REMOVE Zestimates!!!!

Not only that but a house down the street (2114 sq ft) from me was zestimated at $417,876 as of 12/18/08 with a 30 day change of minus $2,353.   Again, I printed this info on 1/3/08.  Today (1/13/08), the zestimate is $424,000 as of 1/3/08 with a 30 day price change of MINUS $5,500.  HOW CAN IT BE A MINUS $5,500 WHEN YOUR OWN ZESTIMATE WENT FROM $417K TO $424K????????  Don't believe me?  Here's the address to check 14508 63rd Dr SE, 98296.

Also, the zestimate on a 1968 sq ft house 3 blocks away from me in the same development is $12K more than mine.

WHAT'S UP ZILLOW?  DO YOU REALIZE THE HARM THAT YOU ARE CREATING FOR HOMEOWNERS TRYING TO SELL THEIR HOMES?

I PLAN TO CONTACT THE SEATTLE TIMES AND A REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY ABOUT THIS INFORMATION!!!!

WAIT,

WAIT, ONE MORE EXAMPLE!!!!  My friend's home in Woodinville, WA has seen a HUGE Zestimate drop as well.  Funny thing is.......the Real Estate section of The Seattle Times shows the median price of homes in her area increased in value 14.9% from Dec 2006 to Dec 2007. 

Who should we believe????  My pick is The Seattle Times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cjecker -

We'll go ahead and further check on this. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

CoRinn3,  What did you find?

When the empty lot next to your new home is suddenly worth more than a new house by 120K and this is common all over Zillow... it has become worthless and damaging...

And yes, they need to be sued. No disclaimer can protect them from gross incompetance.

23% drops in one month while it says my house went up 7K.

Its not the lower price, while shocking considering prices were back down at the time I bout in 2007 to early 2004 price, already down more than 25% ( actually below considering buyer before me ..new docks, granit counters, boat lifts, redone pool and etc.).

Eh gads ... no can tell anything about whats going on.

Also all the comparables on my place are for non waterfront homes, often no pool! Thats not a comparative.  On one hand an empty waterfont lot is worth more than my house and on the otherhand waterfront property means nothing and has no value if it has a house on it!

Then need to go back to the old prices less 5% they had a couple of weeks ago.

Regards

I completely agree.  All houses in our neighborhood are generally about the same price.  I went ahead and updated the profile to add multiple upgrades (patio, deck, high end master bath, etc.) and the Zestimate now lists ours as worth $30k LESS than all the neighbors.  This feature is worthless, while at the same time very damaging!

I agree totally that the purported "better accuracy" in Zillow's estimatesis a total fallacy, and has reached such absurdity that it's damaging to homeowners.  I live in one of San Francisco's most popular neighborhoods. Amazingly, four neighboring houses have sold in past 4-6 months, all within a couple of weeks and all way above their asking price - one place at $300K over asking.  My house on Zillow was previously valued at $1.3 million in 2007, and now it's $780,000??  A drop of almost $600K??   Yet all my neighbors' houses have sold in the $1.1 - $1.4 million range during that time.  So please explain how that is possible or why anyone should give it any credence whatsoever?  You used to provide what I thought was a  fairly accurate representation.  But now you're way out of line and causing people problems. 

It's the new al gore rythm.  12% more accuracy!! Improves the odds of getting your house within 10% of being right to nearly 1/3 of a possibility.  Their quite proud of that don't you know.  But remember, the craptimate is only a starting point and not to be used in the place of a professional appraisal so just b-slap those buyers that have the audacity to ridicule your asking price becuase your valuation from a professional appraiser looks store bought. 

pete.dubois you bring up a good point... how does zillow know what are the most sought after neighborhoods in each city??That always plays a factor into value- location, location, location- I live in Granite Bay, CA. and this is the most popular city in the Sacramento area- I know they are way off on my homes zestimate. IT seems to me that zillow can't even get the values right in Seattle - their home city- I think there needs to be a disclaimer from zillow next to every zestimate -stating that they really have no idea what a homes value really is and this is just a random number spit out by their AVM.

CoRinn3,

Still waiting for your answer.

"I agree totally that the purported "better accuracy" in Zillow's estimatesis a total fallacy, and has reached such absurdity that it's damaging to homeowners."

Two things.

1) Our median margin of error is 8.8%, with 32% of all Zestimates falling within 5% of the selling price. That figure is based on millions of homes. Details on accuracy here.

2) Please provide proof that zestimates are causing harm to home owners. Lowball offers by buyers are nothing new in real estate.

Drew, I like you and you are a pretty smart guy, I think you can figure out pretty easy how this may hurt home owners!

gotta love the complete denial from Zillow, its obvious to everyone but them what these skewed numbers are doing. You CANT have it both ways, you cant be a reliable resource for estimates and then say "Well its only a reference that doesnt mean anything" unless of course your a hypocrit.

