Zillow question

Zillow is now, and always has been, useless.

I don't think Zillow is useless, as long as you are using it as one of many tools.

Home and land values vs. reality are all over the place and I think are changing more quickly than Zillow might show.

They seem to base everything on comps. According to wikipedia -

"Zillow determines a "Zestimate" for a house based on a range of publicly available information, including sales of comparable houses in a neighborhood. Zestimate does not take into consideration home-specific factors like recent remodeling, although there is an option to update the information for a particular home. The accuracy of the Zestimate varies by location depending on how much information is publicly available, but Zillow allows users to check the accuracy of Zestimates in their own region against actual sales but does not allow any upgrades to increase and/or change their posted guess. In many U.S. states, information on the transfer prices of real estate is readily available and accessible by the general public and is not exclusively held in realtors' databases."

Their numbers on my house seem to be pretty accurate. That's probably due to qualified comps in the area.

I think the best source of info is going to be county record sales combined with looking at the features of those sales by searching for past listings.

Zillow property valuations are all over the place, and from my personal experience, are too faulty. Most appraisers (zillow's competitors) will also tell you that zillow's numbers don't work for resort markets like ours.

I would avoid any automated property valuations when trying to determine real value.

BTW, Zillow.com recently laid off something like 30% of its work force. Makes me wonder who, or maybe what, will take over there jobs. Will they outsource the work to India? Zillow could give a rat's booty about a property being close enough to the water treatment plant that a person could smell it all day long from their porch. There are good appraisers around here who know how to account for some very local things which zillow totally dismisses.

Just curious, how accurate do you think zillow property valuations are for the SoWal area? Do they take into account auction/forclosure/short sales?. I'm trying to get a sense of how far upside down I am. Thanks for any input.
Jay

Call an agent and ask for a CMA. Tell them you do not want to list but would like an idea of your value. It only takes a few minutes to perform one and most agents would not mind helping you out. All one really needs is your address.

I wouldn't trust a company that uses cutesy terms like Zestimate. Pretty zilly if you ask me.

Just curious, how accurate do you think zillow property valuations are for the SoWal area? Do they take into account auction/forclosure/short sales?. I'm trying to get a sense of how far upside down I am. Thanks for any input.
Jay

When and at what cost was the last sale in your condo complex? How does that sale size up with your investment property? How many properties are for sale/foreclosure in your complex?

That's a better indication of value than some zestimate.


.

zillow is very accurate with an adequate supply of comparables...less so in a slow market

that is a very broad statement Bob! I disagree, in that broad sense. Even with adequate supply of comparables, the automated valuations need some human interaction to be accurate in our area. Our Property Appraiser also uses automated valuations, and we all know how accurate they are, don't we?

that is a very broad statement Bob! I disagree, in that broad sense. Even with adequate supply of comparables, the automated valuations need some human interaction to be accurate in our area. Our Property Appraiser also uses automated valuations, and we all know how accurate they are, don't we?

sj, as usual, you are right, but most areas aren't like 30a....zillow is very close in my neighborhood.

Bob, I think that in many parts of America, automated valuation programs like the one zillow uses, will work well. The only reason I draw the distinction, is that the original poster's question referred specifically to the SoWal area.

Thanks for all the input. I guess I'm just looking for a glimmer of hope somewhere, and I'm not finding it!

Thanks for all the input. I guess I'm just looking for a glimmer of hope somewhere, and I'm not finding it!

Think of it as a long term investment. It's not like a car. It will eventually get better as long as you keep making payments.

Think of your stock market and mutual fund holdings in terms of "shares" not dollars.

Then have a drink of your choice and try to enjoy the holidays.