There are a few Zillow issues to unpack here, so let’s start with them saying they are willing to buy your house for the amount of the zestimate – which is fine, if you don’t care about cashing in on the actual value.
In their press release, the boss claims that the zestimate’s nationwide median error rate for on-market homes of 1.9% which sounds simple enough – for years they have been adjusting their zestimate to the list price once a home goes on the market.
But once my new listing went on the market, they didn’t adjust the zestimate upward.
Would you sell your house for $1,336,035, when Jim the Realtor says it worth $1,599,000?
Factor in that Zillow charges more than I do, and it would mean that hiring me to sell your house would net you about $300,000 more – and that’s if we sell for the list price (it might go higher).
The big difference?
I don’t spend $100 million per year in advertising – they will reach people that I don’t reach.
Tell people to use me instead!
Link to my listing on Zillow
Apparently Zilldumb thinks my primary residence is worth the same as in April 2016.
Them as agents and buyers is a clear conflict of interest.
Them as agents and buyers is a clear conflict of interest.
Why the consumer doesn’t see this is mind-boggling.
People have been cocooning for years, and covid has made it mandatory. But in their isolation, people don’t seem as capable of seeing all the angles – or are just unwilling to look too hard. And companies like Zillow don’t mind taking full advantage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocooning_(behaviour)
“uber-cocooning, and now even bunkering” were becoming prominent because people had become “terrified” of world conditions.