How accurate is the zillow zestimate for your home?

[Davids]

I have no plans to sell my home but I like to check zillow to see what they say as the zillow zestimate. For the most part I have felt it, at least for my home, to be fairly close but in the last month the zestimate has shot up a bit. I figure I could sell my home between $265K - $270K which was what zillow zestimate had been at but in the past month it has shot up to $290K. Maybe I am missing something and the market could be hot in my area but I don't think I could get $290K for my home if I tried to sell today.

[Livingthedream55]

Remarkably accurate! I sold my home in a suburb of Boston for pretty much exactly the Zillow estimate a year and a half ago. I had three realtors assess what they thought it would sell for (based on comps and the condition of my house) and I received multiple offers (several were low ball) and there were a few rounds of negotiations but it was very close to the Zillow "zestimate."

[protostache]

For some reason Zillow stopped generating a zestimate for our home. No idea why. Their private estimate generated from comps ended up being right around what our realtor says it would go for, though.

[ketchup]

Worthless.  Zestimate of my rental house is at least triple its actual value.  Primary residence is overvalued by about 40%.  If you're interested in buying either for the Zestimate price, I'll pack my bags or kick out my tenant tomorrow.

[zinnie]

Looks pretty accurate right now, which is interesting. It used to be really off--I heard they lost MLS data for a while and it screwed everything up--but it must be resolved now. That's funny, I actually stopped looking for years because it was always $100k+ off! If it's within $20k of what you think it's worth that's not too bad. I believe it adjusts based on recent sales close by so if there were recent outliers that can really affect the estimate.

[KCM5]

Mine's pretty accurate - it's a pretty stable market with similar housing stock and all real estate sales are public information. I don't know if this is the case everywhere? Since Zillow can mine the data for all nearby sales, it does a pretty good job of estimating sale price.

[CowboyAndIndian]

It is pretty accurate if the houses are suburban and similar, e.g. if the houses are all single family and +/- 10% of square feet.


It is pretty wrong when there are condos or city dwellings where very disparate houses are right next to the other. I owned a condo in Philly and when a brand new condo building came up next door, the zestimate on my condo increased substantially. Another issue with condos is that a building will have multiple models of condo's (e.g 1, 2, 3 bedroom etc). Zestimate messes up with those.

[FIREySkyline]

These days you actually have to consider this a bit of a chicken vs. the egg question. Is Zillow objectively accurate, or does Zillow itself push valuations by potential buyers? I actually believe there's a good bit of the latter going on these days, but I have nothing except anecdotal evidence for that.

[jpompo]

I think it's probably as good of a guess as local real estate agents could generate. On a related subject, I should sell my house, the market here is crazy.

[Dave1442397]

I'd say Zillow is pretty accurate for our house, although I think in reality we could ask for more. Our house hasn't gone on the market since the '60s. My in-laws bought it directly from the owner in the '70s, and then we bought it from my in-laws. It's one of those houses where we get letters from realtors and buyers asking us to let them know if we ever sell, which is nice.

The house next door was bought directly from the owner a couple of years ago by a family who lived two houses down, and heard that it was about to go on the market. The dead-end location and the big back yards backing onto woodlands are what people like about these houses, and that's hard to find in this area.

[TwoWorlds]

Mine has done the same.  Looked accurate until the last month and its has shot up $50,000.

[Slow&Steady]

Ours is within a couple $1000 of what it appraised for in March.

[ontheheel]

I've gained about $40k this year on my rental property in North Texas, which is due to the population explosion far outpacing construction in the Dallas area. Just ran comps with my realtor, and Zestimate is right in line with similar houses selling nearby. Zestimate = $187k, Comps = $175-195k. New construction of the exact same model of my house is $215k.

What was said above about suburbia seems to be right in this case. It's a single family house in a spec-home HOA community, where every 12th house is pretty much the same. Pretty easy to get values in that scenario.

[frugalnacho]

I just sold a house for about 3% less than the zestimate.  I think zillow is just mining the data for local house sales and pricing your property relative to them. 

[Mrbeardedbigbucks]

We had an appraisal in January of this year and the appraisal was about $3000 higher than Zillow and Trulia. Accuracy probably varies greatly by location but maybe look at other online home value estimators to get an average.

