Is Zillow Estimate Accurate For Home Values In Texas?

I’ve been in the real estate business for over six years and I get this question all the time! Is the Zillow estimate or “Zestimate” accurate for home values in Texas? The short answer is NO.

If you are thinking about using your Zillow Estimate to sell your home For Sale By Owner, or thinking basing your home purchase offer on the estimated value on Zillow, BEWARE! You could be leaving thousands and thousands of dollars on the table!

Here are 2 major reasons why Zillow’s estimates or “Zestimates” are not typically accurate in the state of Texas.

Zillow is a a computer or algorithm. It can only compare your home to others in the neighborhood by the size and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Zillow can not take into account the condition of your home, the location or specific upgrades or features your home may have like if you have a pool or not. These factors can have a significant impact on the price your home will sell for.

Zillow does not have access to “Sold” data. Because Texas is a non-disclosure state, which means that unless you are a licensed realtor in Texas, the sales prices are not publicly disclosed online when homes sell. So Zillow is basing its estimate on the list price of homes and not the price homes are actually selling for. Zillow does not have know the “sold price” of homes in the neighborhood, it only has the “list price.” Well in a market where all homes are selling for significantly over the asking price, you can see how this would really throw off the estimated value. Only a licensed real estate agent in Texas has access to this data through the backend of the MLS. Not realtor.com, not Zillow, not Homes.com, and not even major brokerage websites can report actual sold data. They all have to go off the list price instead of the actual price the home sold for.

Your most accurate data when determining the value of your home is going to be the price that homes actually sold for in your neighborhood within the last 90 days. That is the data that even the appraisers will use when determining the value of your home. So make sure you have an experienced Texas Realtor, run a professional home value report using the data they have access to through the MLS to help you determine the value of your home.

Thinking About Selling Your Dallas-Fort Worth Home? Get a FREE, No Obligation, Professional Home Value Report done by a real live person who lives, eats and breathes real estate 24-7. Click the link below!