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Are Zillow estimates (Zestimates) actually reliable when deciding what to offer?

I’ve been using online estimates as a guide—how accurate are they really? what do you think?
Asked By Larry Chen | Eastvale, CA | 21 views | Buying | Updated 2 days ago
Answers (5)
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Novice
9 Answers
Kristin Ruther

Fivestar

(48)

Zestimates are a rough starting point—not a pricing tool. They can point you in the general direction, but they are not reliable enough to decide what to offer on a home.
Zillow is great for browsing. But when it comes to pricing and offers, it’s like using a weather forecast from last week—helpful context, but not something you’d bet on.
Agent insight of the market and past sold listings are the "gold standard"
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Pro
70 Answers
Josephine & Raj Sharma

Legacy Homes Realty

(148)

Zestimates are a starting point, not a decision tool you should always base your offer on recent comparable sales, condition, and local market trends, because that’s what actually determines what a home will sell for.

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Rising Star
25 Answers
Ryan Reed

Century 21 Homestar

(19)

Zillow estimates are computer generated values based on public records, listing history, recent sales - basically aggregated data. The estimate you see is best thought of as a "value range indicator" - not as a hard anchor. Zillow estimates are often unreliable because a) errors in public records (wrong number of beds/baths), b) additions or improvements that are not taken into account, c) unique homes, d) areas with less sales data. In addition, Zillow has no way of knowing the functionality, layout, or market desirability of a given property - not to mention it is unable to differentiate local nuance, i.e. busy road vs. quiet street, proximity to possible negative (or positive) factors, etc. A Zestimate will never replace local expertise, property condition, or real-time market strategy. For that you need an experienced and local agent.
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Rising Star
10 Answers
Tracy Perusse

Coldwell Banker Realty

(9)

Zillow Zestimates are a very broad estimate based on the bare bones basics of a property when comparing bed/ba/sq footage to every other home with similar facts. Most homes have many other unique features that can add or detract from value. That is something that can only be evaluated by a real human (who understands real estate values) that physically looks at the home, the quality of any upgrades (or not) location in proximity to other homes etc. It's a nuanced analysis, but can make a big difference in price to the seller and a buyer. Use Zillow etc as a baseline, but not the true value.
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Novice
1 Answer
Brenden Rendo

NextHome Neighborhood Realty

(8)

It really is a hit or miss situation. While the algorithm has gotten better over the years, it still does not compare to an individual analysis. Zestimate can not see inside of the house, can not pull permit records to check upgrades and know the value of each neighborhood. It can be a good place to start but not the answer. If you want to check, put the same address into Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin and any other site you want, and you will get a different answer from each.

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