Joey, I can’t answer for other people, but for me it actually has some importance.
I bought this house about 1 1/2 years ago in a short sale. That big drop in the Zestimate, especially how large it is, and the fact that none of the neighboring properties shows a similar drop, made me wonder. I’d heard and read about various short sale horror stories. I wondered if perhaps there had been something wrong with the short sale process and I would suddenly hear from some bank saying “Surprise! We have a lien on this house.” Probably far-fetched. But is it possible? I also thought of various other unlikely scenarios.
So it’s not that I actually believe the Zestimate. I was just wondering if it was picking up on some problem or issue. Sort of an early warning canary in the coal mine.
This is somewhat relevant since there is a possibility that I might sell in 2015 and I would rather know ahead of time if there are any potential issues.
After reading the numerous complaints on Zillow’s website by people disparaging the Zestimate, I’m leaning towards the view that the Zestime is not actually picking up any hidden issues. Rather, their algorithm is the one with issues.
