How accurate do you think Zillow is? A couple of my properties have increased in value quite a bit recently, according to them. It would be nice if it's true. I'm in Columbus and ready to start selling.

It depends on the market. I'm a Realtor and have access to every market for CMAs and for the most part Zillow is accurate. The way to check is to look at recent sales and compare them to your neighborhood and surrounding within 1 mile. You need to compare SF, amenities, DOM, asking vs. sale price, how many price drops, etc. And look at the pix of the recently sold to compare to yours.

You should also Google your inventory. A balanced market has 6 months of inventory, both resale and new construction. Anything under 4 months inventory will tell you that prices will hold steady or rise. Under 3 months and prices will increase. But remember a house has to appraise and that can include factors that may not be readily apparent in the listing description.

Redfin sales are within 3.5-4% of actual sales for rough estimates.

From what can tell around here, the metric is based almost entirely on sq. ft. Of course Zillow cannot see inside a home or have any way of knowing what it is all about due to the conditions specific to a given property.

So.....essentially, unless YOU KNOW exactly what the properties are that make up your market then utilizing their #'s is not the right thing to do.

Either get a couple of fee CMA's from local Realtors OR get a fee appraisal. Unless I was really confident in my #'s I would go with the fee appraisal. Especially if your buyers are going to have to go get financing.

Frank:

when you put in your address in Zillow and do a list of recent sales it will show you comparable properties in your area. Most of the numbers are actually based on recents and location rather than SF which is why they clearly show the cost/SF.

I agree though that for real numbers he should call a few Realtors to come in with some pricing suggestions.A good Realtor knows what is selling and at which price point which is why it's important to get one that knows your specific area. Sure there are some that will hike the price but the seasoned pro's just want to sell and get you as much as is realistic. I generally hesitate to recommend that on this site since many seem wary of Realtors.

I agree with Carolyn. However, Zillow is good for knowing if your area is increasing or decreasing in value. It's important to know if the values are areawide(similar style, crime rate, school value, etc), or like in our case, very pocketed. Highly covered neighborhoods next to crime-ridden areas.

NC Investor: thanks. As to the Realtors, that's the rub. Most lie, almost as often as tenants. I am also a card carrying "R".

Most folks only wanna hear what they want and go with the "sky-hook" then bash the Broker when the deal does not happen or worse yet, is tied up with BS Buyers that fails to close.

With al;l that there are some pros, that donot mess around and I know and respect a few of them.

Right ater posting I went to the local Zillow site and found that our area, despite lots of comps are not as accurate as they could be as most people do not pay close enough attention.

Like selling in Ebay [a place that we are very familiar with]. So many of th un-informed love to say "well, thats what ITS GONG FOR on the internet.

When we try to qualify that statement of course they do not konw what they are talking about.

I see the exact same dynamic at play with Real Estate

In my area Zillow wildly off the mark for any property 10+ years of age. Doesn't take into account any changes, most of which are hidden. Zillow still thinks my house is a 3/2/2 and still values it too high. It's really a 4/3/2. If Zillow knew that, it would be even more out of whack.

It says my 2/1 house I bought last year for $14K is worth $52K. All I did was paint it and replace a bathroom floor. Talk about "value added"! ;-) It's probably taking into consideration that I've dumped $20-$30K into rehabbing it, so maybe it's more of an ARV estimate than actual market price.

FRANK: Part of it is the seller and part Realtor. If a seller meets with 3 listing agents the one that tells them the highest number will get the listing even though they know it's not doable. And sellers always think their home is worth more than a buyer thinks it is. The hardest thing to explain to a seller is your house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

As for Zillow's accuracy. Agreed it can be wildly off or close to the money. And yes you can have the zestimate removed...they allow that now since they are being sued.

Zillow also doesn't take into account the area in my case. My home is on a lot that is zoned R3, within WiFi distance of the campus. I've had a few offers on it over the years that are way over the current Zillow value - for a tear down. The offers weren't enough to get me to move, but they were offers.

Additionally, it doesn't take into account work done. My home had major renovations done in 2000-2001. Zillow is still going by what the home was last listed for. At the time, it was a 3/1. Now, it is a 4/2 with a second story master suite.

Steve, I am also in the Columbus area. My houses are primarily in Class A & B neighborhoods. Zillow's prices for those houses are a little high but not necessarily unreasonable.

You can use the Franklin County auditor's website to see the recent sales in your neighborhood and find the house(s) which are similar to yours. That will give you the best indication of the value.