What In The World Is A Zillow Zestimate?

What In The World Is A Zillow Zestimate?

Person using computer to get a zestimate

No, a Zestimate is not a way to calculate the zestiness of your favorite foods, though that would come in handy. Instead, a Zestimate is the combination of the company Zillow and a home estimate. A Zestimate gives ballpark figures to help you in the buying and selling stage of moving!

Graphic reading, "Moving Blog. What in the world is a moving estimate?"

What is a Zillow estimate?

You may have heard of Zillow before. They’re the Seattle-based company that lists thousands upon thousands of homes that you can buy, rent or sell. Well, they decided to up the bar by making their very own home value estimating tool!
They mainly made this tool to help consumers determine the best property value to purchase or sell. Meaning you can do this without having to leave their site! Zillow uses public, user, and industry data to assess your home’s possible worth.
A Zillow estimate or a Zestimate can help you achieve an ideal appraisal amount. Also, it can help you understand the housing market. Not to mention that you can ensure the offers you see are competitive if you are browsing the market.

How are they calculated?

Zillow describes Zestimates as an “estimated market value for a home, computed using a proprietary formula including public and user-submitted data.”
A Zestimate assesses the number of bathrooms and bedrooms, the age of the house, property tax, location, square footage, and so much more! Zillow creates an unbiased calculation of how your property fairs in today’s market. They also look at other homes in your area that have already sold or are fresh on the market to further assess your home’s value.

How accurate is a Zestimate?

The accuracy of a Zestimate depends on the property’s location and available data. Zestimate’s error margin for homes on the market is about 3.2%.
But what if you have a property that’s off the market? Maybe you’re in the early stages of wanting to sell but just aren’t sure yet. Well, the margin of error for an off-the-market property is about 7.52%.
In addition, you can actually boost your home’s value to beat that margin! A sustainable and healthy market can boost a home’s value by about 3-4% yearly, meaning your property could be worth more than it was last year. You can also grow that number with some home improvements! With some simple updating of your home’s siding, roof, deck, carpet, and more, you can increase your home’s worth.
Of course, this mainly falls on buyer demand. Just like with any market out there, if the demand is higher than usual, your value will go up. If the demand isn’t there, even with those improvements, it will go down. Please keep that in mind if you’re looking through their catalog.

Should you use these estimates?

As you already read, it’s not too far off to call  Zestimates Zillow’s personal real estate agent, but should you trust it?
Zillow states that a Zestimate is not an official appraisal and should not be treated as one. However, a Zestimate should be viewed as a good starting point.
As previously stated, the value can drop with demand or with the margin of error.
A Zestimate has to rely on who wants to contribute data to their database to calculate a value. That’s why the best way to accurately know your home’s value would be to get a professional appraisal from a real estate agent.

Now, you’re a Zestimate expert!

So now you know a Zestimate is a home estimating tool that can give a ballpark value that can help you in the buying and selling process. Not to mention it can be a fun tool to use to see how much your home is worth even if you’re not ready to sell.
If you are getting ready to move you should check out our guide on how to sell a house and buy a new one and our guide on five ways to sell your house quickly!

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Evan Tovar recently graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in English/Creative Writing with a minor in history. When he's not working, he's at his desk practicing the art of world-building.