Hi All,

I have a fully rehabbed house I will be selling for around 250K.  Zillow has the house at around 200K.  Zillow does not know it has a new roof, new layout, new kitchen, new baths, etc.  The house was purchased when the market was still down from where it is now.  I have had a few other agents check my comps and no issues.  

I am worried about Zillow being a detriment in this situation if a potential buyer sees the low price on Zillow.  What have others done in this situation?  Has it been a problem for you?  The SQFT is corrrect, but that is all Zillow knows about this house.

Claim the house on Zillow and update the remodel with details and pics.

I know I can claim it but would that make the Zillow price increase?  I can't change the SQFT and it is correct on Z now.

I have a house that zillow says its worth $300,000 . If someone would give me that I would be laughing all the way to the bank 

My current flip is under contract and appraised at $239,900. Zillow says $193,238 as of today. A month ago Zillow said $185,443. I have worried about the "Zestimate", but never had a single person mention it, and almost every flip I have done has been similarly higher priced than the zestimate. I wouldn't think any more about it.

There have been lawsuits over the "zestimate" and investors generally know it's not 100% spot on.  That said, retail buyers do rely on it to a certain extent.  So after you claim the house, you can put upgrades that you've done to it and Zillow will update their price - although it still might not hit your proposed selling price. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/zillow-faces-lawsuit-over-zestimate-tool-that-calculates-a-houses-worth/2017/05/09/b22d0318-3410-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html?utm_term=.910a2d0b3639

Hi @Susan K. ,

Zillow is typically wrong, it is a tool that doesn't take in to account many of the variables, I would put little weight into it. 

Any serious buyer will have a real estate agent that does comps, not uses Zillow. 

Zillow is not horrible and getting better every day. Anything custom or upgrades they won't know, but that will soon be changed. They are a data driven company and getting more and more data every day. With more millennials buying houses every day, they will absolutely go to Zillow to look at what the "zestimate" is. Although it is not perfect, it is getting better daily. For your cookie cutter homes with base model finishes, it has a great pulse on the price. Anything deviating from that, Zillow struggles (for now). As stated above, claim the home, update the pictures, the listing and anything else on Zillow that needs updating. Currently though, if your buyer is working with an Agent, the Agent should know the market and comps much better than Zillow, and should be able to guide their buyer to what they feel is market value. Good luck!! 

Thanks for the input everyone.  Good News!  The Zestimate on my house has gone up so now it is around 230K, still lower than what it should comp at but much better than the original price they had it at.  Hopefully it won't be an issue of someone thinking Zillow is always "right".

It shouldn't be an issue. Btw the flip I noted above I checked on Redfin. It said $106,000... on a $239,900 sale price. The buyers don't seem to take issue with the Zillow or Redfin low estimates.

Originally posted by @Brian Pulaski :

It shouldn't be an issue. Btw the flip I noted above I checked on Redfin. It said $106,000... on a $239,900 sale price. The buyers don't seem to take issue with the Zillow or Redfin low estimates.

 That's good news.