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Zillow is immensely popular right now, as buyers and sellers alike typically start the real estate process by going to the website for information. But should you really trust everything you find on Zillow (or other sites like RedFin or Realtor.com)?

Zillow is very user-friendly and has some great information; the problem is it also has a lot of misinformation. For instance, they often have listings on their website that have expired or are under contract or sold. If you are serious about finding a home, you're wasting your time by looking through the listings on Zillow.
In fact, the CEO of Zillow recently sold his apartment, and the Zestimate for it was off by half a million dollars! That’s a 40% discrepancy for the CEO of the company!

We have a fully updated and accurate Multiple Listing Service that is free for buyers to use. While Zillow has a lot of great features that make it fun to look at homes, they aren't held accountable for the listings on their site. Realtors, on the other hand, are fined for not updating information on the MLS! This means that a lot of listings that are no longer available appear on Zillow.

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It's best to take the information on Zillow with a grain of salt.
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For sellers, it's crucial to take the home evaluations, or Zestimates, with a grain of salt. Zestimates are typically off on the sales price by 5% to 15%. If you're trying to price your home or check out what is going on in your neighborhood, I highly recommend either getting an appraisal (which will cost you a couple hundred dollars) or using a real estate professional (which is free!).

Zillow is a fine website that offers certain great features. However, once you're starting to get serious about buying or selling, you need to reach out to an agent who will look out for your best interest. If you have any questions about this, or if you would like real estate assistance of any kind, please give us a call or shoot us an email. We're here to make your real estate experience as stress-free as possible!