Zillow deserves a fair share of the blame because they prominently feature a single number with dollar-level precision and bury the caveats multiple clicks away on a separate page.
Some basic UI changes could avoid all of that: e.g. instead of showing $123,456, show a range like $115,000-135,000, and keep the last few digits at zeros based on their estimated error rates. Similarly, their graphs could use shading to make it clear that they're showing the mid-point of a range rather than a discrete value.
> Some basic UI changes could avoid all of that: e.g. instead of showing $123,456, show a range like $115,000-135,000
So true. When you know that you are not displaying an exact dollar amount you should not use exact dollar values. Exact dollar values afford exactness even though the branding is an estimate.
This might very well backfire on them. The buyers will want to buy at the lower price and the seller would want the higher price. Both parties end up being unhappy even if the end price was within the given band.
Re:How Bad Are Zillow “Zestimates”?
by lacksconfidence on Monday December 05, 2016 @03:05PM
(#13108906)
There is a range immediatly below the number, which seems pretty reasonable to me. For my place it shows a range from -8% to +10%
Where? On the public website I see only the $123,456 value unless I'm in the wrong A/B test group.
Re:How Bad Are Zillow “Zestimates”?
by quadrangle on Monday December 05, 2016 @11:45PM
(#13112314)
As silly as it is to say this, people (you?) should contact them and suggest these things.
Zestimates are a tool that homeowners like to use. Zillow knows that. Good Realtors won't feel threatened by it but instead leverage it to provide prospects with a much more complete and accurate estimate.
Realtors need to stop blaming Zillow & Zestimates for their own weaknesses. It is getting old.