Come On, Everybody’s Doing It…

… even Bill Gates!  Today, we saw the headlines on the Seattle P-I blog and the CNET News Blog that the Microsoft chairman admitted to checking out the value of his mansion on Zillow at a recent conference.  He also admitted that the Zestimate was too low (even at $134 million).  That’s not too surprising, as the Zestimate takes comparable sales into consideration, and there really is nothing like the Gates residence anywhere in the U.S. Unique features include:

• Expansive electronics system
• Large private library
• Domed reading room
• Swimming pool with underwater music system and a fossil-motif floor
• Hidden cameras and sensors to track a person within 6 inches
• Heated floors inside and out (walkways, driveway)
• Music that follows you from room-to-room
• And, so much more

We know Bill didn’t come to Zillow to set a Make Me Move price — although, wouldn’t THAT be interesting — but he came to see how technology is mashing up with real estate. So, we say to Bill as we say to everyone: Zillow is a starting point and that starting point becomes more precise with the more data we have to crunch.  So, if you feel your home’s value is not spot-on, you can do something about it: Claim your home, edit the home facts and create your own estimate using My Estimator. Real estate is part art and part science. And if you have heated toilet seats and we don’t know it, you can go ahead and add that value to your home details page to get closer to what you think your home is worth. Give it a whirl and let us know what you think.

Heated toilet seats? Check…
Retractable garage roof? Check…
Tunnel to next door neighbor’s wine cellar? Check…