How Accurate Is Zillow's Zestimate?

You may have heard of Zillow’s Zestimate feature—but is it accurate?

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If you haven’t already heard about Zillow’s Zestimate feature, there are a few things you need to know. A Zestimate is Zillow’s estimate of a home’s value. But how accurate are they really? I get questions about this all the time.

For example, many people wonder why the Zestimate is so different from what they’re seeing from their tax records or the market value.

In short, Zestimates can sometimes be inaccurate. On average, Zillow’s Zestimate is off by 5.6% from what a home will actually sell for. However, Zillow’s accuracy depends on location. In fact, on their website Zillow actually rates themselves on a scale of one to four in terms of accuracy for a given location. 

If you truly want to determine your home’s value, you’ll need professional help.

In Austin the rating is four out of four while in Houston it’s only one out of four. There are a lot of different intricacies that sometimes can’t be factored in by Zillow’s algorithm. The CEO of Zillow himself sold his Seattle home for 40% less than what the Zestimate said it was worth. 

Zillow is interesting and can give you a general idea, but if you truly want to determine your home’s value, you’ll need to get help from professionals like myself. 

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.