Technical Difficulties…

56 Comments so far

1. Kathy on July 10, 2007 8:45 am

   ?? What happened to my exchange with you yesterday about 669 Royal Drive, Bailey CO?
   I had just told you the tax assessment of our property is only $3,000 less than the property at 715 Royal that you have valued at $50,000 excess ours.
   The assessor has valued 510 Royal at $20,000 less than the Zestimate.
   Our own Zestimate is almost $25,000 less than the county-assessed value.
   My understanding is that the sole & only reason our home isn’t better represented in Zillow value is because we have owned it for several years. How can this be the basis for your Zestimate values?

2. David Gibbons on July 10, 2007 10:10 am

   Hi Kathy,

   Please note that we have past sales data for both of these homes — as such, we’re able to more accurately estimate their value.

   Again, please remember that the Zestimate is a starting point. My response to your earlier comments was:

   Hi Kathy,

   Please don’t take it personally — you live in an area which is difficult to estimate with great accuracy due to the unique attributes of the homes and the high degree of variation among the houses in your neighborhood. As such, we’ve assigned a very large value range to your home’s Zestimate.

   The reason your house’s Zestimate is low is two-fold –> first, we don’t have any sales history for your home. Next, without that sales data we use the tax assessed values to decide which homes are similar to yours and this is where our second problem comes in; you appear to pay significantly less taxes than your neighbors whose homes have similar attributes — which causes your home’s Zestimate value to be low.

   I hope that helps.

3. Drew Meyers on July 10, 2007 10:15 am

   Kathy-
   Please read our “What is a Zestimate?” page for further details about Zestimate values - http://www.zillow.com/howto/Zestimate.htm

4. havensofmanhattan on July 10, 2007 12:47 pm

   Everything seems to be running fine now.

5. Dwayne on July 10, 2007 7:06 pm

   The range of values on this site is a joke. People try to use this as a negotiation tool when it really hurts the value of many homes. Someone should challenge the validity of your estimates.

6. Alexandria on July 10, 2007 7:27 pm

   I don’t know about other parts of the country but here in Las Vegas, Zillow is RIGHT ON with their Zestimates! As a matter of fact, they are a little high since the prices of RE have dropped and are continuing to drop. Developers are now offering from $25,000 to $100,000 cash plus incentives/discounts on New Homes. There are so many daily foreclosures here, it’s amazing. The house I’m in (resale) was valued at $340,000 2 years ago. Zillow says “$226,000” at present but it’s really about $220,000. TV says Home prices will drop another 40% by the end of next year!!!!! Wow!

7. Dottie on July 10, 2007 7:28 pm

   I love Zillow, but I do feel like as soon as I find a bargain price for a property a, it shows it is sold before it can be I even get a chance to check it out?

   We have been looking for a place in Flagler for a vacation retreat and investment. Would love to find a repo but know that is next to impossible in that area.

   Any suggestions would greatly appreciated. Keep this idea going, I think it is wonderful and much needed for people like us who hate to deal with realtors.

8. james on July 10, 2007 7:34 pm

   this site only gives a range…and what a range of values 50 to 80K!? they have no updated info on the homes, just old records. they don’t take into account the comparables..
   my home is valued at 160k, and tax appraisal says 178k, and I’m about to sell it for 173k.
   just don’t put too much stock into the site and don’t try to base real value by this site.
   it’s definitely geared toward buyers, which is fine, but at least be more accurate. just another bunch of yahoo’s that don’t know what the hell they’re doing…and we have enough of that now. Just look at stupid network television for a few hours…so predictable it’s ridiculous!

9. Teresa on July 10, 2007 7:46 pm

   Zillow is great to use “as a guide”. If you’re looking for the most accurate value of a particular property, hire an appraiser. Thanks zillow, for providing the sales history and homes recently sold in the same neighborhood — good to know!

10. John on July 10, 2007 7:49 pm

    I live in an area where every 4th, 5th house is the same as mine, the same square footage, build the same year and prices couldn’t be more different. A house same as mine just across the street is priced at $60,000 more than mine. Every other house same as mine is valued more than mine even though we are just few yards away from each other. The comparables are not only not the same for all houses here but also a low priced house sold in the area will not be included in valuations of some of the homes that are actually closer to the sold house but priced much higher. As our houses are going down in prices according to Zillow the house $60,000 higher in price is actually one of very few that goes up in price continuously. This is not a serious website, it should be named YouZillowhahaha.com

11. eric on July 10, 2007 8:04 pm

    It’s comical that someone would complain that Zillow would have their home value pegged at only $13K less that they sold it for. Imagine the components of this site…nationwide valuation of individual homes…within $13K of the actual sales price…come on goober…that’s pretty amazing!

