Has Zillow improved in 2015 and gotten more accurate in predicting Sacramento home values? Well, no...

Zillow is a blessing and a curse. I'm sure by now most folks who have contemplated buying or selling a home in Sacramento have heard of this website by now. What is Zillow? Zillow.com is a website that, among other things, provides information about neighborhoods and properties.

Zillow is a neat website. I have an agent profile on Zillow. I have clients who have found me or found my listings 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 automated estimate of value that the website dreams up for a 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 always current. I usually look at Zillow before I meet with new sellers, because I know they have looked their home's value up there...this helps me know in advance if I will be surprising them with more value, or disappointing them with less value.

As I said, Zillow is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it DOES have some useful information there, cool mapping tools, some property characteristics, etc. It's a curse because most people I talk to think Zillow has current data and that the website knows everything when it comes to local real estate values. Let me tell you -- it does not have current information, and an algorithm does not replace a real estate professional who intimately knows the market. Occasionally it will get reasonably close, but I find more often than not it is WILDLY off. And folks contact me every week asking about properties posted on Zillow that have already sold.

I posted a few times last couple years about how the sales prices of my transactions compare to Zillow data. I've closed 10 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, December 27nd, 2015.

10267 Croydon Way, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670; this was a short sale home I listed (represented the seller) in Rancho Cordova. The original listing price was $199,500 (price was pre-approved by the lender Wells Fargo and by Fannie Mae), and this closed on 9/17/15 for $195,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $229,404, approximately 15% above it's selling price. Wow...that's one heck of a difference.

3073 Sand Dollar Way, Sacramento, CA 95821; this was a home I sold (represented the buyer) in the Arden area. The original listing price was $399,950, and this closed on 9/18/15 for $361,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $305,224, approximately 18% below it's selling price. Hmm...we are 2 for 2 with large differences already.

4241 62nd Street, Sacramento, CA 95820; this was a home I listed (represented the seller) in the Tallac Village / Tahoe Park area. The original listing price was $269,900, and this closed on 9/30/15 for $275,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $266,444, approximately 3.2% below it's selling price. Ok that's at least a little bit closer.

7110 Stella Lane #13, Carmichael, CA 95608; this was a condo I sold (represented the buyer) in Carmichael. The original listing price was $117,900, and this closed on 10/5/15 for $118,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $116,555, approximately 1.2% below it's selling price. Ok, reasonably close.

2180 Weller Way, Sacramento, CA 95818; this was a home I sold (represented the buyer) in the Land Park neighborhood. The original listing price was $359,000, and this closed on 11/2/15 for $363,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $371,956, approximately 2.4% above it's selling price.

36 Glenville Circle, Sacramento, CA 95826; this was a home I sold (represented the buyer) in the College Greens neighborhood. The original listing price was $307,000, and this closed on 11/9/15 for $325,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $321,022, approximately 1.3% below it's selling price.

1750 Baines Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95835; this was a home I listed (represented the seller) in the Natomas Park area. The original listing price was $525,000, and this closed on 11/18/15 for $499,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $495,024, approximately 1% below it's selling price.

10 Shearwater Court, Sacramento, CA 95833; this was a short sale home I listed (represented the seller) in the Natomas Shorebird area. The original listing price was $375,000, and this closed on 11/20/15 for $380,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $474,204, approximately 25% above it's selling price. Yikes!

2025 Vallejo Way, Sacramento, CA 95818; this was a home I listed (represented the seller) in the Land Park area. The original listing price was $449,000, and this closed on 12/3/15 for $449,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $469,379, approximately 4.5% below it's selling price.

2025 Bidwell Way, Sacramento, CA 95818; this was a home I sold (represented the buyer) in the Land Park neighborhood. The original listing price was $599,000, and this closed on 12/4/15 for $599,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $560,980, approximately 6.3% below it's selling price.

So as you can see...there are a couple transactions where Zillow gets pretty close, however the vast majority are off thousands of dollars and several percent from the final selling price.

How many garage door opener remote controls sell with a house?

