Is Zillow Accurate?
Most of the questions that I hear regarding Zillow are about accuracy. The top two are... “is the listings accurate?” and “is the listing Pofile information accurate”.
“Is the listings accurate?”
Short answer Yes, the listing is accurate because Zillow is now a part of the MLS which means that Zillow has access to the information on the MLS database. Although this is true for this area it is not true everywhere in the United States or even everywhere in Virginia. There is another side of this question which is what defines accuracy. Most people looking for homes have run into this same problem, they see a home on Zillow, it says it’s an active listing, but it’s not and instead, is already under contract.
If Zillow is a part of the MLS then why is this not accurate?
Well, the simple answer is that it can take time for Zillow to correct changes, sometimes up to two days. In this fast-paced market Zillow has trouble keeping up to maintain accuracy which can cause a problem for many people using the site!
“Is the listing profile information accurate?”
I get this question all the time from home buyers using Zillow. I personally found that Zillow is not an accurate source of information as many fields are not answered on the listing to give the consumer an accurate depiction of expenses such as HOA and Condo fees. However, Zillow does do a great job at preventing many mistakes from happening due to the simplicity of the information that the user can access. Because of the lack of information and the absence of information I personally would not rely on the Zillow listing profile. I suggest always talking with an agent who will be able to provide you with detailed client full sheets for properties that you are interested in.