[undercover]

I just sold a house for about 3% less than the zestimate.  I think zillow is just mining the data for local house sales and pricing your property relative to them.

Yes, which is why in general it should be fairly accurate. Of course, in some cases there are some variables that the algorithm isn't taking into account.

[alexpkeaton]

It is pretty wrong when there are condos or city dwellings where very disparate houses are right next to the other. I owned a condo in Philly and when a brand new condo building came up next door, the zestimate on my condo increased substantially. Another issue with condos is that a building will have multiple models of condo's (e.g 1, 2, 3 bedroom etc). Zestimate messes up with those.

Yup. It's laughably inaccurate in New York City. I think it overvalues my apartment by about $200k, but was even worse a few months back.

[mm1970]

It's pretty close right now, based on recent comps in the neighborhood.  Right now at a hair under $800k, slightly above what we paid for it over a decade ago.

I feel like the market is going to drop again in the next year or two.

[CupcakeGuru]

I think mine is over inflated by about 10%. Whenever a house sells in the area, the zestimate changes dramtically. I even stopped tying the zestimate to my mint account due to great fluctuations.

[Thegoblinchief]

After paying attention to it a few years back I never look anymore. While it's possible the algorithms have gotten better I certainly wouldn't put much stock in it. As soon as we're no longer underwater I'm removing equity from net worth tracking anyways.

[Helvegen]

Much better than Redfin's. For some reason, Redfin thinks the value of my house should be based on the price of an unimproved lot a street down from me with serious geotechnical engineering issues. Everytime a buyer backs out, Redfin knocks the value of my house down $10k. Meanwhile, I have other good comps in my neighborhood go wholly unnoticed by the algo. Whatever.

I think Zillow is a bit high, but Redfin is hilariously low.

[jim555]

Not accurate at all for me.  Way off.

[dresden]

200k over the value of the house

[FiftyIsTheNewTwenty]

Maybe 15% high, but it's a neighborhood oddball with extra square footage and still no garage.  Valuation calcs seem overly weighted for square footage.

Also, Zillow is still listing nearby selling prices and foreclosures from 2-3 years and 2-3 owners ago.

So Zillow prices are all over the place.  In reality, the houses are very similar, with very similar selling prices.  The only outliers are the foreclosures and rental wrecks needing major work (new roofs, etc.)

[Morning Glory]

It depends on the area and if any similar properties have sold recently. Mine was going up modestly and I thought it was pretty accurate, but then it tanked by $70k overnight. I looked at the comps they used and they have similar square footage and bathroom/bedroom count, but less than one acre of land and no outbuildings. I have 18 acres, a big dairy barn, and several other small buildings, and I think the problem is that no true comps have sold in my area recently.

[Bucksandreds]

I either have $140,000 in equity on a $350,000 house I bought 4 years ago or its off by about 10% overvalued. I hope it’s the former.  I have no plans to sell but being in a high demand area should keep the riff raff away.

[englishteacheralex]

I could be wrong about this, but it seems to me that our condo is a situation where appraising it is almost as easy as finding an MSRP on the internet. We live in a giant building with 300+ identical units, in a neighborhood with about 30 high rises in varying stages of decay and fanciness. Our realtor told us that various aspects of a condo unit have actual dollar valuations--a parking spot, for example, was worth $15k when we bought the place in 2015.

We had the place appraised in order to refinance it almost exactly a year ago. The appraisal was exactly in line with the "Zestimate". The price has appreciated by about 5% since then, according to Zillow. We keep an eye on the units for sale in our building and to our untrained eyes, their sold prices seem to be incredibly predictable. We always laugh when people ask for outlandish prices, because the units just go up by about 5% very reliably every month. No more, no less. If the place went for $15k less than ours, it's always because it had one fewer parking spot (we have a tandem spot).

Makes me wonder if we should do a FSBO if we ever decide to sell the place. 

[Altons Bobs]

Not accurate at all, not at the old house, not this house. It still thinks that I live in an empty lot, but I've been living here for years, it doesn't know there is a house here now.

