How accurate is Zillow or Realtor mortgage calculators?

Question

I am ready to purchase a property but how accurate are the mortgage calculators on Zillow or Realtor.com? I am trying to align that with getting my rent numbers right which is also difficult. I will be doing a conventional loan on a 2-4 unit.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

@Neil Blalock Zillow is a computer with no personal knowledge of the rental. Just like with sales, it can sometimes be accurate but it can also be wildly inaccurate. You can use Zillow as a general baseline but should study the market yourself to determine true value.

Bill B. · Answer

It probably depends on if there are property tax caps. They figured out that what the current person is paying is not what you’d be paying.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

Any mortgage calculator is accurate, provided you input correct information. Most of the mortgage calculators out there are built around owner occupied, so they may not accurately estimate interest rate, down payment, insurance or taxes for an investment property. Your best bet is meeting with a mortgage broker for prequalification. Send your mortgage broker details on the deal and they can estimate down payment. Also be aware some of the people responding didn't read your question very carefully. They thought you meant Zestimate feature for valuing properties.

@Bill Brandt I think there is some regional difference on where Zillow pulls data. In my market the tax information is pulled directly from county records, the tax portion is accurate. You just have to be careful, because we have homestead rate for owner occupied taxes that is lower than investor.

When using payment calculators, I generally remove taxes and insurance and estimate those separately. The principal and interest portion will be accurate, provided you loaded the correct down payment and interest rate.

Michael Dumler · Answer

@Neil Blalock the actual mortgage calculator is fairly accurate given the intended purchase price of the property and your LTV. However, as far as determing rents, I would not solely rely on Zillow's estimates. To detemine market valued rents, you need to use additional sources such as the mls, rentometer, property managment CMAs, etc. Furthermore, ask your lender for a loan disclosure to know exactly what you'll be paying each month. Hope this helps!

Ron H. · Answer

Calculating monthly mortgage payment based on a known interest rate, loan amount and percent down is a simple math equation. All the calculators i have used have been accurate to the penny.  The hard part of course is guessing what your exact interest rate (APR) would be ahead of time along with your closing costs and monthly insurance and property tax rates (if these collected/held in escrow) These items  can vary quite a bit between lenders.

David Kelly · Answer

I use this to quickly calculate Principal and interest... https://www.bankrate.com/calcu...

Once you have that figured out then add your monthly property tax, homeowners insurance, and any mortgage insurance if applicable or HOA fees.

200k mortgage @3% 30yr

$843.21 P&I

$150 estimated homeowners insurance

$250 estimated monthly property tax

$0 mortgage insurance

$0 HOA fee

Total $1243.21

Nicholas L. · Answer

@Neil Blalock

-get mortgage and closing estimates from a loan officer

-get rent estimates from a realtor or property manager

Bill B. · Answer

Zillows calculator is correct to the penny as mentioned for P&I. But I “guesses” at insurance and proxy taxes. Because properties are no longer taxed on their true value or market value, I’ve seen the property tax guess be almost double actual, insurance on the other hand is all over the board. You need to contact the county assessor to figure out actual property taxes if you buy it at price x and don’t plan to occupy. (If seller is owner occupant they might be getting a w5T discount). And then contact your insurance broker and you’re set. But the P&I will be to the penny.

Bill Ward · Answer

When I started renting mine in 2018 I contacted Rental Warehouse to have them be a PM. They did their numbers and said it would rent for 900. I listed it at 1200 and could have gotten more probably. About half the people who came to look at it said it was much nicer inside than anything else in the price range. Zillow's "estimate" for my house also updates to what I list it for. I last listed it at 1300 so Zillow says it's 1300. My tenants are about to move and I'll be able to get 1450-1500 for it.

Ian Walsh · Answer

I only use the MLS.

How accurate is Zillow or Realtor mortgage calculators?

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