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but if a buyer asked for comps of that target property, i could pull up <90 days sold comparables right in front of them. assuming the listing agent for the property and the sellers priced it in line with the comparables (and werent financially or emotionally bound to a higher, possibly inflated price), they'd likely sell it somewhere within the comparable pricing. much higher than the zestimate amount in this case.
Interestingly, Zillow does the exact same thing. Now, that being said, some areas of the country have better data feeding into Zillow than others. In fact, there's a section on the Zillow site called "Comps". It can even dig back to as far as 5 years, I believe.
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the fact that the zillow estimate can be modified by a consumer is enough reason for me to see no value in the zestimate.
Zestimates can not be modified by the consumer. Zillow can take data from the owner of the property, and add it into it's data points to be modeled. Case in point, I added the recent appraisal and sale price, and updated some of the stats on the property (Nearby schools, etc).
But, I could not edit the Zestimate, just feed more data, which is weighted in some fashion.
Interestingly, Zillow does the exact same thing. Now, that being said, some areas of the country have better data feeding into Zillow than others. In fact, there's a section on the Zillow site called "Comps". It can even dig back to as far as 5 years, I believe.
Zestimates can not be modified by the consumer. Zillow can take data from the owner of the property, and add it into it's data points to be modeled. Case in point, I added the recent appraisal and sale price, and updated some of the stats on the property (Nearby schools, etc).
But, I could not edit the Zestimate, just feed more data, which is weighted in some fashion.
when a consumer can attempt to modify their property details, either directly or by submitting and seeing if it is significant enough to adjust the zestimate, it leaves too much room for interpretation, imo
when a consumer can attempt to modify their property details, either directly or by submitting and seeing if it is significant enough to adjust the zestimate, it leaves too much room for interpretation, imo
Then every system leaves too much room for interpretation. My city sent me a form to fill out in order to update the details of the property. MLS is flawed, because real estate agents can adjust the details. ad nauseum.
Then every system leaves too much room for interpretation. My city sent me a form to fill out in order to update the details of the property. MLS is flawed, because real estate agents can adjust the details. ad nauseum.
I agree.
but from my perspective, the majority of unrealistic expectations towards offer price come from zillow.. i get over the hurdle every single time, but it's a hurdle that does not have to happen
So absurd, on the date of sale, it sold for a price within $3K of the Zestimate... Ok, got ya.
I bet if it was priced within 10K of the Zestimate when the "fellow" looked, it would have sold for in the neighborhood of within $5K.
It sold at $10K under your list price, and within $3K of the Zestimate. Of course there was a "dramatic market shift". Your house sat on the market for 8 weeks, and was finally bought. After you lowered your list price to match the market price (Which Zillow was pretty much spot on).
A few weeks earlier, it didn't sell for your asking price either. You were priced too high, and some market force brought the "point in time valuation" up. Yes, RE markets ARE volatile, subject to many things such as news of tax code changes, weather, economic news, etc etc.
I'm glad your fav closing attorney loves your contracts. I only presume you are using the standard real estate contracts provided by the association in each state? Most RE's do.
That being said, I can write a nice, clean RE contract. It's easy, and will hold up to an attorney review:
Property at ( Location, house address, street, and city), will be sold by ( Current owner name) to ( Buyer name) for ( Insert Amount).
Very clean. I'm sure any attorney would love that contract.
Z Fanboi Extreme stuff. fer sherr. How many shares of Z do you hold?
Zillow was wrong for the buyer, wrong as the day is long, and that is acceptable because after he got Zinged, they moved closer to market for no apparent reason. So Z is better than an agent who had it right all along? ZFE, fer sherr.
The house was Z'ed @ $380,000 15 months ago. $415,000 a year ago. Now back to $380,000 for a few months.
No rime or reason to the valuation.
I would list it today at $420,000 without a worry, other than concern for buyers who would be Zinged for mistaking Z for a real estate site, rather than the common advertising site which is all Z truly is.
Of course I use the standard contracts as applicable. They are tried and true, provided by attorneys who hammer them out to meet NC Real Estate Commission and Bar Association requirement.
Why would I pretend I could write a contract when one that is perfectly usable for most transactions is readily available to me?
Z Fanboi Extreme stuff. fer sherr. How many shares of Z do you hold?
Might come as a shocker, but....
Wait for it...
0.
