The truth about Zillow’s Zestimate
🙋♀️Raising my hand … Hello, everyone. My name is Kim, and I am a Zillow junkie.
I have saved every home I owned, own now and would like to own. It’s fun to track what Zillow thinks the places are worth in what they call a “Zestimate.”
But can you trust it? And if you’re selling, how can you make sure it actually reflects your home’s true value?
How the Zestimate works
Zillow pulls data from public records, recent home sales and market trends. Sounds smart, but it doesn’t account for upgrades, renovations or your home’s condition. (How to fix this is below.)
🔹 The good: If you’re selling a home in a hot market, the Zestimate average error rate is 2.4%. Not bad.
🔹 The bad: If your home isn’t for sale, the error rate jumps to 7.49%.
Here’s a link that shows you the margins of error in cities and states across the country.
Zillow trusted its own algorithm so much that it started buying homes with it. That didn’t end well.
How Zillow’s Zestimate lost them $1B
In 2018, Zillow launched Zillow Offers. The idea? Use the Zestimate to buy homes, fix them up and flip them for a profit. What could go wrong? Well, everything.
The algorithm miscalculated home prices, often overpaying. When the market cooled down in 2021, Zillow suddenly owned thousands of homes it couldn’t sell at a profit. They lost a cool billion dollars.
How to raise your Zestimate
If buyers are checking Zillow, you want your home’s Zestimate to reflect its highest true value. Sales within 0.25 to 1 mile and in the past 6 to 12 months impact your Zestimate the most. Your Zestimate will adjust automatically as new comps come in.
If you haven’t already, claim your home on Zillow to edit your home’s details. Then, take these steps:
- Update Your Home Info – New kitchen? Finished basement? More square footage? Zillow won’t know unless you update it.
- Add High-Quality Photos – Zillow’s AI scans images. Homes with bright, professional photos get better Zestimates.
- Correct Any Errors – Zillow might have the wrong number of bedrooms, bathrooms or square footage. Fix it.
What’s your home really worth?
Since Zillow can’t always be trusted, here are better ways to find out:
- Ask a Real Estate Agent – Get a Comparative Market Analysis from a local expert.
- Check Redfin & Realtor.com – Compare their estimates to Zillow’s.
- Get a Professional Appraisal – The most accurate way to value your home.
The bottom line
The Zestimate is a rough guess. If you’re buying or selling, don’t rely on it. As an aside, you can rent the iconic shoe house in Yorkana, Pennsylvania, that I used for this article’s photo on AirBnb for $199/night. Take your sole mate. (Ba-dum-tsss!)
Tags: home, Images, photos, sales, upgrades
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