12. Bob on July 10, 2007 8:31 pm

    Zillow is providing a an excellent service to the communities it serves. Remember, this is a free service to all and Zillow is presently keeping track of critical data of more than 70,000,000 homes. You can place your home FOR SALE on Zillow FREE OF CHARGE and reach prospective buyers quickly. You can upload photographs of your property for anyone interested to see and you can make appropriate comments about your property. Zillow has several disclaimers regarding their information about all properties and allow you to change data you feel is wrong. EZ Ads provides you with a very inexpensive way to promote the sale of your home by directing prospects to your Home For Sale Site on Zillow. Get with it folks. Zillow is and shall be in the future, the best wa to find homes for sale as well as comparable sold properties in any area. And it’s FREE. Visit my Home For Sale Site on Zillow. Type in 280 old main st and the Zip Code 02664 and see for yourself. Oh, by the way, I was a Real Estate Broker and Realtor for many years so from my experience, I rate Zillow 5 STARS.

13. Steve on July 10, 2007 8:33 pm

    I find the zillow site for entertainment purposes it is not accurate. My neighbors house on both sides is listed at $10000.00 more than mine . There house is 2638 sq. ft
    with 3 bedrooms 2.5 baths 14000 sd lot. my house is 3800sf 5 bedrooms 3.5 baths 15000sf yard .I have been in the neighbors house no comparison, there information seems to be inacurate.But its sill fun to look!

14. Tom on July 10, 2007 8:55 pm

    Zillow is like any other piece of data, not to be taken as the final answer. Consult a professional realtor (notice I said realtor and not apprasier). What a home will SELL for on the open market can best be determined by a professional realtor who will look at not only objective data (sq footage, room count, garage spaces etc…) but will equaluate subjective elements such as curb appeal, general condition, floor plan and true comps for the home. Does Zillow factor in type of counter tops? Stye of Appliances? Quality of work on a finished basement? Nothing can replace sound human judgement…

    Tom

15. Amin on July 10, 2007 9:32 pm

    I like Zillow, not for accuracy, but for free info to start the research. I don’t want to spend a lot of money every year to find approximate value of my house.

    BUT, I suggest Zillow should change their algorithm to provide better value. I saw responses telling that previous sale prices and tax records are used. It does not matter how much tax is paid or if a house did not sell during last ten years. House of same size and design have same value no matter what the tax value is or when it was last sold. Value should be based only on features and comparables.

    Still I like whatever is presented.

16. Kathy on July 11, 2007 8:03 am

    I thought it was interesting that Zillow values the house nextdoor to ours at $50,000 more than ours — when it is half the size of ours — solely because it had sold recently, while ours has been family-held for several years. Not because of some proprietary formula or algorithm, but just the previous sale.
    That does not seem to be a valid basis to set value and has caused me to view Zillow with MUCH less credibility. Even the tax assessor knows these properties are equal in value.

    I predict someone will sue Zillow for misleading data like this. A consumer might well pay too much for the home nextdoor….or an owner may be unable to sell for true value…because of Zillow’s input in the market. When it’s been specifically notified of inconsistencies like the one affecting us, I think it has some duty to correct its figures or defend them on some other basis than the one stated. After all, it’s often the homes that are NOT sold that have the most value because their owners are committed to the preservation and enhancement of their properties…while the homes sold are less liveable for various reasons. Zillow, if you can’t explain your values any better than you have on this thread, you’d better wonder about your future….just in my humble opinion.

17. Kathy on July 11, 2007 8:10 am

    PS, I should add that I am a licensed Colorado real estate broker and the owner of an exclusive buyer agency in the foothills above Denver. I am not, in other words, just an ordinary consumer. I watch these figures in my professional practice, and know the market does too.

18. Tammy on July 11, 2007 9:30 am

    I am not able to load listings, as an agent, but a co-worker is. Any suggestions?

19. John on July 11, 2007 11:09 am

    Controversy pays in America so they make it as much controversial as possible. The more people visit their website the better. A normal business if it cannot provide accurate information or valuations would not provide such at all but not Zillow. It is all carefully planned by the geeks. If your home valuations were always correct and adequate to other homes in your area how many times would you visit their website? Definitely not often, so they make it interesting for you. It is all a game to get you there, get you involved. Got it? Can you actually contact them by e-mail or phone? Do you know their physical address? Once people stop visiting Zillow, they’ll be forced to make changes or close their website.