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Zillow was wrong for the buyer, wrong as the day is long, and that is acceptable because after he got Zinged, they moved closer to market for no apparent reason. So Z is better than an agent who had it right all along? ZFE, fer sherr.
They followed the market. You were not "right" at that point in time, as the property sat for 8 weeks. Then, the market changed, it was revalued on Zillow, and it sold for within $3K of that price. $10K under your list.
So, in reality, you were never right.
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The house was Z'ed @ $380,000 15 months ago. $415,000 a year ago. Now back to $380,000 for a few months.
No rime or reason to the valuation.
I'm sure there's a "rhyme or reason" to the valuation: Similar properties sold, hotter market, etc etc. Yes, housing prices point-in-time valuation DO in fact change.
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I would list it today at $420,000 without a worry, other than concern for buyers who would be Zinged for mistaking Z for a real estate site, rather than the common advertising site which is all Z truly is.
It might sell today for $420K today. Who knows. I don't know your market. But, the last time you priced it there, you were $10K off. Zillow was within $3K.
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Of course I use the standard contracts as applicable. They are tried and true, provided by attorneys who hammer them out to meet NC Real Estate Commission and Bar Association requirement.
Why would I pretend I could write a contract when one that is perfectly usable for most transactions is readily available to me?
Why would I pretend a RE Agent is needed for a RE contract? Why not just hire an attorney who deals in real estate, and use their boiler plates, designed to protect me, their client; instead of the NC RE Commission members who use them?
...
They followed the market. You were not "right" at that point in time, as the property sat for 8 weeks. Then, the market changed, it was revalued on Zillow, and it sold for within $3K of that price. $10K under your list.
...
Obviously not true. Not accurate. Not meaningful. Zillow was under price for an extended period and is underpriced again today. It is monkeys and keyboards, not science.
Why do they still have the square footage off by 400+ SF on a 3200SF house? Why did they not call me to correct that egregious error rather than to compound it? Why do they use a computer model that is inaccurate up to 15 to 20% on square footages?
The market did not change at all. If you contend the market changed, please chart the trend for me. Zillow cannot.
Obviously not true. Not accurate. Not meaningful. Zillow was under price for an extended period and is underpriced again today. It is monkeys and keyboards, not science.
Then your system is far worse than Zillow. Zillow was only off by $3K at the time of sale, and you were off by $10K.
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Why do they still have the square footage off by 400+ SF on a 3200SF house? Why did they not call me to correct that egregious error rather than to compound it? Why do they use a computer model that is inaccurate up to 15 to 20% on square footages?
But, even with all the inaccurate data, it STILL was within $3K of the sale price. Whouda thunk it.
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The market did not change at all. If you contend the market changed, please chart the trend for me. Zillow cannot.
Zillow can chart the trend. It's right under the listing, where it shows the trends for the Zestimate, Rent Zestimate, etc.
Then your system is far worse than Zillow. Zillow was only off by $3K at the time of sale, and you were off by $10K.
But, even with all the inaccurate data, it STILL was within $3K of the sale price. Whouda thunk it.
Zillow can chart the trend. It's right under the listing, where it shows the trends for the Zestimate, Rent Zestimate, etc.
Welcome to real estate. It is a fine field, and you can learn a lot if you apply yourself in the right manner.
To market and sell a property as an agent, I put a market price on a property.
Zillow calculated a very low value on the same property, ostensibly derived from statistics, and inaccurate measurements, nearly 10% below market value, held it for months, and then reverted to it after a brief, inexplicable volatile spike and is still showing the wrong SF.
I looked at the Z trend line for the property. It is completely absurd. The moment in time when they picked a number out of the hat that worked was a spike in their timeline over a few weeks. No rime. No reason. No sense. That is the issue with trusting a monkey and keyboard pap advertising company over someone who actually studies the local market.
There is no reason to believe that the current value is $380,000. If anything, since closing at the end of July, the value is flat to up a few thousand bucks and $420,000 would be a creditable market price.
I live here, study the market, and know that to be true. Where is Z? I cannot see them anywhere and they need to measure the house.
Last edited by MikeJaquish; 01-05-2013 at 07:35 PM..
List price is not the home valuation. Home valuation is whatever it sells for. And, you can find the typical margin for error for your city on Zillow's site.
Case in point: For my city (Buffalo, NY), the typical margin of error is in the neighborhood of 5%.
In the Phoenix metro area, only 24.3% of zestimates are within 5%. This is for 1.5M homes with zestimates. Median error is 11%.
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