[sokoloff]

We always laugh when people ask for outlandish prices, because the units just go up by about 5% very reliably every month. No more, no less. If the place went for $15k less than ours, it's always because it had one fewer parking spot (we have a tandem spot).

Makes me wonder if we should do a FSBO if we ever decide to sell the place.

If they're going up by 5% every month, you should never sell (and please tell me where that is so I can buy!!)

[MrsPete]

Interesting -- I'd never considered looking at my own house on Zillow.  Not 'specially accurate: 

- I think my house is worth about 30K less than Zillow says, but then I've been here a long time and am not really familiar with current pricing.
- I know my lot is twice as big as they say it is.
- I know my house was built in 1970; they say it was built in 1973. 
- It says my house is 2090 sf; it's actually about 400 sf larger. 
- It says my house was last renovated in 1978; I know structural changes have happened twice since then.
- They're right when they say brick, fenced yard -- things that're easy to see from the outside. 

[Catbert]

 I'd say my valuation is approximately correct.  But look at those valuations once a year, not every month.  They can swing widely month to month depending on what's sold recently.

I suspect Zillow is most inaccurate on houses which are really upgraded or really shabby.  The house next door to mine is larger than mine ,on a bigger lot, with a pool so it is priced higher.  But it's a hoarder house with a green pool which no one has dared use in the  20 years I've lived here.  In reality, it's a tear down not worth what Zillow thinks. 

[englishteacheralex]

We always laugh when people ask for outlandish prices, because the units just go up by about 5% very reliably every month. No more, no less. If the place went for $15k less than ours, it's always because it had one fewer parking spot (we have a tandem spot).

Makes me wonder if we should do a FSBO if we ever decide to sell the place.

If they're going up by 5% every month, you should never sell (and please tell me where that is so I can buy!!)

Sorry, that was a clear math fail on my part. It's really 5% every year, incrementally by the month.

[Megma]

 For my primary house, it's pretty close. For my rental its way high, I'd say about 60k too high (about 50%). If someone offered me that price is sell in a heartbeat. Any takers? 😉

[FiftyIsTheNewTwenty]

FWIW, our realtor.com estimate seems close.

[Huskie87]

Don't trust the zestimate charts, they're constantly changing. The 'historical track record' is complete bs. As part of my monthly tracking i always write in my zestimate, and about once a year the whole thing gets changed. In march my home had a zestimate of $350,000...today the chart claims the zestimate was $310,000 in march. Its one thing to revise estimates, but covering bad track records just makes the whole thing seem like a sham

[LeRainDrop]

LOL, no way the Zestimate is accurate for my home!  It may be thrown off because I live in a condo building, so perhaps it's not taking into account the different floors have different values and different owners have added various upgrades or not.  I dunno.  But I think zillow is overestimating the price of my unit by about 20%.

[simmias]

Interesting -- I'd never considered looking at my own house on Zillow.  Not 'specially accurate: 

- I think my house is worth about 30K less than Zillow says, but then I've been here a long time and am not really familiar with current pricing.
- I know my lot is twice as big as they say it is.
- I know my house was built in 1970; they say it was built in 1973. 
- It says my house is 2090 sf; it's actually about 400 sf larger. 
- It says my house was last renovated in 1978; I know structural changes have happened twice since then.
- They're right when they say brick, fenced yard -- things that're easy to see from the outside.

Zillow uses tax data and public deeds for that information.  They're not appraising your house.  They're running an Automated Valuation Model.  Nobody looked at the outside of your house, and if that information is incorrect on Zillow, it's most likely incorrect in the public record.

[orangepalm]

I feel like Redfin's estimate is the most realistic, with Zillow's estimate being ridiculously low. When we were looking for our home last year I also found myself using Redfin the most out of all websites, their listings perfectly matched the actual MLS  (unlike Zillow, realtor.com etc. which love to show your houses 'for sale' that were actually sold months ago, making it completely useless).

[Finallyunderstand]

Zillow ranks their own accuracy.  To find out how accurate they feel they are in your area do the following steps:


Use this link:  https://www.zillow.com/zestimate/#acc

At the top of that table you can sort by States/Counties, Metro Areas, or National. 

