I can’t tell my friends, family, and clients enough not to use Zillow. Yes, Zillow is always fun to browse and look at homes, but please leave it at that. It is not accurate!
To make this clearer, Zillow’s CEO, Spencer Rascoff, sold a home in Seattle for $1.05 million but its Zestimate was $1.75 million. Could you imagine as a homeowner going on to Zillow and seeing that your home is Zestimated at $1.75 million so you call your realtor curious about selling your home. Your realtor tells you that he/she is going to do a Comparative Market Analysis on your home and comes back with a price around $1.05 million. Could you imagine how you would feel? That is 40% less than what you thought it would sell for.
Not only that, Rascoff listed his own property for $1.295 million but its Zestimate said it was worth $1.388 million. If you, the CEO won’t even go by your own businesses Zestimate, why would anyone else? His listing price was 7.3% lower than his Zestimate. That is a lot when it comes to real estate.
Zillow’s inaccuracy is catching up with them, a homeowner in Illinois has filed suit against Zillow for its inaccuracy, Zestimate is valuing her home $100,000 less than its market value which she believes has created a road block for her in selling her home.
Please always remember, “you get what you pay for.” Realtors are licensed and trained to be accurate. We have the tools and formulas to be accurate. Realtors are licensed and payed for a reason, Zillow is not licensed and is not paid for a reason. You wouldn’t go get a tattoo on your body at a place that says, “buy one get one tattoos” so why would you want to risk your biggest asset and use a free unlicensed appraisal?
Please make sure you seek out a realtor for your real estate questions and needs. That is what we are here for. If anyone has questions, feel free to call me directly! My phone is always on. 239-994-3681.
