Zillow

My condo has been on the market for a few months. Zillow keeps reducing the number of views. Once it reached 400+, it was lowered to 200+. Once it got high again, Zillow lowered it to the 200s. This week, it was lowered to 171. I had another 20 views then the next day it was lowered to 181. It gives the false impression there is a lack of interest in the property. The Zestimate is inaccurate and lowers if you reduce your price. Unfortunately, many buyers rely on Zillow for research.

Prices are inflated. I contacted a realtor and tried to confirm the price that was listed. They were unable to confirm it for me but referred me to a realtor in the area who never actually got back to me. I attempted this more than one time. Buyer beware.the one thing we did figure out is prices were inflated and the pictures do not truly represent some of the houses they were showing online

3 times I have requested to get more information on a property. 3 times a Zillow Rep called me, asked me if I was ready to be connected with a Realtor. 3 times I was disconnected. Terrible service a complete fail and a waste of my time.

Just checked my so called Zillow estimate of my house. They have it listed for $174K which in my own eyes is way to low. I had it appraised 6 months ago from an appraiser from Phoenix and the literally appraised it at $179k. I finally decided to try to refinance it one more time from a local appraiser and they came back at $210k. A good advice to take away from this is to get or request a local Appraiser. They know the area better and could give you a better idea. Out of town have to many houses to appraise and will not take their time on your house. I hope this works.

Zillow lets a computer run their system and they can't change anything. The comparable houses they used aren't near my house and don't look anything like my house. They also go by the Tax assessed value which doesn't take into consideration to improvements to my home. It's making it very difficult in trying to sell my home.

All the listings i tried to contact had ads posted by real estate agents/brokers did not respond or unreliable to respond. I think it is unprofessional to allow these real estate /brokers agents to post. With out verifying if they are professional real estate agents. I got email asking if i got a response stating they will follow up. No follow up or response

If you want detailed information about homes for sale, this is not the site for you. The listing details don't include rooms and their sizes. Many of the details are all run together in one huge paragraph that is very difficult to read.

The Zestimates are often either way too high or way too low. I looked up one related sale that was way below market for a property and there was no such sale! It brought the Zestimate which was not right.

Zillow.com now controls how the public can contact me! Even though Zillow has started charging the public, professional real estate users and private landlords, to use their website listing service in some states, they have also taken over control of route of the messages you should receive by email and phone! OMG... the new Zillow is not user friendly. I have several properties and as a landlord, I've listed with Zillow for many years. I was sad to learn they were going to charge me $9.99 per week to list one of my homes, but I was going to bite the bullet and pay the fee as their services were very valuable to me.
My complaint is this: People who want to contact me are not able to email me or call me directly anymore! Zillow has replaced my phone number with THEIR phone number stating its for security reasons keeping my identity safe... BUT they don't even give me the option to be 'unsafe'. People think they are calling me to ask questions and instead reach an answering service telling them 'who knows what'. I used to receive direct email notifications that someone was interested in a property right to my email address. Now Zillow keeps those emails and phone messages in THEIR message center, so that I have to log on many times a day to find a new message! I am anxiously waiting for another company to develop a listing sight that will provide the user friendly services Zillow used to provide! Even the public is complaining once I am able to finally reach them!

While Zillow is great site for home buyers one of the biggest problems facing those selling their homes with or without a professional real estate agent though I strongly recommend using one. The problem is Zillow's Zestimate. Why? Because Zillow insists on using the five digit original zip code system when it comes to comparable recent home sales. That can work for some locations but not for all. Example; the five digit zip code system can include communities known to be affluent neighborhoods by locations each with the USPS extended four digit zip codes as most have throughout the USA. I sent a message to Zillow's technicians about this and was told in order to add the extended four digits to zip codes they would have to re write the programs algorithm, something they, Zillow, has no intentions to do. However, Zillow makes claim that "Zestimates" are only there as a form of guideline with home values. WRONG! Zillow's page for home sellers makes claim to use "Zestimate" prior to listing properties for sale. What's worse, many bank appraisers are going by Zillows Zestimate for mortgage approvals not taking in consideration all the true home facts by location within the true nine digit zip code system in any given township location. Not fair to all concerned. I suggest to sellers and buyers, get a professional real estate agent when listing properties for sale and purchasing properties. Real estate agents have a much better knowledge of true home values by comparison.

