Comments on: A Little Zillow Talk http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/ A personal finance blog dedicated to discussing such topics as budgeting, asset allocation, 401K, IRA, cash flow, insurance, financial planning, portfolio management, and other areas in personal finance. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:32:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Homes in Eugene Oregon http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/comment-page-1/#comment-203436 Homes in Eugene Oregon Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:56:31 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/#comment-203436 I've actually sold one of my clients homes through Zillow. He was researching his homes value and it just so happened to be that my listing was a couple blocks away from his home. He called me up and we had a transaction in play within a week. Thanks Zillow. I’ve actually sold one of my clients homes through Zillow. He was researching his homes value and it just so happened to be that my listing was a couple blocks away from his home. He called me up and we had a transaction in play within a week. Thanks Zillow.

]]> By: Kurt http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/comment-page-1/#comment-76194 Kurt Thu, 15 Feb 2007 22:52:11 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/#comment-76194 Dave, Rereading your comment, I think we got our signals crossed: I'm not talking about what the zestimate represents, but rather the analysis of the error. In that case, I think a drastically wrong estimates SHOULD affect your accuracy rating more than a slightly-worse-than-the-median estimate. Likewise when you get it spot-on, that should improve your score. Dave,
Rereading your comment, I think we got our signals crossed: I’m not talking about what the zestimate represents, but rather the analysis of the error. In that case, I think a drastically wrong estimates SHOULD affect your accuracy rating more than a slightly-worse-than-the-median estimate. Likewise when you get it spot-on, that should improve your score.

]]> By: Kurt http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/comment-page-1/#comment-76193 Kurt Thu, 15 Feb 2007 22:49:52 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/#comment-76193 Dave, Not to get into a huge discussion here: the median seems like the best thing to use when optimizing your data algorithms, but not the right figure when people are looking up the projected value of something. If I tell you I have a "median" of $10 in my pocket, what you would pay for it? Impossible to say. Anyway, I understand that you have metrics for building your network, and I don't disagree with that, but when used in a way other than "best fit" the analysis should be changed. Dave,
Not to get into a huge discussion here: the median seems like the best thing to use when optimizing your data algorithms, but not the right figure when people are looking up the projected value of something. If I tell you I have a “median” of $10 in my pocket, what you would pay for it? Impossible to say.
Anyway, I understand that you have metrics for building your network, and I don’t disagree with that, but when used in a way other than “best fit” the analysis should be changed.

]]> By: fin_indie http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/comment-page-1/#comment-76043 fin_indie Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:17:08 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/#comment-76043 Still don't trust it. I posted about this last week: <a HREF="http://retiringearly.blogspot.com/2007/02/i-still-dont-trust-zillow.html" rel="nofollow">http://retiringearly.blogspot.com/2007/02/i-still-dont-trust-zillow.html</a> Still don’t trust it. I posted about this last week:

http://retiringearly.blogspot.com/2007/02/i-still-dont-trust-zillow.html

]]> By: BD http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/comment-page-1/#comment-75933 BD Thu, 15 Feb 2007 01:34:32 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/#comment-75933 It's nice to see somebody from Zillow out there on the blogs! I gasped when I saw the $1.3 million estimate for the 50 year old house I'm renting in the San Francisco area...I hope it would not sell for that much! Maybe it would, I don't really know. It’s nice to see somebody from Zillow out there on the blogs!

I gasped when I saw the $1.3 million estimate for the 50 year old house I’m renting in the San Francisco area…I hope it would not sell for that much! Maybe it would, I don’t really know.

]]> By: David G from Zillow.com http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/comment-page-1/#comment-75924 David G from Zillow.com Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:35:18 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/#comment-75924 JLP - Just noticed your comment about tax values. We show those in areas where we don't have enough data to calculate Zestimates. You should have noticed text that said: "Zestimate: None Available". We're not suggesting that the tax values reflect market value (they don't) -- but merely provide the data as a means of comparing the relative value from one house to the next. JLP –

Just noticed your comment about tax values. We show those in areas where we don’t have enough data to calculate Zestimates. You should have noticed text that said: “Zestimate: None Available”.

We’re not suggesting that the tax values reflect market value (they don’t) — but merely provide the data as a means of comparing the relative value from one house to the next.

]]> By: David G from Zillow.com http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/comment-page-1/#comment-75922 David G from Zillow.com Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:28:04 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/#comment-75922 Kurt - Hi, it's David from Zillow. A median is actually the correct statistical way to interpret trends in a non-homogeneous data set like house values. The median ensures that outliers (like a few sales of very pricey houses) don't skew the metric (as would happen if you used the mean). I agree that standard deviation could be an interesting additional statistic -- but note that that would tell you how similar homes are in the area, and not what's happening with their actual values -- which is where our focus is. Kurt –

Hi, it’s David from Zillow. A median is actually the correct statistical way to interpret trends in a non-homogeneous data set like house values. The median ensures that outliers (like a few sales of very pricey houses) don’t skew the metric (as would happen if you used the mean). I agree that standard deviation could be an interesting additional statistic — but note that that would tell you how similar homes are in the area, and not what’s happening with their actual values — which is where our focus is.

]]> By: Clever Dude http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/comment-page-1/#comment-75920 Clever Dude Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:20:32 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/#comment-75920 I claimed my home on Zillow a few days ago and found that it was as high as $570k since I bought it (didn't check exactly when). I can assure you that right now our home would sell for only about $430k max. In the summer, since we have a nice pool and yard, we could sell it for about 450k. Right now, Zillow is saying it's worth $500k. I put a "make me move" price of $575k. Heck, if I make almost $200k profit on our home, they can have it! I claimed my home on Zillow a few days ago and found that it was as high as $570k since I bought it (didn’t check exactly when). I can assure you that right now our home would sell for only about $430k max. In the summer, since we have a nice pool and yard, we could sell it for about 450k.

Right now, Zillow is saying it’s worth $500k. I put a “make me move” price of $575k. Heck, if I make almost $200k profit on our home, they can have it!

]]> By: Kurt http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/comment-page-1/#comment-75917 Kurt Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:00:57 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/#comment-75917 Median? That's a useless measure. Give us the mean, or better yet, a real statistic, like standard deviation. Median? That’s a useless measure. Give us the mean, or better yet, a real statistic, like standard deviation.

]]> By: LAMoneyGuy http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/comment-page-1/#comment-75915 LAMoneyGuy Wed, 14 Feb 2007 23:48:06 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/02/14/a-little-zillow-talk/#comment-75915 It's a good starting off point. I have also criticized zillow's accuracy, but in reality, how much would we know without them? Obviously, upgrades, and a fast moving market are not easily calculated by the zillow mega computers. It’s a good starting off point. I have also criticized zillow’s accuracy, but in reality, how much would we know without them? Obviously, upgrades, and a fast moving market are not easily calculated by the zillow mega computers.

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