Zillow is a neat website. I have an agent profile on Zillow. I have clients who have found me using Zillow. However, my general thought about Zillow is that while it's a fun consumer tool that provides property information to people looking to buy or sell (or even rent property now), the vast majority of the time, the "Zestimate" (aka, the value that the website dreams up for a certain property), is usually not close to the market value of a Sacramento area property, and the homes listed for sale on the website are not current.
I posted a few times last year about how the sales prices of my transactions compare to Zillow data. I've closed 8 transactions in the last couple months so let's take a look to see how close Zillow is to the actual selling prices of these properties. This information is CURRENT as of today, September 5th, 2014.
15 Waterfront Court, Sacramento, CA 95831; this was a nice remodeled home I sold (represented the buyer) in the Pocket/Greenhaven area. The original listing price was $270,000, and after multiple offers this sold on 6/4/14 for $281,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $263,576 -- approximately 6.61% below it's selling price.
2509 Butano Drive, Sacramento, CA 95821; this was a fixer home I sold (represented the buyer) in the Arden area. The original listing price was $239,000, and this sold on 6/18/14 for $225,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $242,722 -- approximately 7.87% above it's selling price.
7244-7246 Canelo Hills Drive, Citrus Heights, CA 95610; this was a duplex I sold (represented the buyer) near in Citrus Heights. The original listing price was $255,000, and this sold on 6/20/14 for $215,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $220,478 -- approximately 2.56% above it's selling price.
6134 Van Alstine Avenue, Carmichael, CA 95608; this was a home I sold (represented the buyer) near in the American River in Carmichael. The original listing price was $1,595,000, and this sold on 7/17/14 for $1,495,000 (and it appraised significantly higher than the purchase price). Zillow's Zestimate: $1,336,127 -- approximately 11.89% below it's selling price.
1419 Hopkins Street, Sacramento, CA 95822; this was a home I listed and sold (represented the seller) near South Land Park in Sacramento. The original listing price was $129,900, and this sold on 7/20/14 for $129,900. Zillow's Zestimate: $125,415 -- approximately 3.58% below it's selling price.
3201 T Street, Sacramento, CA 95816; this was a home I listed and sold (represented the seller) near the UC Davis Med Center in East Sacramento. The original listing price was $299,900, and this had multiple offers and sold on 7/24/14 for $308,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $264,769 -- approximately 16.33% below it's selling price. WOW.
5364-5366 Elsinore Way, Fair Oaks, CA 95628; this was a home I sold (represented the buyer) in Fair Oaks. The original listing price was $259,900, and this sold on 8/26/14 for $259,900. Zillow's Zestimate: $304,522 -- approximately 17.17% above it's selling price. WOW.
4336 52nd Street, Sacramento, CA 95820; this was a home I listed and sold (represented the seller) in Colonial Heights. The original listing price was $189,900, and this sold on 8/28/14 for $183,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $175,871 -- approximately 4.1% below it's selling price.
I have said it before and I will say it again...I think a couple conclusions can be drawn from the information above. First, Zestimates are generally not accurate. They don't take into consideration property features that can not be quantified. Is it on a main street, is it near a park, was the kitchen remodeled, does it have unique architectural features...? Second, our dynamic Sacramento area real estate market has changed significantly in the last couple of year, and Zillow has a long way to go to catch up to pricing these trends and factoring them into their mathematical equations that determine these values. But it is still a fun website for entertainment purposes.
If I can assist you determine an accurate price range for your Sacramento home, I welcome your call or email.
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