20. hallahan on July 11, 2007 3:33 pm

    You have wrongly evaluated my house. You have estimated the price per square foot much higher than any of the neighborhood AND YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN INSIDE. & the comps are crazy!
    Price per square foot is a builder’s term. You have ignored the information you have about my house (e.g. size)and upped the price estimate over $100,000 even though we have only lived in it 14 months, redecorated and did some landscaping. And we are in a down rust belt market. YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR TREE! If this continues, you will be sued….

21. Kathy on July 11, 2007 3:47 pm

    Yes, I agree.
    Misleading and inaccurate information about our most valuable holdings is NOT HARMLESS.
    I am going to email the consumer group that filed suit against Zillow before the Federal Trade Commission, and see if they would like more ammunition for their lawsuit. I can’t think of much that would support their cause more, than the graph supposedly reflecting values along Royal Drive in Bailey, CO.

    Specifically, I’ll invite them to check out the graphs for 715 and 520 Royal (which supposedly gained $40,000 and $60,000 in value, respectively, in the last 30 days, while our home at 669 LOST value!), and then ask the FTC to decide for itself whether Zillow is (a) anywhere close to knowing what the dollars ought to be and (b) harming consumers by this sort of misinformation. To me there is no question that any consumer viewing the information would conclude there is something wrong with our home.

22. Kathy on July 11, 2007 3:55 pm

    Zillow said:
    “without that sales data we use the tax assessed values to decide which homes are similar to yours and this is where our second problem comes in; you appear to pay significantly less taxes than your neighbors whose homes have similar attributes — which causes your home’s Zestimate value to be low.”

    OH, REALLY?! I checked the assessor, did Zillow?
    715 Royal has assessed value of $206,985. 669 Royal has assessed value of $203,415. Where’s the $50,000 difference, Zillow?!!

23. David Gibbons on July 11, 2007 4:14 pm

    All —

    If you’re confused about Zestimate accuracy or how Zestimates are calculated please read through this document which goes into more detail: http://www.zillow.com/howto/Zestimate.htm

    Kathy,

    Please read the other comments here — Zillow is not the final word on house values; it’s a useful starting point but the only way to get a perfectly valuation is to retain the services of a local expert.

    Zestimate values are based on public records — when that data is incomplete or incorrect, we will be wrong.

    Please claim your home, post corrected facts and if you disagree with the estimate, please use the My Estimator tool to choose appropriate comps and publish a value you are happy with.

    FYI - there is no suit against Zillow.

24. John on July 11, 2007 8:52 pm

    4 months ago Zillow had estimated my house at $409,000, my mortgage company at $425,000 and local real estate agent said he would list it at $400,000-405,000. Now my Zestimate is $395,000, my mortgage company says my house is worth $413,000 and my local real estate agent values it at $380,000. Mad as hell I decided to apprise it privately and and the number is $420,000. If I was to sell this house what price should I be asking for? All of them are using the same comparables and yet the values couldn’t be more different. But if I was to use the property tax info and sell the house with the taxes as is, I would easily sell it for $450,000 as my taxes are much lower because I own my house for almost 10 years and proposition 13 prevents the taxes from going up more than 2%/year. Unfortunately, property taxes are based on the price new buyer pays not what the old homeowner paid or even assessor’s valuations for the previous homeowner. So if you want to play God and use assessors valuations you couldn’t be more wrong in evaluating todays real estate.

25. Nancy Young on July 14, 2007 1:33 pm

    I have tried unsuccessfully now 6-7 times to edit our home information - wanting to correct all old information is very important. However every time I think I’m finished and submit these changes I find myself back to the same edit page. Very annoying to say the least - any comments would be appreciated.

26. Drew Meyers on July 14, 2007 1:43 pm

    Nancy-
    Did you make sure to check the box at the bottom of the page that promises that you are the true owner prior to hitting “save changes”?

27. Autumn Humphrey on July 18, 2007 11:05 am

    Hi, my house is for sale on Zillow.com and it will not let me change the sales price. Could you please help? Thanks! Autumn

28. Drew Meyers on July 18, 2007 11:31 am

    Autumn-
    While logged into Zillow, navigate to your home details page and click the “edit posting info” in the upper right of the page.

    Hope this helps.

