Zillow and their Zestimates are not a good resource to determine them.
You must first understand the process a real estate agent uses to determines a home’s value and then compare that process to how Zillow determines its home values.
To determine the value of a property, a real estate agent will perform a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) or a BPO (Broker Price Opinion). Whether the agent is performing a CMA or a BPO though the general concept is the same, which is to use comparable properties in close proximity to the subject to determine an accurate estimate of the home’s value.
Upon first glance when looking at how Zillow determines a home’s value or their Zestimate you might not see much of a difference between real estate agents and Zillow. Because Zillow estimates the value of the home much in the same way that a real estate agent does, by using comparable properties in close proximity to the subject to determine a property’s value.
So if a real estate agent and Zillow are using similar approaches to estimating the value of a home. Why are real estate agents more accurate than Zillow when it comes to home valuations?
Top Reasons Zillow Provides the Wrong Zestimate
The two main reasons why real estate agents will always be more accurate when estimating a home’s value when compared to Zillow includes the source of the information used and the human element.
Source of the Property Information
The first and most important reason why agents are more accurate than Zillow is their source of information. As agents have access to a far more accurate and reliable source of information for comparable properties.
When agents pull comparable properties to estimate the value of a home, they pull these properties from the MLS or multiple listing service, which is the gold standard when it comes to reliable and accurate property information.
Only real estate agents and appraisers have access to the MLS though, so Zillow must use other sources for property information and comparable properties.
When Zillow attempts to estimate the value of a home, they pull comparable properties from oftentimes unreliable resources such as tax rolls, public records, or individual users on Zillow.
Because of this difference in quality when it comes to the information used in determining a property’s value, often there can be a large difference between an agent’s estimated value and Zillow’s estimated value.
Remember no matter where you get the value of a property from, the accuracy of that home value is only as reliable as the quality of information used.
Human Judgement and Intuition
The lack of human judgment and intuition when Zillow determines the value of a home is the second reason why Zillow cannot reliably provide accurate home values.
When a real estate agent estimates the value of a home they use their human judgment and intuition to adjust the comparable properties, by adding and subtracting from the comparables so they more closely resemble the subject property that is being valued.
By making these adjustments to the comparable properties a real estate agent can end up with a far more accurate estimation of the home’s value than if the agent were to just use the comparable properties at face value with no adjustments.
While Zillow’s Zestimate and algorithm might attempt to make some of these adjustments to the comparable properties. Using the human touch and intuition to make them will always lead to a more accurate estimate than using a computer program or algorithm.
Zillow and Real Estate Investors
Just because Zillow can’t provide an accurate property value doesn’t mean Zillow doesn’t provide any value to a real estate investor.
On the contrary, as a real estate investor, Zillow can be a great source of information to help you both invest in and buy real estate.
Top Uses for Zillow as Real Estate Investor
- While Zillow doesn’t provide accurate individual home values. Zillow can be a great place to start when trying to determine an overall average for home values in a particular area.
- Zillow does a great job integrating all of their property information into their Zillow home value map. Which provides an excellent resource to get an overview of a particular area and to figure out what is around a property,
- Is a great source for property statistics such as square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, lot size, and taxes, etc…
- The Zillow app can also be a great source of information on the fly. Allowing you to quickly and easily pull up information on the app while you’re standing in front of the house.
How Accurate is Zillow for Home Values Conclusion
While we have clearly seen you can’t rely on Zillow or the Zillow Zestimate for accurate property valuations, remember that this doesn’t mean Zillow has no value.
Don’t forget Zillow is the #1 most visited real estate site, because they do a great job in providing tons of useful information to both buyers and sellers in the real estate market.
Related Questions
What is the Zillow home value index? Per Zillow’s “the Zillow Home Value Index is the median Zestimate valuation for a particular area on a particular day.
Can You Dispute or Update Zillow’s Information? Yes, as the homeowner of a property you can update the information that Zillow has on the property. Doing this can influence the value of the Zestimate and put the property in the best possible light before selling the home.
Does Zillow’s home value accuracy vary across the country? Yes, when using Zillow certain cities or areas of the country can have more accurate home values compared to others.
Are there other places online to get an estimate of a property’s value other than Zillow? Yes, there are many websites that can be used when trying to estimate a property’s value such as realtor.com, trulia.com, and redfin.com.
Want to learn how to estimate a property’s value like the pros? Check out our article “How to Perform a House Flipping Market Analysis” to learn how.
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