How Accurate Are Zillow Zestimates(R) of Lakefront Homes?

Have you ever looked at the Zillow home value estimate for your lakefront property and thought "Really, Zillow, are we talking about the same home?". You'd be right to be skeptical whether the value seemed too low or even too high.

​Below, I detail why and how those automated valuation models (AVMs) can be inaccurate and what the best course of action is when accuracy matters most to you.

Zillow's Zestimate(R) algorithm struggles with valuing lakefront properties for several reasons:

Lakefront is highly unique inventory and the AVM works better on cookie-cutter homes with lots of comparable sales. Every lakefront lot has a different shoreline, frontage, slope, view and water depth and Zillow's algorithm can't calculate most, if not all, of those variables. It certainly cannot determine how much of the shoreline is accessible, if at all. It can't see shoreline improvements, permanent docks and boat houses, or seawalls. 

Zillow relies on historical data and when there isn't recent and similar sales, estimates tend to drift. That's usually the case for lakefront. I've listed a few real examples of wide-ranging value drifts on this website here. 

Valuing lakefront is a skillset, not an algorithm. Even some tools provided to REALTORS(R) for valuing real estate have difficulty incorporating these distinct properties and agents should use caution utilizing AI tools for these very reasons. 

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When Accuracy Matters
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