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What is a Zestimate?

The Zestimate (pronounced ZEST-ti-met, rhymes with estimate) home valuation is Zillow’s estimated market value, computed using a proprietary formula. It is not an appraisal. It is a starting point in determining a home’s value. The Zestimate is pulled from data; your real estate agent or appraiser physically inspects the home and takes special features, location, and market conditions into account. Variations in price also occur because of negotiating factors, closing costs, and timing of closing. We encourage buyers, sellers, and homeowners to supplement Zillow’s information by doing other research such as:* Getting a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) from a real estate agent

* Getting an appraisal from a professional appraiser

* Visiting the house (whenever possible)

* Creating your own estimate using the My Estimator home valuation tool

What’s the Value Range?

The Value Range, which is related to the Zestimate, shows the high and low values of a home (e.g., Zestimate is $260,503; Value Range is $226,638-$307,394). The Value Range can vary in magnitude depending on our historical ability to estimate similar homes. A bigger range indicates less data or more volatility in the data. A smaller value range means we have lots of information to help compute the Zestimate and Value Range.

My Zestimate is too low – or too high. What gives?

As we said, the Zestimate is a starting point in figuring out the true value of a house. For one thing, the amount of data we have affects the Zestimate accuracy. If your home facts are incorrect, you can update your facts, which may affect your Zestimate value. Also, we’ve never been to your house, never seen your expertise with colors and landscaping. So we’ve given you a way to consider them (and other things) in calculating a home’s value. Use the My Estimator tool to create your own estimate. If you are estimating your own house, you can even make your estimate public, which is extremely valuable if you’re posting your home for sale.

I’ll admit. This is cool. But even zillow says use a professional in your area to find the real value.