Thanks for the quick reply.

Not always. I checked our recent listing for our mothers house there (she's moved to an independent living apartment last month at 89) and find the 'Zestimate' darned close, if only the house were in well maintained condition. The house is not, we've made some but not all the repairs and wallpaper, kitchen, bathrooms need updating. Result is, the house is showing as something of a bargain at the price at which it is listed. That isn't true, it needs some effort and at least a minimum invested in it.

It depends. Now it is for our old neighborhood. Before we sold only 1 other home had been sold in 10 or so years. So their algorithms had no anchor points. Once we sold everything adjusted to what I feel is pretty close.

Not in my area of LA. Our house is off by about 7 figures due to major remodelling that zillow has no knowledge of.

Mine is also off because of remodeling.

We bought our house new 38 years ago. We are one of the few original owners on the block. It was the largest house on the best view lot and the most expensive. However, Zillow has us valued quite low. The house next door is not as large but has sold numerous times over the years. Because it has sold so often, it is valued by Zillow at considerably more. It's all the mortgage history.

Not usually...especially not for homes over 300k. Last house I just sold they showed z est at 385k. Home sold in 11 days for 440k cash. One before that, they showed z est at 365k...home sold in 5 days for 425k.

I sold a home earlier this year. I bought it in 2012 as a short sale. It had been under contract with another buyer for six months before they dropped out, and I waited another seven months to close on it. Because it had been listed for over a year it was valued by Zillow at significantly less than other comps. When I listed it, it was still valued by Zillow at much less than my list price. I sold for more than list in two days.

The home I bought earlier this year was also Zillow valued at less than the list price I paid. But now it is Zillow valued at much more than I paid.

So no, Zillow value is not always accurate. I would not put too much faith in Zillow valuations because it doesn't take into account a lot of factors. It also seems to lag market trends significantly. So in a more volatile market it won't keep up with increasing or decreasing values. JMHO as a homeowner.

It is really less about accuracy and more about usefulness. Zillow uses an algorithm to establish prices, while it is as accurate as any other mathematical model, it suffers from the same problem that all other mathematical models suffer from - GIGO - garbage in, garbage out. If your area is fairly stable and your house is typical of the houses in your area then it will be pretty accurate, however, if your neighborhood isn't stable, such as areas that are experiencing resurgences or old houses in desirable areas or your house is an exception, then it really isn't very useful.

In a homogenous area with steady turnover of houses, it's pretty good.

Where it falls apart is when the variables are wildly different withgin a neighborhood: things like lot size varying by 3x, a small infill of much larger or smaller homes in a subdivision, or really low turnover all screw its calculations.

• It's accurate on our condo because there are at least 50 other 1 BR 2 Bath Ocean View units in our complex, and there are usually some recent sales of these and Garden View units.
• It's not accurate on our home because it thinks the house was built in the 1950's and doesn't know it is a new build we put up after a teardown in 2001. It also doesn't 'know the territory'. There are all custom and some historic homes on 1 - 10 acres in our neighborhood, with little turnover. Nearby is a development of custom homes on quarter-acre lots with more turnover.
• Zillow has useful information on the general *trend* of overall sales in a community. It's useful to know what the present owner paid and when; the taxes; ratings of schools, etc. It knows about pre-foreclosure and bank-owned, but not that another owner is or is not anxious to sell -- or why.

Zillow for my house is incredibly inaccurate because its using data for some other home. It shows a value trend for my specific home before it was even built!

Zillow wouldn't have knowledge of upgrades during the time of the build either, which I've been told *could* add an additional 10% to the *asking* price, not necessarily the sale price. Yes? No?

The 'per square foot' price is laughable because it can't include land size or other variables like condition and neighborhood. The 6000 sq ft home on a small lot in the far reaches of our town, in sight and sound of the tollway, isn't comparable to the 6000 sq ft historic home on five acres in the most desired neighborhood near Lake Michigan -- even if they were the same quality of construction and in the same condition.

patty-cakes42, our situation is an illustration of 'unknown upgrades'. Zillow sees our home as the 1950's ranch we bought and tore down, replacing it with a larger, brand new house.

Zillow can not have perfect knowledge of every home inside and out, so it's unreasonable to treat it like it's the final authority. However, I have followed homes on it that I have bought and sold and find it to be relatively accurate, and good for relative comparison in particular geographic areas.

Face it: nobody knows the true value for any home. The value is what the buyer and seller agree to on the day it's sold, and that may not be the value to anyone else. If you approach Zillow like you should any other source of information -- skeptically -- then it's a useful tool.

kudzu9,

Well said.

No way! They had our house listed for less than half of what it sold for.

Helpful. NOT