29. Bob Morris on July 19, 2007 9:59 am

    Looked up our home @ 1553 Kal Glen, 92029, info page is correct but the map show this as Kal Pl. Also the home next store (north) you show as 29K more, its in foreclosure, has been gutted to the tune of about 30K plus landscaping, all dried up and dead. same sq’, and ours is full of upgrades. thank Bob

    P.S. am mow retired but looking for something in N. county of San Diego, part time in the R.E. industry as was in this industry for 42 Yrs. Title co, R.E. Sales, so if something in this area comes up please let me know. thanks again Bob

30. Rachel Alexander on July 21, 2007 2:07 pm

    Help! I entered in the wrong apt # for a listing on Zillow. I can’t figure out how to change it. Do I have to delete the post and re-post in order to modify the address? Thanks for the help!!

31. Lauren Arrigo on July 23, 2007 10:20 am

    Question for Zillow. I’m going to try to get my taxes reduced, for the tax assignment value is to high on my house. I now have a fear to do this for if I am successful & my house is re-appraised & then posted for a less value by the county will my Zillow zestimate for my house go down in price do to this?

32. Kathy on July 23, 2007 11:18 am

    Zillow has gone from bad to worse in the last 10 days. I just noticed a property near ours (105 Royal Lane, Bailey CO) with NO bathroom, only 1 bedroom and only 480 square feet, has gone up $7,000 in the past few days and is now supposedly worth $15,000 more than our lovely home….which of course (according to Zillow) has fallen in value again the last week!
    What in the world are you people doing?! Do you understand the impact these Zillow- estimated values have on local owners?!
    Tell you what: come to Colorado. I’ll sell you the place on Royal Lane and you can potty in the woods, or visit our house if you get desperate. PS: your place is down a steep hill that you won’t be able to exit in winter, will that be OK?

33. John on July 24, 2007 10:38 am

    I just recently wrote here that a house accross from mine (the same in size and everything else) was zestimated at $460,000 which was $60,000 more than mine. I would like to update you all that the house has been sold for $350,000 which is less than the value of mine house but it drove my house value down $20,000. The Zestimate of the other house is at present at $420,000 and mine at $380,000. I must add that the house in question was in forclosure and it is in need of some work inside and out probably at $20,000 minimum just to bring it to livable condition. How a house like this can drive my valuations so low while itself it is still zestimated very strong? It was sold for nothing why then do you continue to value this particular house so high? I just don’t get it. Every house value in this area has been affected by the loser because of the low sale price, except the loser itself. Get real will you?

34. Peter on July 24, 2007 2:09 pm

    John:

    If I were you, I would not place so much trust on those Zillow estimates. They obviously do not have all the facts, and their estimates are just that estimates. I do not know how they arrive at those figures. Just think, the value of a property, any property, does not fluctuate from week to week as their figures imply. That is ridiculous!!
    For instance, I own a house in Florida, which according to Zillow went down in price about $1000 from last month. However, in the same entry it says it went up $750 from last estimate. It is all a joke; and people who are serious about buying do go and see the property, the neighborhood, the facilities, etc. and then make a decision.
    My advice, use Zillow as entertainment, but do not loose any sleep over whatever they say.
    IT IS ALL A JOKE, A BUSINESS, AND A BAD BUSINESS!!

35. Kathy on July 24, 2007 2:18 pm

    Peter is right on.
    Whatever credibility I had previously ascribed to Zillow went straight out the window when a couple of homes on my block dipped $20,000 in value over the last year, only to rise more than $40,000 in the next 30 days.
    Zillow, if you can’t do better than this, please do nothing but report County assessed values. Combining that information with recent sales only confuses the market, since many “sold” properties are in foreclosure here.
    It’s not harmless to have one’s most valuable property under- or over-estimated (I guess we call it Zillowed these days). Please…look at the pages yourself and you will see why we have become skeptical.

36. John on July 26, 2007 10:53 am

    I don’t place any trust in Zillow but some people do and when you do get into business of valuating people’s homes do it right or don’t do it at all. Zillow presents itself as real estate expert and appears on national tv regularly and yet cannot value houses in the same area and of the same size at the same price. My 7 year old daughter can do that but not Zillow?
    What kind of expert provides explanations to WHEN A ZESTIMATE IS NOT A ZESTIMATE? Do realtors come back to you after a successful sale of your house and say “Oops, I made a mistake evaluating your house and we sold your house for $50,000 less”?

37. Ron Asteak on July 26, 2007 7:41 pm

    The name should be changed from Zestimates to “Guess-Idiots”. It’s obvious that you are using outdated public records to formulate grossly inaccurate values.

