Why Zillow Estimates Are Not Accurate

One of the questions that real estate agents often get from consumers is "how accurate are the Zillow home value estimates". There are more tools available than ever for the average person interested in buying or selling a home.

The internet is filled with tons of information. Some very good information and lots of very bad, inaccurate information! The internet has drastically changed many industries and the real estate industry is no different. Buyer's and seller's are able to get information in the comfort of their homes, however, much of it is inaccurate.

Our Southern California real estate website has a direct access to the California Regional Mulitple Listing Service. So, whether you are looking for ZIllow Long Beach or Zillow Huntington Beach, we have up to 30% more local listings that national real estate portals.

When you perform a search on Zillow for homes for sale, the results you get may include some homes that are not actually for sale! In a strange situation that is becoming increasingly frustrating for Realtors, Zillow includes listings that are considered in "pre-foreclosure" status, listings that are not actually for sale and may never be for sale.

Are Zillow estimates accurate? This is a question on the minds of many buyers and sellers who jump into the real estate market. In the digital age potential buyers and sellers can sit at their computer looking at their leisure for properties online. One of the most popular sites happens to be Zillow. While Zillow has an excellent platform for looking at homes and offers consumers excellent information they may not be able to find elsewhere, it does an absolutely horrible job at estimating home values. So when people ask are Zillow estimates accurate, the answer is far from it. In many instances the Zillow estimate is not even close!

Are home value estimates from Zillow accurate or not? The answer is a resounding NO! Zillow Zestimates as the company likes to call them are almost always way off the mark. In fact, you have better odds seeing Big Foot than you do an accurate Zillow value.

Posted by Debbie Drummond on Thursday, July 3rd, 2014 at 5:15am. Searching for "real estate", "homes for sale", etc., will usually find Zillow at the top of the results. For some, this shows that Zillow is some sort of real estate authority. Their website does allow you to search some of the current listings that are available.

Tweet Have you ever wondered how accurate the Zillow "Zestimate" really is? Whenever I am doing appraisals I have homeowners tell me what their Zillow "Zestimate" is. I am sure they are hoping that my appraisal is similar to that number (if it is high), however the two could be close, but more times that ...

Pulling The Curtain Back On The Zestimate For some reason the zestimate provided by Zillow has become the authority on value to many consumers. As an appraiser I get asked many times how close my appraisal will be to THE zestimate value.

I've written about the Zillow "zestimate" in the past and how inaccurate it can be. It amazes me how Zillow can get away with publishing home value 'zestimates" that are so far off they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

Posted by Ryan Fitzgerald on Wednesday, December 16th, 2015 at 7:52am. If you're searching for home value information the first person you should ask is a top local Real Estate Agent, and the last place you should check is Zillow. As of today, Zillow is the most widely used real estate website in the United States.

People often ask me about Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Homesnap... It seems like there's a new real estate internet tool coming off the line every week. Zillow is definitely the most popular - but it's also very, very inaccurate. I understand the appeal of online sites like Zillow: in the deep dark days before the internet...

In a series of articles in the hief Economist at I have not checked out the accuracy of Howell's claims about the accuracy, or, rather, inaccuracy of Zestimates for the northern Virginia market, but I would venture to say that his numbers are not inconsistent with the observations that I have seen elsewhere.

Zillow home values -- Zestimates -- in CA, WA and OR off by an average 8%. Here's how things go wrong and what you can do about it.

See why Zillow home value estimates are so inaccurate. If you are considering selling your home make sure you do not pay attention to the Zillow value when pricing your home. A Zestimate of value is almost always wrong. Hire a competent Realtor or appraiser to identify the true value of your property.

If you are buying a home in your local market, it can be tempting to look at Zillow or a similar general listings site for real estate information, but those nationwide sites are rarely ideal, because the listings aren't always up to date.