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Today we want to talk to you about Zillow and—their Zestimates!
A lawsuit filed by a homeowner in Illinois could affect homeowners here in Hawaii. There is a woman claiming her home is valued at $626,000 and Zillow estimates her home is worth $562,000, a $64,000 difference!
Our good friend Barbara Corcoran was on Good Morning America talking about this. You can see Barbara’s interview here.
The homeowner who filed the lawsuit feels that the typical buyer will look at Zillow’s Zestimate and think her home is worth less. Zillow responded by saying that a “Zestimate is a starting point to determine a home’s value, and isn’t an official appraisal.”
“Zillow’s fault factor is about 5%.”
Now you may be asking yourself, is Zillow the place to start when determining the value of your home? Well, Barbara says it is a starting point, but not a reliable starting point. She recommends contacting a real estate agent who knows what they are doing or getting an appraisal as opposed to depending an algorithm for your home’s value.
Homebuyers use Zillow to determine value, but don’t know that the fault factor is roughly 5%. One in 20 homes is Zestimated at less than they are actually worth.
Our advice is to give us a call so we can put our expertise of selling hundreds of homes every year into determining the value of your home so you can sell it for the most amount of money in the least amount of time. There is no obligation at all—we are just here to help.
If you’d like to know what your home is truly worth or you’re thinking of buying or selling real estate, give us a call or send us an email soon. We’d love to hear from you.