38. Patsy on July 27, 2007 5:19 am

    I have been in RE for the past 35 years in one form or another, realtor, mortgage broker,appraiser, remodel, new house builder.
    I recently posted my personal house on MMM for just under 1 million, had a buyer, he made loan application, lender ordered appraisal, appraisal came in at just over 1 million and the lender went on Zillow and looked at their value, which is 600,000, and knocked down the certified appraisal to 750,000. I had 2 other buyers in the wings, but if this would have prevented the sale of my property I would be in court today with that lender-WHAT AN IDIOT. I can’t believe profesional people would resort to this. So if proffesional’s are doing this, just imagine the amatures. I think it hurts sales.

39. Lauren on August 3, 2007 11:03 am

    Zillow please answer…………………. I’m going to try to get my taxes reduced, for the tax assessment value is to high on my house. I now have a fear to do this for if I am successful & my house is re-assessed for less by the county & then posted for a lesser value on the counties website will my Zillow zestimate for my house go down in price due to this? Or do you only up-date this info upon sale? Thanks Lauren

40. Zillow Team on August 3, 2007 2:48 pm

    Hi Lauren,

    If the County assessor revalues your property it can impact your Zestimate value. That said, if we have a sufficient other information about your home (sales transactions etc.) it is unlikely that the assessment will have a large impact.

41. Lawrence on August 8, 2007 11:00 pm

    i noticed your site’s map features has been down a while,is it undergoing change or being eliminated?

42. Caryl on August 12, 2007 8:56 am

    No matter what I do I can’t register. I want to update my home’s information, but I can’t register to get a login, no matter what I place for a password it won’t accept anything.

43. richard norenberg on August 23, 2007 5:13 pm

    Data on your website referrable to the Pinellas Point area in St. Pete [33705]is messed up somehow. Click on one of the homes on Friendly Way and the address comes up on
    St. Pete beach[?]. When it was working I enjoyed checking out price ranges.

44. w on August 24, 2007 10:40 pm

    how submitt my listing in this site without login?

45. David G from Zillow.com on August 27, 2007 1:44 pm

    w - you have to register and login to advertise your listing on Zillow. It’s free, quick and painless - but we require a valid e-mail so that buyers can contact you.

46. Charlie Storke on August 28, 2007 12:15 pm

    Zillow is down down down and has been for more than a week. What’s going on?

47. Drew Meyers on August 28, 2007 12:29 pm

    Charlie-
    Can you give me some further information to go off of? What error message are you seeing?

48. Mark Bruno on August 28, 2007 4:35 pm

    Charlie, maybe this will help:
    Can not log in. When you try, here is the message:

    We’re sorry, there is a problem with the site.
    Please try one of the following:
    Use your browser’s Back button to return to a previous page.
    Check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization and try again.
    The link you followed might be broken or expired. Try going to the http://www.zillow.com home page and following the links there to find what you need.

49. Wendi on August 29, 2007 5:47 am

    I have updated my home information, however when I save it does not do so correctly. My home was build in 2004 when you click on comps it states home build in 1969…I also can not get the acres to stick…it keeps stating 1.59 and it should state 2.5. How do I get this corrected?

50. Charlie Storke on August 29, 2007 8:13 am

    I can email you a screen shot of the browser page. I’ve got the correct URL, I’ve flushed the cache, et cetera. Nothing. The message is:

    We’re sorry there’s a problem with the site: Please try one of the following: * * *

51. Drew Meyers on August 29, 2007 10:38 am

    Charlie-
    That won’t be necessary — If you haven’t taken a detailed look at our troubleshooting page, please do so - http://www.zillow.com/wikipages/Troubleshooting-Search-Errors-on-Zillow

    Your browser is having trouble communicating with the flash technology that we use. If Zillow used to work for you, please try uninstalling any browser plugins or programs that have been installed on your computer since then. Or try another browser such as Firefox if you are currently using IE.

    Hope this helps.

52. Charlie Storke on August 29, 2007 4:54 pm

    No joy. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled the latest version of Adobe Flash and tried some other repair and uninstall techniques outlined in the troubleshooting section but now I can’t even get to the troubleshooting page.

53. Charlie Storke on August 29, 2007 7:00 pm

    I’m wondering whether the problem lies with the latest version of Adobe Flash (v.9) which became available just recently (late July I believe). Perhaps your site is not fully compatible with that version. I’ve had the same problem on four different computers.

54. William Mere on May 6, 2008 4:12 pm

    when opening my profile, underneath the “About Me” section appear a few pictures, how do I get rid of these pictures? Please advice.

55. David Gibbons on May 7, 2008 8:03 am

    William -

    Just click on the link under the photo and then on add/edit photo’s to delete any images you’ve posted to the site.

56. William Mere on May 7, 2008 8:18 am

    thank you very much for your help.