This probably sounds like a broken record, but Zestimates are a starting point -- they are not the final word in home values. We think both zestimates AND appraisals/CMAs are useful to home buyers.

As I'm sure you're aware, lowball offers are nothing new -- buyers have been giving them for years. If they weren't mentioning a zestimate, it would be a low tax assessed value or an inaccurate comparable sale.

To go back to the original question - "On Jan 3, 2008, I researched 10 homes in my area and printed the information for my records.  My home is 2118 sq. ft and was zestimated at $437,772  after a 30 day decrease of $6,785 as of 12/18/08.  Today, (1/13/08) I was SHOCKED to see your new zestimate is $412,000 as of 1/3/08 and your 30 day change is listed as minus $5,000.  PLEASE EXPLAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!"

On January 10th, we pushed a new algorithm to the site. We made the tough decision to recalculate historical zestimates (details here). So, the answer to the question is that the 30 day change is based on the new algorithm -- the zestimate value on December 18th is not being used in the calculation.

Drew,

We're speaking to each other...the only problem is we don't understand each other's language.  First, the math still doesn't add up but I know zillow probably has a "disclaimer" for that one too.....

The issue is the average user of your site doesn't understand that the zestimate is a "starting point."  Yes, I'm aware, your site uses a disclaimer but it isn't registering with many users.

I can give you a concrete example, MINE.  I have had my house for sale since mid October.  During much of the first 2.5 months, there wasn't much activity...as expected.  Finally, things started to heat up in January with showings and flyers being taken from the box.  The zestimate wasn't too far from my asking price.  As soon as you implemented your "new algorithim" and reduced the zestimate 40K overnight.....guess what....the showings stopped and the flyers aren't moving either.  Let me say that before I became more familiar with your site, I didn't realize that zestimates were potentially incorrect....my point is that the average user of your site isn't either.

I think the most frustrating thing about your company is that two almost identical homes within blocks of each other or even next door can have signifcant differences in zestimates which has been pointed out on these discussion boards by several individuals....it just shouldn't be that way.  Yes, markets are highly segmented but not within blocks or feet of each other.

And your company, judging by the reps comments, could care less.

I was very startled to learn yesterday that your Zestimates are linked to the foreclosures.com website, in a manner that directly compares list price with the Zestimate, like this:

xxxx Street Address          xxxxxList Price         xxxxxZillow Zestimate

The inescapable implication of the data is that some list prices are a great deal for the purchaser, while others are not.  I would not be at all surprised to learn that in instances where the Zestimate is lower than list price, there is less activity on the listing -- and vice versa.  Inaccurate information on the site damages most directly the foreclosed lienholders in possession of the deed, followed by owners neighboring the targeted foreclosed properties. 

Zillow, I respectfully suggest that you be VERY much more careful with the calculation and distribution of your data.   It does seem to me as though you are contributing to the fallout of market values instead of simply reporting it.  At the very least, you should shut down the Zestimate portion of the site IMO until you can be sure that the County taxes, sale prices and comps are accurate. 

In the case of my personal residence, a period of over 3 mos has now elapsed since the property directly next door to ours was sold, while you are continuing to cite comps from a far-off area instead.  Additionally, the neighbor told us, and the MLS confirms, that he paid X for the property, and X is about $30,000 less than what is being reported on Zillow. 

Now sellers need to worry about yet another Zillow factor: if their home is next to a foreclosed property, the foreclosure shows up on sites like foreclosure.com -- with the Zestimate of the foreclosed home AND SURROUNDING PROPERTIES provided alongside the street address. 

Hello,

I have our home for sale, and the zestimate on it seems WAY off, and is harmful to my attempts to sell.   Let me explain:

Our home:  300 Harvest Sky Ct., Roseville CA, 95747 - Zestimate  $630k

Neighbors home, same floorplan, without most of the upgrades we have:  325 Harvest Sky Ct., Roseville, CA - Zestimate $751k

Here's another one, same floorplan:  $9117 Moondancer Circle, Roseville, CA - $728k

$121k difference?  This is unreal!!!

Take a look at the upgrades and pictures we have uploaded.

To make matters worse, it seems that Zillow has confused the last sales price information between our two properties.  Take a look:

880 Dana Ct. - Purchased for $382k

300 Harvest Sky Ct. - Purchased for $590k in Feb, 2004

Zillow has our 300 Harvest Sky Ct. with various sales prices, including the $382k price of our other property

Drew - It is all becoming clear now.  Using my appraisal - staying within the Median 8.8% is a difference of $58,000.  And approximately 1/3 of the time you even get within 5% which is only off by $33,000.  Of course your craptimate is off by nearly $80,000 from my actual appraisal of less than 60 days ago but no matter.  No matter "Everyone" knows that median is just the middle number in a given sequence of numbers, taken as the average of the two middle numbers when the sequence has an even number of numbers: 4 is the median of 1, 3, 4, 8, 9 and therefore can be pretty much whatever you want it to be. 

