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October 12, 2007
Value Question
Does anyone know if zillow.com value estimates have any bearing to reality in Brooklyn? Zillow's "zestimate" on the house we want to buy is way lower than the asking price (like way way lower). Thanks!
Comments
it might give you a clue that the place is way overvalued like most of Brooklyn right now at a historic peak in RE prices, that may not be reached again for 10 to 15 years.
Posted by: guest at October 12, 2007 11:47 AM
I found zillow totally unrealistic. So by no means go by their estimates.
Posted by: guest at October 12, 2007 12:04 PM
Ditto for me. Zillow's estimates have little relation to reality. I think you can get actual sales numbers for specific properties and their sale dates on the site though and that is very valuable.
Posted by: donatella at October 12, 2007 12:12 PM
outside of nyc zillow is great inside its hit and miss.
Posted by: armchairwarrior at October 12, 2007 12:36 PM
Zillow probably approximates what a "drive by" appraisal will get you. In the South Slope, where many of the 1-2 family home sales are of the fixer-upper variety, the "zestimate" will come in low for a fully-renovated house because it cannot distinguish its comparables alogn these lines. It also cannot make judgments based on micro-level changes in neighborhood. Same house just north of the Prospect Expressway will not come in higher than if it were south of the expressway. I am sure there are other important variables Zillow cannot adequately account for, which would explain why its numbers often seem off.
Posted by: slopefarm at October 12, 2007 2:21 PM
I think virtually identical houses in my neighborhood of Flatbush are zestimated at about $525,000, or a little more, and the two most recent sales were for $770,000 a year ago and just the other day for over $800,000. So take with grain of salt.
Posted by: guest at October 12, 2007 2:37 PM
Hi, it's David from Zillow,
In Kings County our median error is 12.1% and 42% of Zestimates are within 10% of sales price. As armchair mentioned, that's worse than Zillow's national accuracy of 7.2% and 62% respectively.
It's a challenge to find comprehensive and accurate raw data about property attributes in NYC. We will continue to expand our data coverage via adding more data sources but will also start to use owner provided home facts to improve Zestimate accuracy. If you'd like to help, please claim your home and update its facts.
Posted by: guest at October 12, 2007 5:23 PM
The median error cannot be anywhere near 12%. I own four brownstones in brooklyn and all of them have zestimates off by 200-300%. It appears as if zillow cannot distinguish between a multi family brownstone and a condo. A drive by appraisal can easily make this distinction, rendering zillow useless in brownstone brooklyn.
Posted by: guest at October 13, 2007 2:16 PM
Zillow is useles..
They list studios at 220 Berkeley Place as being in the 500-600K range when they sold for around 280K a year ago.
That doesn't sound like 12% to me.
Posted by: guest at October 13, 2007 3:19 PM
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