I figured I would point out something all Sacramento home sellers ought to be keenly aware of when filling out disclosure documents when selling a house...

The short answer to the question posed in the title of this blog post is: "as many as the sellers disclose they have."

An automatic garage door opener is a "fixture" in a real estate transaction. A fixture is basically an item that is attached to the house, and by its attachment becomes part of the house. Other examples of fixtures are things like the kitchen sink faucet, door knobs, built-in shelving, etc. Those items are generally included in the sale of a house. Sometimes those items can be specifically excluded from a sale, but that's another blog post for another time.

In the case of an automatic garage door opener, in addition to the device being a fixture itself, usually garage door openers have remote controls. And remote controls are also items that are conveyed with the property in the sale.

In the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS), there is a section where the seller checks off items that are part of the house. Under the "Automatic Garage Door Opener(s)" checkbox, there is also a line for "Number of Remote Controls" and a line to fill in with the number. Usually a seller will fill in that there are 2 remotes. Makes sense...garage door openers usually come with 2 remotes.

For some reason, home sellers seem to lose track of garage door remotes. Perhaps wife lost one of them a long time ago and husband is the person filling out the disclosure forms...or perhaps the remotes got packed away during the move. Whatever the case, if a seller notes there are 2 remotes on the TDS, then they must provide the new owner of the home with 2 remotes. Not 1. And definitely not 0.

I cannot tell you how many times in my real estate transactions, whichever side (buyer's agent or seller's agent) I have been on, the seller has noted more remotes on the TDS than they have in their possession. Numerous times, sellers have had to purchase new universal (programmable) garage door remotes to remedy this situation so that buyers are provided the number of remotes noted in the TDS. SO -- sellers, make sure that you note the actual number of remotes that you will be able to transfer to the buyer, even if that number is 0.

Or perhaps its a safe investment strategy to buy stock in the universal garage door opener remote control manufacturing companies.

New Listing - 5394 Knotty Pine Way, Sacramento (Natomas), CA 95835

Adorable Natomas 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 1,519sf home! You will love all of the upgrades -- custom shutters throughout, newer laminate flooring, high ceilings, great room with integrated surround sound, kitchen with granite counters, downstairs half bathroom, spacious bedrooms, large master suite with dual sinks and tons of closet space, and more. Attached 2-car garage and low maintenance yard. Conveniently closet to shopping, parks, schools, and freeways. Don't wait! Offered at $279,900. For more photos and detail visit 5394 Knotty Pine Way, Sacramento, CA 95834.

Meet Our Newest Addition, Citra the Mini Aussie...

For people who have followed my blog for a LONG time, you may already know that several years ago, I had a really sweet bloodhound named Harold. I was devastated when he had health issues and had to be put down. I have not had a dog since...until now.

Meet "Citra" who has been named for a variety of hops used in beer-making. She is a mini-Australian Shepherd puppy. She is 7 pounds now, and should grow to be about 25-30 pounds. On top of being extremely adorable, she is also extremely sweet and very smart. House-breaking a puppy isn't exactly the easiest thing to do, and she's rolling with it pretty well.

It's so nice to have a sweet dog again, and I look forward to many years of her companionship.

My 4th California International Marathon is complete!

Well, yesterday started out with a little rain, but the remainder of the day yielded perfect running conditions for the California International Marathon. My husband and I completed the 26.2 mile race yet again. What was also really neat, is that my company, Dunnigan Realtors, sponsored "The Wall" at mile 21 right out front of our office in Sierra Oaks on Fair Oaks Blvd. It was cool to run past my colleagues and friends there, and I am sure all of the other thousands of runners appreciated the cheering squad as well. At that point in the race, runners really start to feel the pain...ironically the pain tends to be mostly psychological despite how bad my feet and muscles ache. Any friendly face or cheering section is so greatly appreciated...helps make that pain a little more tolerable. And with that, on to the next race!

Making Land Park Drive look a little more festive during the holidays...

Ever noticed the lamp posts on Land Park Drive decorated with the red ribbons and bows during the holiday season? Yes indeed, the elves at the Dunnigan Realtors Land Park office do that every year!