Looking on Zillow for real estate information? Not really accurate information provided or did you not know that?
That's OK, the secret is out now.
Please enjoy this post from an agent in North Carolina, Leesa Finley.
I Am A Local Real Estate Expert - Zillow is Not
Whether you are thinking of buying a home or possibly selling your home you more than likely have stumbled upon Zillow and thought you hit the mother-load of real estate information! It's a fancy site with Zestimates, has homes marked on a map that are either currently listed or have recently sold, and you can spy on your best friends home on the other side of town to see what it's worth and that's cool, right? Wrong! Well, if spying on your neighbor is cool to you then that's your business BUT if you are thinking of buying or selling a home then you want to steer clear of Zillow.
You see, I cringe when I speak with a buyer or seller and they come at me with all their research from Zillow. They already have a predetermined listprice based on what they learned from Zillow or they think they already know if a home is over or under priced with information they received from Zillow. Well, let me set the record straight - more often then not, Zillow is inaccurate.
Zillow is a computer generated program that acquires information from various sources and then runs it through a program to give you information based on a mathematical equation. Trust me, there is no human sitting at a desk inputting data about all of the homes throughout the country. What Zillow can not replicate and therefore will never be able to accurately price real estate is the human touch and the ability to physically see into other properties.
Zillow does not take into account upgrades and/or updates to a home or lack thereof. It doesn't know:
- While your home may have Formica countertops your neighbors have all upgraded to solid surface counter tops.
- You have replaced your carpet, vinyl in the kitchen and bathrooms and updated the appliances while your neighbors have carpets that are worn thin, 15 year old outdated vinyl and brass fixtures from the 80s
- ZILLOW DOES NOT KNOW THAT THE HOME NEXT TO YOURS WAS A FORECLOSURE AND
THE PREVIOUS OWNER RIPPED OUT ALL THE CABINETS, TOILETS AND MADE OF WITH THE COMPRESSOR UNIT TO THE HVAC.
All Zillow knows is what is found on other public sites - statistics. There is no room for the human touch.
So, please, if you are thinking of buying or selling a home don't consider Zillow as your source for pricing. It's a fun site - lot's of bells and whistles - cool tools and great graphics but that's about it. If you are serious about buying or selling real estate then you want to rely on a real estate professional that can add the human element and knows your neighborhood and the local real estate market.
Whether you are buying or selling Real Estate in Wake Forest NC it just makes sense to use a Realtor® that knows the area! I live here, work here and play here - I call Wake Forest NC home! For more information regarding Wake Forest NC be sure to visit my websites:
- Leesa Finley - Homes for Sale in Wake Forest NC, Wake Forest NC schools, restaurants, shops, entertainment and MORE....
- Circa Properties - My company website with information for the entire Raleigh NC area including Cary, Apex, Garner, Franklinton, Youngsville, Holly Springs and MORE....
© 2007 - 2010 Lyn Sims
This is great, I am not a big Zillow fan and I think instead of helping us agents and brokers, it makes our jobs more difficult....but it says on Zillow that my home is twice that, then have Zillow sell it
Gerry: Definitely not a fan of their ridiculous 'guesstimates'. They fool the consumer into thinking that they actually have good figures to offer on home values. Should be considered fraud. You've got a good point.
Lyn,
ONLY because some consumers go there, we look. If they overestimate the value of our listing, then we'll spiff the Zillow post so the buyer's think they're getting a "bargain" at our price. If Zillow is low, we ignore them and left the default info stay.
Liz & Bill: How about you don't play their game & don't put your listings on Zillow? They claim to know our business better than we do right?
Lyn,
Potential buyers/sellers are going there whether we agree with what they do or not. Listings get syndicated through our advertising partnerships, one of those deals where you get the whole palette and don't get to select. We don't have control on whether it gets posted or not, so we just try to optimize the situation if it makes sense to do so. It comes up frequently during our listing appointments.
Thanks so much for the reblog, Lyn - I greatly appreciate it! Did you see the comments left by Sara at Zillow? I was shocked at her statistics - and they think its OK!