When thinking about selling your Lakeland FL home, a lot of homeowners look at Zillow’s Zestimates to get a valuation of their Lakeland Fl home as I had experienced it at one of my appointment with a homeowner.
I was told by a prospective seller that his Lakeland FL home on Zillow’s Zestimate is valued at $250,000 and that is the price he wants to sell his home.
According to Zillow they are constantly monitoring how accurate the Zestimates by comparing data when the property sells, they are however only an automated valuation model (AVM) or if you will a computer generated valuation model. AVMs base their value estimate without anyone ever physically evaluating the condition of your home or the condition of the comparable sales used to estimate your value. For example, the living space calculation is incorrect because of an enclosed lanai or a bonus room that was recently added and of course location, location, location…. lake front vs. non lake front.
Me, the good little Realtor® that I am politely told the seller that although his house is in fair condition and is in need of updating, the comparables within his community does not warrant a sales price of $229,000. I explained to him that Zillow’s Zestimate is a great starting point to have when thinking about selling your Lakeland FL home, however the accuracy of value given is questionable and here is why:
Zillow is transparent about their accuracy rates and on this chart below you will see the percentage rate of times that Zillow Zestimates for Polk County was within 5, 10 or 20% of the sales price, which is also a good indication of how accurate the data is for your Lakeland FL home. You can see from the chart below that Polk County’s Zestimate accuracy is rated “Fair” with a median error of 15.1%
As I explained to this seller my detailed comparable market analysis and my absorption rate in great detail, my seller immediately understood why I would not have list his Lakeland FL home for $229,000 and why the accuracy of Zillow’s Zestimate in Lakeland FL is only a starting point and not a true valuation.
It is perfectly okay to look at Zillow’s Zestimate before you want to have your Lakeland FL home for sale, but keep in mind it is only a guide. If you are thinking about selling your home in Lakeland Fl, Bartow, Auburndale, Winter Haven, Polk City, Lake Alfred, Kathleen, Highland City and you want to know what your house could sell for, give me a call at (863) 619-6918.
Copyright © 2011 By Petra Norris * Lakeland Fl Homes for Sale – Accuracy of Zillow’s Zestimates*