The Pros and Cons of Zestimates: When and How To Use This Common Tool

By Doug Cary

Doug Cary has been selling real estate in Davis County since 2005. He is a 2nd generation top producing Real Estate Agent.

Have you heard of Zillow? It’s the most popular online home valuation tool, but to use it correctly, there are a few things you need to know. Today, I’m sharing how I use Zillow in my business and explaining in which areas it falls a little short. 

First, data on Zillow is always a little delayed, so if you need instant information, contacting your Realtor is probably the best bet. However, Zillow is fantastic about presenting information in a way that’s easy to understand. It’s also very accessible; its convenience is hard to beat.

So if Zillow is the king of convenience, what are its flaws? First, its data might not be 100% accurate. Not only is the information always a little delayed, but Zillow also relies on a massive algorithm to determine its home prices. This is great for macro data, but the further you zoom into a neighborhood, the less useful this information becomes. 

For example, if you recently did massive renovations to your kitchen and bathroom, Zillow probably doesn’t know about it. They’ll look at your home and your neighbor’s and assume they are the same if all other factors remain constant. Even recently, I noticed that Zillow was missing a lot of square footage from my basement, which negatively impacted their Zestimate of my property. 

According to Zillow’s own metrics, they are usually within 7% accuracy of your home price. That’s pretty accurate if you’re just window shopping or curious about your home’s value, but if you want to sell for the most money possible, that’s a lot of money you could be leaving on the table. 

So let’s say you want to reach out to a Realtor about the true value of a home you’re interested in. What should you do? There’s usually an agent’s number listed at the bottom of a property listing on Zillow, but you should know that number doesn’t belong to the listing agent. Instead, it’s somebody who has paid Zillow to appear on their website. 

The bottom line is that Zillow is a great tool to use for a rough estimate, but you shouldn’t treat their valuations as gospel. If you have questions about this topic or anything else, please call or email me. I am always willing to help!