The Problem With Zillow That Can Cost You – and How to Choose a Realtor Instead

Almost every week someone tells me they found their agent on Zillow, and what they mean is that they tapped the friendly face sitting next to a house they liked. That face is an advertisement. Figuring out how to choose a Realtor starts with understanding what the app is actually handing you, because the difference between an agent you picked and an agent who picked your ZIP code shows up in your bank account, not in the app.

The agent next to the listing paid to be there

Zillow’s own explanation of its Premier Agent program is direct about this: buyers who contact an agent or request a tour through the site get connected with a Premier Agent advertising in that ZIP code, and the agents with the biggest budgets get the largest share of those connections. The person you reach is not the listing agent and has no particular relationship to that house, that street, or that town. They bought placement.

That’s not a scandal, it’s advertising, and plenty of good agents advertise. The problem is that most buyers believe they’re being connected to the expert on that specific home when they’re being routed to whoever spent the most in that ZIP code this month. You end up with an agent chosen by a budget instead of by you, and you’ll be trusting that person with the largest purchase of your life.

The Zestimate is a starting point, and people spend it like a price

Zillow publishes its own accuracy numbers, and they’re worth reading closely. The median error rate for a home that is not on the market is 7.0%. On a $650,000 Longmont house, that’s a swing of about $45,000 in either direction, and because it’s a median, half of homes miss by more than that.

The number for homes already on the market is 1.9%, which looks impressive until you notice why: those houses are already listed, so the algorithm is essentially agreeing with a price a Realtor set. Zillow says it plainly — a Zestimate is not an appraisal. It’s a starting point.

Here’s where it costs real money. A seller prices off a Zestimate that ran low and leaves tens of thousands on the table. Another prices off one that ran high, sits for six weeks, and takes a price cut that makes buyers wonder what’s wrong with the house. A buyer walks away from the right home. An automated number says it’s overpriced, or stretches for the wrong one because the number said it was a deal. Pricing a home is a judgment call about condition, timing, competing inventory, and what buyers in that pocket are actually paying this month. No algorithm has walked through the house.

What an algorithm can’t tell you about a Northern Colorado street

The costliest mistakes I see around here aren’t about price at all. They’re about the things a listing site has no field for.

School boundaries in the St. Vrain Valley district don’t follow neighborhood lines, so two houses a few blocks apart can feed different schools. Anything near the St. Vrain needs a floodplain check, because floodplain status affects insurance and lending long after the 2013 flood. Frederick and Firestone sit east of I-25 in Weld County, which changes the tax picture in a way that matters to buyers comparing them against Boulder County towns. Erie is still growing, so the restaurants and shopping aren’t there yet, and some people love getting in early while others are unhappy about it by year two.

None of that is on a listing page. It comes from someone who lives here.

How to choose a Realtor: the five questions I’d ask before hiring me

Skip the awards and ask these.

Have you actually sold in this town in the last year? Not the metro area, not “the Front Range” — this town, ideally this side of it. Volume somewhere else tells you nothing about your street.

What exactly is your marketing plan for my house? This is the question sellers underuse. How your home gets marketed is what sells it, so you want specifics: professional photography, video, staging, and where it’s all going. If the answer is that they’ll put it in the MLS and hold an open house, keep interviewing.

What’s your marketing budget? My answer is that there isn’t one. It’s whatever it takes to sell the house. Listen for whether the agent treats marketing as a cost to be minimized or as the thing that gets you paid.

Will you tell me not to buy a house? A good agent has talked a client out of something. If they can’t name a time they did, they’re selling transactions.

Who answers when I call? Find out if you get the person you interviewed, or a hand-off to an assistant the day after you sign.

Then pay attention to what happens after that conversation. Responsiveness during the interview is the most honest preview you’ll get of responsiveness during a deal.

Thinking About Buying or Selling in Northern Colorado?

If you’re starting your home search or are thinking about selling and want to make sure you have the right person in your corner, I’d be happy to help.

---

About Tavri Gipson

I’m Tavri Gipson, a Northern Colorado Realtor® born and raised in Longmont. Today, my husband and I are raising our two girls here on the Front Range, and I help buyers and families find more than the right house. I help them find the community that fits the life they want to build.

From Longmont and Loveland to Erie, Louisville, Lafayette, Boulder, Firestone, and Frederick, my approach is simple: honest guidance, firsthand local knowledge, and a real conversation about what everyday life will look like after the moving boxes are gone.

You can also find me here:

Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Website