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When they first rolled out the improve-it-yourself feature, it turned out to be no more than an opportunity to list your upgrades – because little or no value was added to your zestimate.  I received this by email today:

Hi Jim,

Today Zillow announced enhancements to the Zestimate® home value that allow homeowners to edit their home facts on Zillow and, depending on the new information they provide, potentially see an immediate impact on their Zestimate. For instance, if the square footage of a home is out of date on Zillow, the homeowner can correct this information and see an adjustment in their Zestimate.

Can listing agents use this feature to affect the Zestimate?

We encourage you to work with your seller prior to placing the home on the market to ensure all information on Zillow is accurate. If your seller is concerned about the Zestimate, check the home facts and make updates where needed. We suggest you communicate that the Zestimate is an estimate, not an appraisal.

We continue to iterate on our existing offerings to improve how buyers, sellers and homeowners use the resources available on Zillow. Should you have any questions about the Zestimate, visit www.zillow.com/zestimate.

Sincerely,

Greg Schwartz, Chief Revenue Officer, Zillow Group

I’ll believe it when I see it!  In the end, the zestimates will likely be more inaccurate as sellers fluff their values to the moon.  But Zillow is learning the ways of the industry, and is now siding with the sellers.  Get Good Help!

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Jim the Realtor
Jim is a long-time local realtor who comments daily here on his blog, bubbleinfo.com which began in September, 2005. Stick around!

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