Special offer

Zillow is Getting Much Better with Their Zestimates

By
Real Estate Agent with Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage GREC #208281

Until the past six months, the Zestimates I saw from Zillow didn't seem to be that accurate in the areas that I cover around Atlanta.  But over the past few months I began seeing that Zillow was coming up with very good estimate of value.  I'd do all of my analysis and then find that Zillow had come up with pretty much the same number.  My personal home seemed to be right on target.

Here's the graph of the price of my home over the past ten years according to Zillow.  I bought it for $388,000 back in 2001.  A couple of years ago I thought it might have been worth around $500,000.  Now, from what I've being seeing in the local market, I do think that it's back to what I paid for it. 

 

I think their computers are really learning their stuff.  The question will be, "Are you smarter than a Zillow computer?"  and then "Does it really matter?" 

How's are the Zestimates in your area?

 

Posted by

 

 

About the Author:  Tim Maitski has been a full time Realtor since 1999. He has sold several hundreds of homes in areas around metro Atlanta.  Tim started with RE/MAX Greater Atlanta and is now with Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage.

 

Along with blogging on ActiveRain, he provides one of the best real estate websites in Atlanta at www.HomeAtlanta.com .

 

His proprietary  "Maitski Line Reports" chart out the absorption rates over the past 14 years in 37 different market areas.  Know when it's a good time to buy or a good time to sell.    

 

His online Property Tax Calculator allows you to compare property taxes in many counties and cities around the Atlanta area.  He provides the Atlanta MLS Power Search Tool that allows searches of homes using over 35 specific criteria.

 

Over the years, Tim has optimized his business so that he now can offer a huge 50% commission rebate to his buyers.  The more experience one gets, the easier the job becomes.

 

Tim also has a "Five Days to Sold" System that uses an intensive marketing blitz to create a showing frenzy that creates urgency and offers.

 

Tim is always looking to LinkIn with anyone who is interested in building their social network.

 

View Tim Maitski ●Atlanta Realtor●'s profile on LinkedIn

Dave Roberts
Healdsburg Sotheby's International Realty - Healdsburg, CA

Zestimates for my part of Northern California still aren't tracking very closely with sales prices, but I'm going to take another look and see if they are better than they were. I think they started their computer model in an era of consistent appreciation so their algorithms were all biased towards higher prices. Today's market is a lot more irregular, so if their results are closer, they have refined their model to reflect reality more closely.

Jan 20, 2010 01:07 AM