Posted on 12/18/2024 9:03:32 AM PST by Angelino97
The Zestimate is arguably the most popular — and polarizing — number in real estate. An entire generation of homeowners doesn't know life without the algorithm; some obsessively track its output as they would a stock portfolio or the price of bitcoin...
Many industry insiders regard the number as a starting point at best and dangerously misguided at worst. Real-estate agents recount arguments with sellers who reject their pricing advice, choosing to take the Zestimate as the word of God. One meme likens its disciples to adults who still believe in Santa.
Zillow itself lost hundreds of millions of dollars during the pandemic when it relied on its algorithm to buy homes at inflated prices, part of an ill-fated attempt to flip homes at scale.
The Zestimate is one of a slew of automated valuation models that are increasingly used by banks, investors, and laypeople to estimate the value of homes. No other model, however, has wormed its way into our culture like the Zestimate. The model is prone to errors that render it more of an amusement than a serious pricing tool...
The Zestimate is both everywhere and an enigma. About 104 million homes, or 71% of the US housing stock, have a dollar figure hovering above them on Zillow's website...
Just how accurate are those numbers? Until the house trades hands, it's impossible to say. Zillow's own explanation of the methodology can be misleading. The model, the company says, is based on thousands of data points from public sources like county records, tax documents, and multiple listing services — local databases used by real-estate agents where most homes are advertised for sale.
Zillow's formula also incorporates user-submitted info: If you get a fancy new kitchen, your Zestimate might see a nice bump if you let the company know...
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
I can’t speak for all of Orange County, but that is not the case in my little Irvine/Newport area. It looks like you live in Arizona so I’m sure you know more about it than people who live here though, right?
My comments were related to taxes and assessments paying for services used by residents. Who should pay for police, fire, etc? Another school shooting isn’t really interesting, or news, anymore.
Yes, that is the case in OC.
LOL.
I used to live in the Irvine area many decades ago.
The housing prices were crazy even back then...
I was renting an apartment for years there because the houses were way out of my financial reach.
I got a job offer in the Northeast (small town) at the same salary and decided to take the offer.
I walked into the local Northeast real estate office and told the guy I wanted to buy a house.
He asked my salary and I told him.
He showed me a wall full of pictures of every kind of house you can imagine.
He said “with that salary you can afford any of them.
Pick some for us to visit.”
I did buy one—four bedrooms, acre of land, less than ten year old house.
Crazy stuff.
They’re getting it from the homeowners...They’re taxing the sh*t out of the homeowners.
Don’t believe me, just look at realtor.com, the taxes of what a recent home purchase in OC is costing people...Some of these people are paying 400+ per month in property taxes. Do you think that’s reasonable Kathy?
Do you think it’s right to make people who’ve been paying taxes all their lives, to pay ever increasing taxes for property they own outright?
OC is the worst in that respect. Btw, I forgot more about OC than most ever knew about OC.☺
I know I could get more house somewhere else but I love it here. My house is worth over six times what I paid for it in 2000, and I love California. I have a vacation house in Lake Arrowhead, 75 miles away so easy to get to. The only reason I’d leave here would be if I left the country, and even then I wouldn’t sell my house. My heart breaks for young people starting out though.
You live in OC and have a vacation home in Arrowhead?
lol...
No wonder you can’t relate to what’s left of what the middle class. It’s a meatgrinder for them...Trust me here Kathy.☺
Well, I sometimes use Zillow’s “Sold” data to get a better view of the actual prices people are willing to pay.
I’ve added several enhancements to my home since purchased, I don’t expect Zillow to account for them - even though the tax assessments have been done (and I’m paying for them). I assume Zillow doesn’t get all those details.
It’s a guide - pricing ‘trends’ are probably useful, e.g. up or down over months is probably true of the market. Individual homes still need a proper evaluation.
No kidding? I didnt know that. I honestly never looked that closely!
Some 25 years ago, while I was visiting New York City, I saw about a half dozen long fire trucks parked near an apartment building. Most of them couldn't get near the building that was the focus of their attention. (I didn't see a fire; perhaps a smoke detector had gone off.)
Firemen were standing about. I asked one why there were so many trucks parked along the block, even though most of them couldn't get near the affected building.
He said to me, "If if was your home, you'd want all these trucks."
Which didn't really answer my question.
I dont understand your problem. Again, who do you think should pay for infrastructure and services, if not the residents who benefit? I’m sure you’re an expert on Prop 13 and know that property assessments here are capped until property is sold. Are you insinuating that homeowners are surprised when they receive their property tax bill? Or that people would prefer to live in an area with higher crime, lower education, fewer amenities rather than pay taxes to have those things?
I don’t have a problem with people paying property taxes for services that benefit their property. You still haven’t revealed your better plan for achieving roads, utilities, schools, public service, etc without property taxes.
“I don’t know how they ever convinced people to pay for property taxes.”
The government had two strokes of genius to take our money; property taxes and income tax withholding. How much would income taxes be if everyone had to write a check at the end of the year for their taxes?
LOL. You make a lot of assumptions. How do you propose paying for infrastructure without property taxes?
Offer the seller a price to element the middle man/woman percentage a win win deal.
Option 2 look for a For Sale By Owner it’s worth the trouble.
I get calls every week-—TO SELL MY HOUSE.
IT is not currently for sale.
I have sworn at them
Yelled at them, etc.
Finally, I tell them:
I WILL SELL:
THE PRICE IS $1 MILLION PLUS ANY Capital GAINS I have to pay-—I want all the money in CASH at the pending of escrow-—ONLY I CONTROL THE ESCROW—and I want up to 180 days escrow.
THEY SAY “ IT ISN’T WORTH $1 MILLION.”
I tell them-—IT IS TO ME.....THEY HANG UP
When I win the Lottery & I have FU $$$ and can go wherever I want, THE PRICE will still be over $400,000. THIS is over 5 acres & a turn key horse operation. 12 separate horse enclosures-—Perimeter fencing-—2 gates==32’wide each—OVER 2 1/2 miles of HOT WIRE. Took almost 92 straight days to install-—4 of us—EVERY SINGLE DAY. 226 T-posts alone. OVER 160 wood posts. OVER 600 bags of dry 60# cement in post holes etc. LOTS OF LABOR & MATERIALS. Would cost over 2 X now.
Yeah, I get lots of junk mail from realtors. Sometimes they say they have buyers who are interested in a home just like mine.
I just got new county assessment, etc. TODAY
ZILLOW is using COUNTY numbers-—to the the dollar.
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