Clink on the link you want and then find your state or area and scroll until you find your county.  They have a 1-4 star rating system.  1 star is the least accurate.  4 is the most.  If you're under 4 stars I wouldn't put much hope in it being accurate.  Of course, a broken clock is right twice a day...

Hope that helps.  Sorry if it's a repeat from an above post.  I didn't read all of them. 

[Dicey]

Interesting -- I'd never considered looking at my own house on Zillow.  Not 'specially accurate: 

- I think my house is worth about 30K less than Zillow says, but then I've been here a long time and am not really familiar with current pricing.
- I know my lot is twice as big as they say it is.
- I know my house was built in 1970; they say it was built in 1973. 
- It says my house is 2090 sf; it's actually about 400 sf larger. 
- It says my house was last renovated in 1978; I know structural changes have happened twice since then.
- They're right when they say brick, fenced yard -- things that're easy to see from the outside.

Zillow uses tax data and public deeds for that information.  They're not appraising your house.  They're running an Automated Valuation Model.  Nobody looked at the outside of your house, and if that information is incorrect on Zillow, it's most likely incorrect in the public record.

Do you know you can edit the information for your own house on Zillow?

[Sibley]

After I bought my house, I was curious and checked the Zillow estimate. It was about $30k off from the official appraisal that at that point was a month old. I bought for $135k. Mixed neighborhood, lots of sizes, styles, and ages of houses. My house is about double the value of the one just to the north, and about 50% less then the house just to the south.

[Bourbon]

I think it can be off by quite a bit.  I do use their site to find homes that sold recently, and build my own valuation off that.

[FenderBender]

Not accurate at all.  My house has been nicely renovated whereas many around me have not, but zillow has some around me that haven't had any updates priced more.  They price on information the county has: number of bedrm, baths, heating/cooling system, lot size, home size, pool, basement but not the condition of the home.  I renovated 4 years ago, the house was a dump then, it was a rental of mine, but before it was renovated, zillow had it priced similar to other homes around me.  Zillow pricing is probably great for the average home that is run of the mill as it relates to amenities and age of things inside the home, but they have no insights when homes are in poor conditions or great condition especially when the home hasn't been sold in a long time.  If not sold in a long time, they don't have that reference either.  So many variables to getting it right.

[HPstache]

Seems pretty accurate for us, judging by the prices of homes selling around us.  Possibly a few percent high at most.

[Lan Mandragoran]

Accurate if your home is average for your neighborhood ;).  I think it basically just says, oh your a 3br 2ba 1500SqFT in the KC metro, thats 150.8k or w/e lol :).

[boarder42]

Mine is very accurate. 

If yours is not its pretty simple to get it more accurate.  Make yourself the owner - then make sure all the data for your home is correct.  you can then go in and look at the comps its comparing you to and flag the ones that are incorrect comps.  - this was big for us as our house is lake front and zillow for some reason cant discern that the houses with land on the lake are worth more than houses with houses in their backyards.

[nawhite]

Mine is just about dead on, maybe high by 3%. It got WAY more accurate (went way up) after I updated their info about my house and now I feel like they've tracked really accurately for the past few years. It helps that in my neighborhood it is all 1 family homes that are all one of 4 floorplans. The only variability from an accurate price comes about based on if the most recent sales have been renovated recently or not.

[MrGreen]

Not even close. It's about 15% low.

[cchrissyy]

Zillow overshoots my house's value because it doesn't know about some drawbacks that make it hard to sell. 

I trust their estimate of the local market in general and since they have always overshot my house in this same way, I do a simple mental correction from their number.

[mm1970]

Interesting -- I'd never considered looking at my own house on Zillow.  Not 'specially accurate: 

- I think my house is worth about 30K less than Zillow says, but then I've been here a long time and am not really familiar with current pricing.
- I know my lot is twice as big as they say it is.
- I know my house was built in 1970; they say it was built in 1973. 
- It says my house is 2090 sf; it's actually about 400 sf larger. 
- It says my house was last renovated in 1978; I know structural changes have happened twice since then.
- They're right when they say brick, fenced yard -- things that're easy to see from the outside.

Perhaps one reason why zillow seems to be accurate for me is that I "claimed" my house on there and updated the info.