Anyone that knows anything about Zillow ignores the prices there. I'd be very surprised if agents working with buyers didn't educate them about the nonsense of most home values when/if the buyer mentioned it.

It's kind of like people looking at the tax value of a property and thinking that equals market value. Even where laws state tax value is supposed to equal market value, it's not always accurate.

Very little influence once people become educated about a market.

The Zillow valuation in my area is pretty accurate in my area, in my judgement.

When I do see two homes that seemingly are of near equal value I try to use Zillow to figure out WHY the difference exists.

As an appraiser, let me state that if you get good results in Zillow, it's by pure luck. If you live in a homogenous neighborhood where all of the houses are essentially the same with no variations, it's great. If you live in a rural area, an area with renovated and unrenovated homes, or an area with a wide variety of sizes, styles and conditions, it's not going to do diddly for you.

As a consumer, one feature I like on Zillow is the listing history. When you can see price reductions and history of time on market in one place, you get a feel about the local market conditions.

List your house for a fair price after analyzing the local market data and viewing the most recent, most similar comparable property sales. Interviewing at least 3 agents who provide this data will should give you a reasonable range of valuation for your listing.

"As an appraiser, let me state that if you get good results in Zillow, it's by pure luck"

I call "BS." If you understand Zillow, you only rely on under the circumstances you've described above. To write that off as "pure luck" is nonsense.

It's pure luck that you live in a homogenous development. Appraisers love these kinds of developments. It's easy to appraise. Everything is alike. No skill required. That's why Zillow gets those right. It gets a lot more complicated when it's not a homogenous development. That's when Zillow get it wrong.

I think calling it "BS" is a little strong. How about, I disagree and this is why.....?

Actually when the vitriol began to be spewed, I tried to delete the whole thread but that didn't work (oddly, as I'd done so in the past), so I just got the rudest post deleted. I'm not engaging with trolls.

I'd really like to hear more about this from everyone - on topic - and I just discovered that the woman in Illinois did lose the suit against Zillow, as they do state the zestimate just an estimate. Hmmm. And a quick browse brings up other suits too, plus one of a listing that got hacked to its detriment. Something to keep an eye on maybe.

I'm not too troubled that the woman lost her lawsuit. And it could be that her house was not worth what she thought it was. The last house I sold was priced on input from 4 real estate agents and it was a bit higher than the Zillow value. I had a hard time selling and it went for about 10% less than I originally priced it (and below the Zillow estimate). I wish I had gotten more for it, but I didn't think that Zillow somehow had a role in this. ;-)

Talaveran,

Please accept my apology. I'm usually pretty patient. I didn't mean to hijack your thread. After the second insult, I lost my patience and answered. That's no excuse for poor behavior.

You do ask a fair question. Does giving a zestimate skew the behavior of the consumer? Notice that I did not use the term valuation. That's a legal term with the force of law. If Zillow used that, then the practicing appraisal without a license lawsuit would have had some teeth. Zesitmate is a trademarked marketing term signifying nothing other than a wild guess.

It might influence a very small percentage of serious buyers. I hope most people who are seriously considering a purchase would look a little further. Most sales include the services of a professional realtor. We can hope that they set the consumer right.

I love browsing through Zillow. It's cheaper than buying and I can look at everyone's decorating. Some good, some bad.

Zillow “zestimated” my house at $60,000 less than our asking price. When I voiced my concern to my agent, she said “Zillow hasn’t been in your house.” I got full asking price on the second day. The condo we bought had a zestimate $40,000 more than our accepted offer. I agree that these are based on cookie cutter communities like mine.

Gerry-

Precisely. And even if Zillow had been in your house, and done an appraisal, it would not be any better than any other appraisal. When I got appraisals from four different realtors on my house, there was a $50K spread, and they all had good reasons for their numbers. The sales price depends on a lot of other things besides the perceived value of the house: the number of competing properties, the time of year, who happens to walk through the door, the color of the powder room, etc.

One sees price adjustments on sales listings all the time, and properties whose listings are removed because they simply don't sell. I was half-interested in a house one time, but thought the asking price was too high, and didn't make an offer. However, I kept an eye on it and saw that it didn't sell after 6 months. It was pulled from the listings, and then re-listed at a substantially higher price a month later and was almost immediately sold. Every house is unique and there are so many variables that no entity has a perfect crystal ball. I am always surprised, and amused, when people are upset that a free tool like Zillow, that is trying to present data on every house in the United States, is faulted for not being entirely accurate.

Kudzu9,

May I respectfully correct you on one part of your post. Only a licensed real property appraiser can appraise a property. What the realtors provided to you was a comparative property analysis. What is the difference? One has the force of law and the other is a marketing tool. The cost of the two services will be very different, too. While they may look similar, there are large differences.

Thanks. You're right on terminology. I was not interested in a formal appraisal, which I have needed to get financing for buying a house, but wasn't of interest to me in selling one. I was interested in comparative property analyses, which I got from the realtors. (I won't bother to edit my previous post so that your helpful clarification continues to make sense.)

Reading along and learning - thanks all. I don't get notifications on this thread, and this section seems to be out in the nether lands of Houzz without much traffic - could just be my imagination.

And it got hijacked by someone with an agenda... it's still occurring.

Zillow's estimates are totally inaccurate on many occasions, so I hope people don’t consider them seriously when looking outside of a cookie cutter neighborhood. The Zillow estimate for my property was over $150,000 less than what I listed it for, and sold it for, recently. Even after a certified appraisal came in for an even higher than list price value, and the property sold and closed, Zillow STILL has the property estimated at $125,000 less than actual sale price.

"Very little influence once people become educated about a market."

This. Serious, educated (on local market) buyers know the ballpark range of what they're looking for, where they're looking for it.

Zillow has our house valued at 400k more than appraised price and 200k more than fair market value. I wish someone would buy it at that price. I've been an agent for 20+ years, I check on every listing and sale and its rarely on target but I'm sure in some areas with cookie cutter homes the may have better luck.