You’ve probably seen it – websites like zillow.com that purport to be able to tell you what your home is worth. It’s a great idea. I mean, who wouldn’t like to be able to type in their address and get a value on their home? So just how accurate is Zillow in determining home values in Colorado Springs?
Well, I guess that depends on your definition of accuracy, but if they were trying to hit the broad side of a barn with a shotgun at point-blank range they’d still miss 43% of the time. Yes, it’s that bad. Here is Zillow’s own disclosure about their accuracy in El Paso county Colorado:
Zestimate is within 5% of an Actual Sale Price 34% of the time.
Zestimate is within 10% of an Actual Sale Price (includes above number) Only 57% of the time.
Zestimate is within 20% of an Actual Sale Price Only 78% of the time.
So, in other words, Zillow misses the mark by over 10% of sale price a more than 2 times out of 5. They miss the mark by over 20% more than 1 time in 5. For an average Colorado Springs Home this means a disparity of $20,000 and $40,000 respectively!
Just in case you were wondering how Zillow feels about their abilities to determine what your homes worth, they’re actually pretty proud of themselves. In fact, they give themselves 4 out of 4 stars for accuracy in El Paso county.
[jeremy]
