What is a Zestimate? As a home seller, is it something you need to put a lot of stock in?
First, a Zestimate is Zillow’s formula for calculating your home’s value. Zillow doesn’t reveal exactly how the formula works, but we do know that it’s based on tax records, comparable neighborhood home sales, homes that are active on the market, and other similar factors.
Is your house actually worth what a Zestimate says it’s worth, though? No—it’s worth whatever a buyer is willing to pay for it. A Zestimate is a good starting point in understanding your home’s value, but buyers don’t always look at a home’s Zestimate when looking at the home itself, and they’re generally educated enough to know to take a home’s Zestimate with a grain of salt.
A home’s Zestimate really isn’t that significant.
As an agent, if I’m giving a home a market valuation, I can pull its estimated value from a number of different websites and pretty much tell what kind of house it is by looking at that price, but that price won’t tell you what kind of updates the home has, how it’s decorated, or if it’s cluttered on the inside. In other words, a home’s Zestimate really isn’t that significant.
You can, however, try to make your home’s Zestimate more accurate. All you have to do is go Zillow, “claim” your house, and change any details that are incorrect. Since we don’t know exactly how a Zestimate is calculated, though, this can sometimes be more frustrating than it’s worth. At the end of the day, there’s not much you can do to influence your home’s Zestimate.
If you have any more questions about Zillow’s Zestimates or you have any other real estate needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help you