I no longer consider Zillow to be a provider of reasonably accurate prices for homes. My decision is based on my own experience. I've read their explanation on how they arrive at pricing. However, they also say that they try to provide accurate information to consumers. In that light I contacted them. I questioned the price they provided for my home. It was considerably lower than it should've been when you look at the houses in my neighborhood. It just didn't make sense. Then I began doing a refi. I had my home appraised by a legitimate appraiser for this refi. I was shocked. Zillow produced a price of $385,000 for my home. The appraiser produced a value of $510,000. That is a huge difference. I sent the appropriate page of my appraiser to them thinking that it would be helpful. They did say that they strive to produce the most accurate information possible. I would've thought that they would be grateful to me. That wasn't the case. They totally ignored it and just said that they use their own model to come up with a value. Fine. This is still America and they can do what they want. But going forward, I have no confidence in their estimates at all and I've shared my experience with neighbors and friends.