I was viewing homes (at 10am) on Zillow and identified one that I wanted to see. I requested a showing of the specific home - same day at 4:30pm. I received a message from Zillow, requesting a phone call, which I was unable to do until 1:00pm. The Zillow response - they would call me at 1pm to connect me with a real estate agent. I responded, is the home available to view that day at 4:30pm, as I was 2 hours away and needed to make arrangements? - the response from Zillow was they would connect me and it would be fine.

At 1pm, "Zillow called" and connected me with an agent. However, the agent was not from the same area of the specific home and was not available at 4:30pm to show the home, even if it was available. Zillow basically matched me with an agent that 1) did not live in the area 2) was not available. Either Zillow's technology is unable to determine simple parameters or their agents simply take things they are unable to support.

Results 1) I will only use Zillow to look at homes, but will not use them to connect me to agents (Zillow does not get paid). 2) I will not use the agent / agency that Zillow connected me with - as they completely wasted my time! Agents - if you can't meet at the specific time or provide the service, do not respond to a Zillow request.

THE ESTIMATED VALUE OF MY PROPERTY LISTED ON ZILLOW IS FAR LOWER THAN THE REAL VALUE. WHEN I EVER SELL MY PLACE I HAVE TO TALK TO THE BUYERS TO EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE. 2,8 OUT OF 5 STARS IS A SUB-PAR RATING. I HAVE A TROPHY-PROPERTY AND THEIR ZESTIMATE DOES NOT REFLECT THAT. WHY?

I agree with all the comments on Zestimate and share the frustration expressed by owners advertising on this website. But there's another factor that nobody has mentioned: experience with local real estate agents.
Since Zillow and Trulia combined a few months ago, For Sale By Owner (FSBO) ads now appear on both websites. Owners are no longer asked whether they agree to pay the buyer's agent a 2%-3% commission. Instead, real estate agents can now advertise their services, thus giving buyers an opportunity to contact the owner directly or seek an agent's assistance.
Since this summer a trend has emerged. Some local real estate agents who do not advertise on Zillow or Trulia have approached me and offered to charge as little as 4% instead of the usual 5%-6%, if I let them list my property. This is a welcome change, but there is a catch. The 4% commission only applies if the broker himself or herself procures "a buyer who is ready, willing and able to purchase the property". If, however, another broker procures "a buyer who is ready, willing and able," the commission rises to 6% split equally between the two brokers. This is the Compensation clause found in the Exclusive Listing Agreement used in Florida.
Finally, sellers who use a real estate agent to represent them should also pay attention to the Conditional Termination clause which requires a seller to pay expenses incurred by the agency in marketing the property, if the agreement is terminated.
I continue to believe that the Zestimate should be removed but, given the recent changes in Zillow's website and the addition of Trulia, I am prepared to raise my rating to two stars.

Value listings of properties are way off.

Went to a professional for the value of my old house, was a 3 bedroom; whole house needed rewiring, no light socket worked, bugs everywhere, nails sticking out, cabinets in kitchen falling off, etc. Professional said it was worth about 50$ a month for rent.

Zillow said 8500. This wasn't the only house where the estimate was way off. To this day, I've counted about 38.

Several lawsuits have been filed against zillow for their estimate of houses. I have been told by Zillow that they "go on algorithms" without even seeing a house. Many realtors and other businesses have fought this because zillow has many other problems by owning other websites that question antitrust laws. Zestimate is often wrong a lot of the time and interferes with home buyers and sellers alike. It seems this has influenced all of us when we look at this estimate of a house. Guilty.

After several emails and showing all the houses around us that are $60k over ours and we have more sq footage and updates- they shrug their shoulders and claim algorithms. The kicker is a house down the street purchased for minimum. It shows that you may have not anyone with a high IQ using zestimate but just making it up as you go along if your go too is claiming an algorithm that is anonymous. Obviously, with all the reviews there is an issue and there are more unreliable reviews that do not have a basis unless they disclose what these algorithms that are being used and why they are not consistent.

Zillow did throw me a bone after I politely emailed them several times and I believed to make me go away that they did offer $10k more. Now we have sold this house, it does seem underestimate, and did it influence the sale? WE can never really know but I have a feeling it has but good thing I believe in God, not Zillow. ;D LOL

UPDATE: 2021 It seems after several complaints Zillow has changed its ways and used comps to now compare house values which now is an improvement. Damage has been done for many of us but now the housing market I believe is used to ignoring these Zestimates when it comes to buying and fighting for a house now. :) My review still stands as what I went through with Zillow as what we experienced.

