Zestimates decoded: For what it’s worth, it’s not an appraisal but an estimate

Home sellers interviewing possible listing agents often hear differing opinions on price. If local pros don’t agree, how can a website get the value of some 100 million homes, right?

Well, the site — Zillow. com — doesn’t claim to pinpoint a price. It describes what it does this way: “Zestimate” is “an estimate of a home’s market value. It is not an appraisal.”

Still, Zillow is to home prices what Google is to search.

Besides real estate voyeurs whose endorphins are stoked by price snooping, Zestimates are instructive to those just beginning to think about buying or selling.

“They really want to see what their home is worth, and get an idea of what values are like,” says Lindsey Lombardi, Zillow spokesperson.

In 2019, says Lombardi, the site made “very significant “adjustments to its algorithms achieving greater accuracy — off by a median 1.9 percent of the actual sale prices for homes on the market, and 7.5 percent for what offmarket properties would fetch.

The higher precision comes, in part, from a contest that recently awarded $1 million to a team of data scientists for the best algorithmic tweaks.

Now, details like how many Zillow visitors click on an on-market property — and artificial intelligence that can discern from inside photos the amount of natural light or whether a counter is granite or tile — are driving prices up.

Given that the site reads: “A home’s Zillow listing is often the first impression for prospective buyers,” it’s sellers who win when their home is correctly portrayed. Indeed, the 1.9 percent and 7.5 percent estimates are the median

— a particular home could be off the mark by much more.

If the facts, like incorrect square footage, are wrong, owners can fill out a form on the Zillow site with corrections.

Photos can also be submitted, says Lombardi.

If the adjustment is denied or inadequate, owners can make a personal appeal to the Zillow customer care team.