What Is a Zestimate and Can You Trust It?

Everyone is using Zillow to look at the value of their home. What is this Zestimate anyways?

Is it accurate? Can you trust it? We’re going to learn more about that right now. Using Zillow to find out the value of your home is an okay place to start, but let’s put it into perspective. Just relying on Zillow is kind of like using a dating app. People always put their best picture forward, and it’s usually about 15 years old.

And let’s be honest, some realtors even do this on their business cards too! Our point is, those apps aren’t always a true representation of the person you’re going to meet. And we sell homes all over Grand Rapids and surrounding areas. Going on a dating app and then deciding to marry someone based upon a picture is just like trusting Zillow to value your home.

You see, Zillow is an algorithm. And they get their information from public data. They have never seen the inside of your home. And they come up with the value based on what your neighbors are selling for. They look at things like how many bedrooms and bathrooms you have. They compare them to your neighbors, but they don’t take into consideration things like upgrades, views, location, amenities; the desirability of your neighborhood, and the market climate.

Zillow doesn’t really take into account all the other specific features of your home. They don’t take into account if you have a pool, or you’re on a lake, your upgrades; if the condition of your home is good or poor. That stuff is really important, am I right? If any of those things are off such as the condition, location, or you live near a busy street or school, all of those things affect the value of your home.

You need to make adjustments just like an appraiser would. The computer cannot take those major features into consideration when giving you a value or a Zestimate. And all of those factors have a huge impact on the value of your home and what you should actually list it for.

So here’s the crazy thing. Zillow even admits their lack of accuracy, stating that in the United States as a whole Zestimates are currently within 10% of the sales price only 71.5% of the time. And Zillow encourages you to go get an accurate evaluation by a real estate agent or an appraiser. And that’s what we do. We live and play in the area. And we’ve sold homes all over Grand Rapids and the surrounding areas. We take a detailed look, not only at the homes that are comparable but what the absorption rate is. As well as many other factors when determining what to list your home for. We also consider inventory levels, buyer demand, interest rates, market conditions, and many other considerations. In addition to upgrades, amenities, location, et cetera.

Relying on Zillow for the value of your home is the exact same thing as relying on a picture when choosing a mate. You’re only seeing half the picture. If you want to get a more accurate analysis of the value of your home, connect with us to have a conversation.

A&J Realty Partners is your West Michigan connection for everything real estate. We can get you a comparative market analysis from a real-life person like April or Jean, and not a computer-based algorithm like Zillow. We would love to help you with anything real estate-related. And if you’re thinking about buying or selling, reach out.