We have looked at 2 different properties and been very interested emailed them (not to mention it takes a few times of emailing them before they even send a reply) and finally get in touch with someone and they say it's sold. How else are we supposed to know if it actually available people I mean really.

Why is a listing I just put in under FSBO being redirected first to other agents under the 'check to contact here section', before actually contacting the owner who's selling the property? I tested this 'anonymously' and already had one agent tell me that the listing I just put in wasn't for sale. Zillow support tells me they offer the buyer a 'buyer's agent' option - only the agent option is first to automatically be checked for contact. If you don't catch this a potential buyer who wants to contact the FSBO, is redirected to a real estate agent.

Who is Zillow working for zestimate low sellers cannot achieve there price to high buyers pass. Is no one at Zillow making sure sold properties are taken down this is terrible in lawyer or auction listed properties. I used a FSBO site to sell a property and even they did not mark the house as sold. Now the realty site made me sign a contract that I needed to contact them every ten days for updates or else my listing would be removed and they could lose their MLS license. So how is there no accountability here. Without a penalty no one seems to care. The forclosure listings are big offenders of this the banks and lawyers dont monitor their listings.

Aside from providing incorrect information on properties, ZILLOW is slow to respond to correcting the misinformation. If you have a home on MLS, double check ZILLOW's site, they lag in updating their site by approximately 2 weeks. Redfin is the premier site when it involves researching "For Sale" properties. I gave Zillow 2 stars only because they make editing your "for rent" listing somewhat easy.

Zillow does not do a reputable job of comparable homes. It didn't show the sale of a home around the corner from ours that was smaller and sold for the price we are asking! It also isn't giving correct info on the schools our neighborhood go to! The "Zestimate" is more than 15% below what every realtor we've interviewed to list with has said they would list it at! Plus it says that homes in our area will rise 4.6% (higher than the national average) but ours will decrease by 5%! They show a comparable home that's down the street that is currently priced $30,000 below ours and they state it's a good comparison. The home has water damage, a backyard pool that needs $15,000 in repairs and it hasn't been updated or remodeled in over 15 years! If they don't know the quality of their listings then they should state that these comparable homes are a better value! Terrible customer service... you have to use snail mail to contact them! That should have been a warning sign right there...

1. I joined with Zillow months ago. Worked hard to get reviews from local clients and ones in other towns. They said to reachout to my clients and ask for reviews. This would move up my visability. I did what they said. Zillow took it upon themselves to throw out reviews at their own discretion. They even said I had so many that maybe I was paying my clients. Finally I still had enough to move me in 3rd place without tracking down the ones they threw away. They had no names to give me of the ones they disposed of so I could contact them. So, moving forward, now some of my reviews have disappered and has moved me way down the list. When I call Zillow, they said I cannot speak to the department that has the ultimate control on adding or subtracting reviews. I am so upset, this is very expensive advertising with very poor customer service.

Maybe it's my Droid, but 2/3 of my screen is an area map. If I want to see the info on an address, I want it full screen. Why can I hide the home's details but not the map?

Horrible customer service. I listed my rental on Zillow and started getting calls the same day. 48 hours later I had my rental secured with a new tenant! Great! So now I have been spending the last two weeks trying to remove the rental so people stop calling me. I have contacted Zillow corporate in Seattle three times and all you get is an answering machine telling you to leave a message and I'll call you back. They never called back. There is no Tab for landlords on their website! Oh we can a half later, I am giving up. The thing is, that this is going to reflect negatively on Zillow because when people don't get return phone calls for me, they will blame Zillow, not me.

You can put your house on Zillow for free as in for sale by owner, however, the remaining information on the page is generated by Zillow and is usually quite inaccurate. I have no idea how an internet site can "zestimate" the value of your home (unless they are asking realtors). This can be pretty damning. The internet doesn't know when the house was reroofed, whether or not the neighborhood is safe, or when the furnace was replaced. I have consistently seen the square footage or property taxes NOT match the county assessor's website. I can only say that it's okay to look, but don't take their website information as truth. Buying a house is a big investment.