How about those zestimates?
We see on every listing in America that once a home hits the MLS, Zillow revises their zestimate to within a couple of dollars of the list price. That alone is shady and should be illegal, given how consumers have come to rely on them as the truth.
How close are they when homes are off-market?
The pre-market zestimates on our recent listings range from being as much as $550,400 UNDER the actual sales price, to being $815,000 OVER the sales price.
The scariest part is that sometimes they are close to being right!
Which is which? How do you know how accurate your zestimate is?
We should stop saying that commissions are negotiable and say it correctly. Every agent has their own commission rate – some agents charge more, and some charge less, and it usually depends on their skill set.
Are you going to hire a less-experienced agent who isn’t as good on pricing, just to save a point because you trust your zestimate? Yikes!
Get Good Help!
Sold for $1,870,000. Wrong by $296,900.
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Sold for $2,705,000. Wrong by $94,200.
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Sold for $4,137,000. Wrong by $815,000.
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Sold for $926,000. Wrong by $57,300.
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Sold for $1,400,000. Wrong by $114,000.
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Sold for $1,610,000. Wrong by $197,200.
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Sold for $3,365,000. Wrong by $550,400.
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Sold for $1,350,000. Wrong by $105,000.
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Sold for $1,450,000. Wrong by $281,500.
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Sold for $2,440,000. Wrong by $16,100.
The reason the pre-market estimate can be off by a large amount is based on the stale dated details. Once the property goes on the MLS, the details get updated along with gathering information from recent MLS sales. If the home hasn’t been on the market for many years then it will not provide an accurate estimates in today’s market. Now, if Zillow allowed the owner to edit the facts, then estimates can be normalized. I don’t work for Zillow, but I work in software and data analysis and this is the best conclusion I can draw. And to your point, yes getting good professional help is important to provide a number that a buyer is willing to pay without leaving money on the table.
But the homeowners don’t know that – and their undying faith they put in the accuracy is misplaced.
It’s so bad that once the old guys like me are gone, it will just be an automated marketplace (subject to even more manipulation).