In 2023 and especially due to our pandemic-era geographic reshuffle there is no disputing the mounting popularity of the leading online real estate marketplace Zillow.
Zillow is the Facebook of the real estate industry for buyers and sellers alike. How you use the site and interpret its data can help make or break your personal success in your current day real estate endeavors. Here are a few Zillow tricks and insights I like to pass on to my seller clients:
What to know about Zillow Saves
A high number of saves can vary depending on the location, market conditions, and the style of home. A Zillow study revealed that more than 50 percent of homes that are saved 40 or more times in their first week on the market will sell for more than their initial list prices.
If your home remains on the market for longer than 30 days (like many homes currently) keep in mind that when viewing an active listing, the total number of views and saves displaying on the listing includes the number of views and saves from just the past 30 days the home has been on the market. So in other words, the views and saves counter will only show the values from the most recent 30 days- this is not a cumulative count of your entire market time.
That is why you may notice your views and saves counter fluctuate once these 30 days are past, as you are no longer seeing the values from days outside of the current 30-day window, especially the high number of new on market views. Also note that the number of saves is the current number of users that have the home saved in their profile for the past 30 days and if the home was un-saved, that will also be reflected in this number.
What to know about Zillow Favorites
Once a listings goes live, users start to “favorite” them. Favoriting a home indicates more buyer intent than just browsing. Favoriting is a way for people to rank listings so they can return to or share them with someone later. Homes that accumulate the most favorites— in the 80th percentile of their submarket or higher – sell faster than 64 percent of the homes in their area. Those same highly-favorited homes sell for a higher sale-to-list-price ratio than most other homes in their metro area.
Zillow says that— statistically speaking— a listing that accumulates 30 or more favorites during its first week on the market will be contracted in fewer than two weeks on average. Compared to listings that receive ten or fewer favorites in their first week on market which can take at least twice as long to sell on average. Additionally more than half of homes that receive 40 or more favorites during their first week on market (an uncommon occurrence in most markets) sell above their initial list prices while only ten to twenty percent of homes with fewer than ten favorites sell above their list prices.
What to know about Zestimates
Likely the most controversial aspect of Zillow is the “Zestimate” property auto-valuation feature. Research shows the bottom line on this is that the Zillow estimate is far less accurate than your Realtor’s comparative market analysis or CMA. According to Zillow the nationwide median error rate for the Zestimate for on-market homes is 1.9%— which on a $500,000 home can be an almost $10,000 error, even worse the Zestimate for off-market homes has a median (which means half are less accurate) error rate of 7.5%— on this same hypothetical home this would be an over $35,000 error in valuation.
This is why sometimes you will see Realtors roll their eyes at “Zestimates”, it can be hard to convince sellers, for example, that their expectations of a marketable sales price may have been falsely set too high. And as it relates to buyers, they can often be deterred by inaccurately inflated market values or just as problematic can become set on an artificially low Zestimate and refuse to grasp that the home they want is actually worth much more, ultimately resulting in a low ball offer that loses out.
What to know about improving your Zestimate
Luckily, there is a key to improving your property’s valuation on Zillow. Before even going on the market you should “claim” your property. Doing so will enable you to assist in Zillow valuation process because your home’s “Zestimate” is simply Zillow’s best guess on market value. It’s computed through a a formulaic and sometimes dated mix of public and private data. Therefore, the fastest way to make Zillow’s market value more accurate is to sign in and update facts about your home.
How to do this: first, create a Zillow account, then, type your address into the search bar and tap “more” which drops down a list of options. Tap on “verify your ownership” to claim your property. Now that you’re verified, it’s time to correct Zillow’s errors to get a more accurate Zestimate out to market.
Some examples of data you’ll want to double check—make sure the square footage and lot size are correct, check your county assessor’s data on your property. Zillow descriptions may have inaccurate square footage details, especially if you’ve remodeled your home and installed amenities. Once you’ve logged in, you can improve the listing with up-to-date information. If you’ve made edits to your property listing and don’t see them reflected, reach out to this email address: consumercare@zillow.com. This process may take some time, so if you think you might be interested in selling at any point in the near future, get at it now while you’re thinking about it. You don’t have to wait until you’re actively selling to make sure your Zillow estimate is spot on accurate.
And as always if you’d like some assistance in substantiating your market price I am happy to assist with an up to date CMA. Cindy Pratte-Smith (775) 691-9442
