Accuracy of Zillow/Trulia/Redfin Estimates

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finite_difference
Posts: 3633
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2015 7:00 pm

Re: Accuracy of Zillow/Trulia/Redfin Estimates

Post by finite_difference »

Jack FFR1846 wrote: Wed Nov 14, 2018 1:08 pm They take average per square foot for the market, multiply that number by the square feet of the property and spit out a stupid number. My wife's aunt just recently went into an assisted living home. Her house was sold to the best offer made. Zillow's estimate (zestimate) was $295k. It sold for $130k. That's how accurate they are.
That’s a very large error. What was the Redfin estimate? Was the home correctly classified? Do you have any idea why there was such a discrepancy?

I would use this formula:

Estimated Home Value = (Redfin estimate + Zestimate)/2.

And expect it to be within 10% or so.

In the OP’s case that seems correct to within 5% so I don’t see the issue.

Or take the lower one and take 20% off if you want to be very conservative.
The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. - Thich Nhat Hanh
Topic Author
vested1
Posts: 3496
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:20 pm

Re: Accuracy of Zillow/Trulia/Redfin Estimates

Post by vested1 »

EinAustin wrote: Thu Nov 15, 2018 5:03 pm I'm a real estate broker and thought it would be interesting to look at the Zestimate history for a home that closed today.

9/30 - Zestimate was $421k.
10/19 - Home was listed for $510k.
10/31 - Zestimate increased to $482k.
11/15 - Sold for $513k.

Something I thought was interesting is the comparable homes they were using.
There were 3 other homes with the same floorplan in this section of the neighborhood that sold this year.
The first was a FSBO and the owner said he sold it for $440,000. Zillow was showing that as a comparable property.
The other 2 homes with the same floorpan I was the listing agent for and sold for $501k and $504k. Neither of those were listed as comparable properties. All 4 of these homes have the same floorplan, same schools and are the same age.
I agree that Zillow estimates make no sense. I updated the incorrect information listed by Zillow on their site for our home about a year ago, adding additional square footage and a bathroom, all pre-existing since it was built. I also added narrative, listing the view, the park, and the upgrades. It made no appreciable difference in Zillow's estimate. Our home is by far the most desirable on the cul de sac, being the only one with a view of the ocean, extensively updated, and located next to a city park. It is listed as having the least value on the block, even with more square footage than most of the others and on a larger lot. All of the homes were built in the same year, 50 years ago.

Unfortunately for sellers, unsophisticated prospective buyers without an agent treat Zillow estimates as gospel because they don't know any better. They will look at what they see as an inflated sales price based on an unrealistic Zestimate, and move on. Luckily, when they get serious there are RE agents who can provide a reality check.
Anne711
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2019 2:24 pm

Re: Accuracy of Zillow/Trulia/Redfin Estimates

Post by Anne711 »

Redfin is the lowest of estimates for my condo compared to zillow, realtor.com and trulia and has the greatest discrepancy in estimate between mine and the one above me which is exactly the same. A current for sale listing of a much smaller lower level condo in my complex is estimated by Redfin at $252/sq ft yet mine is estimated at $203/sq ft by them. It doesn't make sense.
Iris2
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:15 pm

Re: Accuracy of Zillow/Trulia/Redfin Estimates

Post by Iris2 »

Redfin has TWO SEPARATE listings for my condo, with a $65,000 difference in estimates between the two. Again, they are for the same exact unit. Their lowest estimate is $170K less than the Zillow estimate.

All of it seems like a bit of a crock to me.
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