Zillow…The Good and The Bad
November 8th, 2009 | categories: Coconut Grove Real Estate
Often times when I am on listing appointments or out with buyers someone will inevitably bring up some information they found on Zillow in regards to the value of a particular property.
The problem with using Zillow as a value estimator is that it does not take into account location (does your house backup to US1?), renovations (did you put in a $100,000 kitchen?), condition, and uses information from the Tax Rolls which can often times be inaccurate
Believe it or not, Zillow even admits that in certain cities they are less likely to give accurate estimations. Take a look at Zillow’s Accuracy Table (below), and you can see that in the City of Miami they only came within 20% of the actual sales price 46% of the time.
20% is a large number here in Coconut Grove where the average home is priced at $800,000. That would be a $160,000 or more difference!
Don’t get me wrong, I believe that Zillow is a great tool if used for the right purpose. For instance, it is the perfect place to get an approximation of values in an area, to see the sale price of your neighbor’s house, or to get a birds eye view of the surrounding properties (see below).
I wish that Zillow was correct in its’ Zestimate. First of all, it would make my job much easier! Second of all, Zillow says that my house has increased in value by more than $100,000 since I bought it in 2006. Wouldn’t that be great, I bought it at the height of the market and since the crash I’ve gained over $100,000 in value! No such luck. It is likely due to the fact that in early 2007 the house across the street from me (a very unique property) and the house next door to me (a new construction) both sold at a high PPSF. These sales might help my value a little bit, but certainly not by $100,000. Unfortunately, Zillow is wrong again.
One way to get an accurate estimation of your home is to call me, I will give you a free, no pressure valuation of your property. Give me a call at 305.342.1623 or send me a note here.