If I used this same variance at work I would be fired.  However, I am held to standards where the internet is not.  Where I can claim to be a millionaire and zillow can claim to have an accurate craptimate.  Neither are true but we can say it all we want, at least until they become damaging to another person.

Zillow has become a waste of time and energy..  to bad it use to be close enough to reley on with common sense.  Get your act togther before it becomes to late zillow!  Dissapointed

I had a similar NEGATIVE experience with Zillow's Zestimate.  I live in a condo building (top floor) and the unit below me is estimated to be priced around 20K higher than my unit.  (Identical floor plan, features, etc.)  It is a new construction unit and I don't think anyone in my building had done any significant improvements to warrant higher estimates.

To try to correct the Zestimate for my condo, I tried to pick the unit below my unit from the comp list, but it does not show up on the comp list.

I think the idea behind Zillow.com is great, but I am a disappointed user so far.

Why did Zillow drop the value of my 2 properties 90k in the past 30 days- while my neighbors have gained value.  I have 2 house in Annapolis MD 23 and 25 Jefferson Place.  Both have undergone extensive remodeling and 23 is on the market.  When I looked at the estimate- it says both houses have dropped 90k each in the past 30 days!  Less for what I paid for them.  But then if I look at my neighbors peice o crap that he hasn't done a thing with- and it's smaller (for instance 21 Jefferson Place) it gained value and is worth more than mine!!. Is anyone able to tell me why the value on my houses dropped 90k? And if not- how can I get my houses 'zestimate' removed from this site.  I noticed that my one neighbor at 17 madison place had their estimate removed- so it must be possible.

When you have $300,000 to $800,000 on the line, why do you trust a website for value? Do you buy your Viagra online too?  Hire an appraiser and get a much closer valuation.  Zillow only gives a certain amount of "relative" information that can't possibly take into account view, condition of house and street appeal among other things. And oh yea, their etstimate is $100,000 below what two career real estate agents -(20 years each in my neighborhood)  independently and unbeknownst to the other - came up with for my property.  (Yes, I called TWO real estate agents for validation.)  Zillow was simply a "starting point" so I could tell what the GENERAL trend is regarding my property.  Grow up, spend some money, get food information. (No, I am not an appraiser)

My Zestimate is so off the mark as to be nuts and , luckily, someone warned me. This is so unfair to all the families who paid their bills, worked on their homes, and now are being hampered in trying to sell by unfair "Zestimates". Sure people should look further into it, but when someone is house shopping on the net, they look at the house, check the Zestimate, and then decide not to bother if it's way off the mark. People are not going to reseach heavily into a house unless they are seriously interested and they won't be seriously interested till they look at it, and they won't look at it if they think it's way overpriced. That's how Zillow is seriously hurting alot of people- and they don't care. Integrity and pride and doing the right thing has been replaced by the mighty dollar.

I have had the same experience as fatta.  I have the EXACT same model townhouse as my next door neighbor.  We share a common wall and our homes are mirror images of one another.  Our puchase prices were within $2k of each other in 2004 and our taxes are identical (or very close).  In fact, Zillow had our estimates the same all last year.  The only difference between our homes was I edited my facts to show we had a finished third floor and a garage (plus a few other check boxes).

Well, this new algorithm has my house worth $40k LESS than his now.  How can this be?  I am not talking about how the entire neighborhood's value changed.  The market has changed, so I can almost accept that.  But, how can two IDENTICAL homes vary to that degree?  Two homes that were the same prior to this "upgrade"?

Caballosnegros is correct.  ZIllow is a tool that alot of web savvy shoppers use.  I had planned on selling my home this year, but I feel Zillow has hurt my chances now.  If I were to price it like the other homes in the neighborhood (there are only 53!), and someone checked Zillow without checking the any other addresses, it would look overpriced by $40k.  This is not correct.  I feel this is very irresponsible on Zillow's part. 

Can anyone explain?  My address is: 2537 Wellington Way, 18969

Drew,

Got enough examples yet?

want another Drew?

walked into the mortgage office last week to start working on a refinance. First thing the mortgage rep did was check zillow for a baseline and said wow "how come your house has dropped almost 100k in one month?, whats happening in that neighborhood?" so right off the bat he has doubt about what rate I am going to get...face it, even once an appariser comes Im working at a disadvantage because of your crummy algorhythm

of course, I came on here and complained and "mysteriously" my house goes up 40k for no reason overnight...is this "hush money" from zillow?