# Unreasonable or artificially-inflated house prices? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 6, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unreasonable-or-artificially-inflated-house-prices/770913 "2016-11-06T23:00:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unreasonable-or-artificially-inflated-house-prices/770913/41 "2016-11-10T21:02:33Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Zillow seems to be insulated from any attempts for correction, even if serious. > > I had a vacant land property listed not long ago, and they mixed it with a FSBO waterfront home nearby, giving wildly inaccurate numbers for both sale prices and both addresses. I got many inquiries, most of which (wisely) doubted the Zillow price. I was unable to communicate with Zillow about it, making two property owners upset. There was no way it could be fixed, apparently, since it is entirely automated. My father-in-law’s house is not listed on Zillow at all. I’m not sure why, but I suspect they don’t think it’s a residential property. They bought it 40 years ago, maybe that’s another part of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unreasonable-or-artificially-inflated-house-prices/770913/42 "2016-11-11T01:50:40Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > A couple of posts have mentioned correcting Zillow’s description of their house. Unless you are about to sell it, is there any reason at all to correct Zillow?? I can’t imagine why. Zillow thinks my house is about 250sq feet bigger than it is, but given the town hires a real appraiser for taxing purposes, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to bother with a correction until we want to sell it. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unreasonable-or-artificially-inflated-house-prices/770913/43 "2016-11-11T02:13:32Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > A couple of posts have mentioned correcting Zillow’s description of their house. Unless you are about to sell it, is there any reason at all to correct Zillow?? We’re hoping to put ours on the market in the spring. Also I just hate stupid errors. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unreasonable-or-artificially-inflated-house-prices/770913/44 "2016-11-11T04:45:39Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > My father-in-law’s house is not listed on Zillow at all. I’m not sure why, but I suspect they don’t think it’s a residential property. What little I have traced of Zillow’s problems seen related to the extreme automation of their system. They have no room for human intervention and no interest in fixing errors. Their business plan simply doesn’t allow for such flexibility. If 75% of their data is correct, or nearly so, that serves their business model. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unreasonable-or-artificially-inflated-house-prices/770913/45 "2016-11-11T05:15:11Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > What little I have traced of Zillow’s problems seen related to the extreme automation of their system. They have no room for human intervention and no interest in fixing errors. Their business plan simply doesn’t allow for such flexibility. If 75% of their data is correct, or nearly so, that serves their business model. I agree; the accuracy of their data is likely not what their target advertisers care most about, or the ads wouldn’t end w/ a suggestion that one does one’s own research to determine reliable information. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unreasonable-or-artificially-inflated-house-prices/770913/46 "2016-11-11T20:34:56Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > My father-in-law’s house is not listed on Zillow at all. I’m not sure why, but I suspect they don’t think it’s a residential property. > > They bought it 40 years ago, maybe that’s another part of the problem. He should check with the Recorder’s Office and ensure that his property is actually recorded properly. Sometime, if a farmer sells off a chunk of land, the official plat map is never updated to show that the field is now two different properties. My Zip Code has a 4 lane “Mason-Dixon” line going through it. One side was never actually “Developed” - just chunks sold off to whoever wanted to build a house in the middle of nowhere. Some lots are still raw land, others have 1946 shacks (600-800 sq ft) and a few have massive 1950’s 2200-2600 sq feet. The other side of the street was built in 1979 - 100’s of houses, all of about 7 floor plans. Zillow notes the fact that the neighborhood name on one side is “Apple” and the other is “Pear”. I don’t know how accurate the estimates are for the other side - comps are going to be a bitch with that mix of construction (and it being close to active train tracks - freight trains are common). But it does know that one house can be 5x the price of its neighbor. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unreasonable-or-artificially-inflated-house-prices/770913/47 "2016-11-12T01:46:55Z")
I sold a house this summer. Zillow showed it, let’s say 53,500. Similar houses a mile away had listed 3 months earlier for 45,000 and sold for 53,000. Realtor said to list it for 45,000. We did and sold it in 6 days for 47,500. Two similar houses nearby listed for 50,000. Took six months to sell them for less than asking price. Things I learned. Listen to your realtor, sales are seasonal, price is key to a quick sale. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unreasonable-or-artificially-inflated-house-prices/770913/48 "2016-11-17T21:53:00Z")
Wanted to update - neither house has sold, nor has the price dropped in the last two weeks. I suspect they’ll sit till after the holidays, b/c who would take on that stress at this time of year? Not families, not around these parts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unreasonable-or-artificially-inflated-house-prices/770913.md?page=2)