How accurate are zillow listings?

Question

I'm new to REI and looking at properties online. I've found a few in my neighborhood that seem to be listed in pre-foreclosure/foreclosure but haven't been updated for awhile on the site. Driving by these properties they look lived in and in great condition. No fore sale signs or vacancy. Almost way to good to be true if the site is accurate.

How accurate is zillow.com on these type of listings? Or is there a better website to view current listings for these types of properties.

Account Closed · Answer

My experience is most online sites are way, WAY out of date.  Sometimes many months.

A few of them like Redfin have up to the minute updates as they pull from the local MLS constantly, but they don't necessarily operate in all cities.  I use realtor.com a lot now but I'm not sure if that's any more up to date than Zillow or Trulia.

Account Closed · Answer

Most online sites are run nationally and remember, real estate is an extremely local business.  National sites usually don't understand the nuances in local real estate -- for example, why a house might be worth $200k on one street, and yet an identical home is worth $400k only 2 streets away.

You can use the online national sites as a guide, but rely on your local MLS for true list prices and true comps.

Parker Harrison · Answer

Zillow can be a great measuring tool but more research is defiantly needed. My neighbors house went into pre-foreclosure and in discussing with him, most of the facts and figures lined up but some were off.

Account Closed · Answer

Donnie,

Zillow and the like are not way way off but close. I use them as a quick reference only.

If your looking for price get comps done from the MLS  if your looking for rents look at rent o meter they have been dam close to being spot on for this area. I like to use Zillow and the like more for area info. Let me know if you need a great realtor or appraiser or a home inspector.

Donnie Brooks · Answer

Thanks @Billy Daniel . I'm worried less about price and more about whether the properties are in the foreclosure process. Looks to me like zillow's listings might be outdated on the status of the house. As well as the value being off.

Billy Daniel · Answer

I'm pretty new when it comes to real estate investing, so hopefully someone with more experience will shed more light on your question.  From my understanding, sites like zillow and trulia take average prices from a certain radius from the address you are searching for.  Say the radius is two miles.  In many cities, a two mile drive can go from ghetto to high-price.  So the zillow average could possibly be a bit skewed.  Knowing the area can give you a better idea of the accuracy of the zillow value.