Zillow Accuracy... Not Often The Case
Although, we love Zillow for many of its useful informative features, there is something to consider about their valuations. For major metro areas, with many neighborhoods within another "like Los Angeles", they are unable to truly grasp the real values neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street, and most often affected substantially, condo buildings.
Zillow estimated values are based on limited data provided from assessor information and local MLS reports. Assessor/Title information is very limited. It only provides you with the sale price, square footage, beds & bath, and lot area size. Same goes for the MLS when data is only downloaded. This is a great start, but there are many more factors to be considered when valuing a property.
For instance;
If you own a condo, the floor your unit resides on, the view, the fit & finish, year built and quality of the building are what truly define the value of your unit. These factors are not considered in Zillow Valuations. Luxury full service buildings that are considerably more expensive are not able to be defined from older buildings without amenities, another problem. These major issues cause the error in price margin to increase dramatically.
If you own a home, especially in areas like the Hollywood Hills, Santa Monica or West Hollywood, home values change substantially sometimes street to street, and neighborhood to neighborhood "there are many unique neighborhoods in all of these areas". Hillside home values are based on views, grade of the lot and often the side of the street. Most importantly, neighborhoods like these are not able to be averaged into the overall Los Angeles median house price of $306,000 which was the reported average in Aug 2012. There has not been a nice home in these areas for over 20 years at that low of a price.
You will see Los Angeles estimates were only 36% of the time within 5% of the sale price. That means they are wrong almost 65% of the time. As the sales price percentages rise, so does their accuracy. Which is a given.
With all that being said, it is imperative to work with an experienced agent that knows the nuances of the areas they service. They are your best resource for real property values.
Visit our website at www.TopLAHouses.com, to learn more about "neighborhoods within neighborhoods."
Zillow estimated values are based on limited data provided from assessor information and local MLS reports. Assessor/Title information is very limited. It only provides you with the sale price, square footage, beds & bath, and lot area size. Same goes for the MLS when data is only downloaded. This is a great start, but there are many more factors to be considered when valuing a property.
For instance;
If you own a condo, the floor your unit resides on, the view, the fit & finish, year built and quality of the building are what truly define the value of your unit. These factors are not considered in Zillow Valuations. Luxury full service buildings that are considerably more expensive are not able to be defined from older buildings without amenities, another problem. These major issues cause the error in price margin to increase dramatically.
If you own a home, especially in areas like the Hollywood Hills, Santa Monica or West Hollywood, home values change substantially sometimes street to street, and neighborhood to neighborhood "there are many unique neighborhoods in all of these areas". Hillside home values are based on views, grade of the lot and often the side of the street. Most importantly, neighborhoods like these are not able to be averaged into the overall Los Angeles median house price of $306,000 which was the reported average in Aug 2012. There has not been a nice home in these areas for over 20 years at that low of a price.
Check out Zillow's accuracy disclaimer here:
You will see Los Angeles estimates were only 36% of the time within 5% of the sale price. That means they are wrong almost 65% of the time. As the sales price percentages rise, so does their accuracy. Which is a given.
With all that being said, it is imperative to work with an experienced agent that knows the nuances of the areas they service. They are your best resource for real property values.
Visit our website at www.TopLAHouses.com, to learn more about "neighborhoods within neighborhoods."
I'm helping my Singapore clients to search for US properties and i came across your site... Very infomative...
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the analysis. I offend read zillow too but importantly is to really have your own feel with more information from others sources...
Cheers
http://www.the-citron.sg