For a lot of Americans, logging onto Zillow to check their home’s estimated value has become almost a daily ritual.
Whether it’s just out of curiosity or to quietly flex on friends and neighbors, the “Zestimate” has taken on a life of its own.
It’s not just a number — it’s a key piece of information for buyers, sellers, and even casual observers.
If you’re planning to sell your home in today’s unpredictable real estate market, understanding how the Zestimate works—and more importantly, how to boost it—can make a big difference.
How Zillow Calculates Your Home’s Worth
Zillow’s Zestimate is a tool that estimates property values all over the U.S. and Canada by crunching massive amounts of data.
It pulls from public records, recent sales nearby, tax assessments, and details submitted by homeowners themselves.
It takes into account things like the size of your house, how many bedrooms and bathrooms it has, its location, and even how long it’s been sitting on the market.
For many homes, especially in cities like Atlanta, San Diego, and Cincinnati, Zillow’s estimate is within 20 percent of the final sale price over 99 percent of the time.
That’s pretty close, but it’s not perfect.
You Can Actually Influence Your Zestimate by Updating Your Home’s Info
One thing a lot of homeowners don’t realize is that they can claim their home on Zillow and update the information themselves.
This is a big deal because if you’ve done any serious renovations—say, a new kitchen, an extra bathroom, or a fancy backyard pool—Zillow might not know about those upgrades unless you tell them.
By claiming your home on Zillow, you get access to an owner dashboard.
This lets you track your home’s value, adjust details about your property, and even get reports on nearby market trends.
Updating your home’s info can boost your Zestimate by thousands of dollars, which is great if you’re thinking about selling.
Tools to Help Sellers Plan Their Next Move
Zillow also offers a home sale proceeds calculator, which helps sellers figure out how much money they might actually walk away with after factoring in things like repairs, closing costs, and realtor fees.
Plus, Zillow has a directory of local real estate agents who know your neighborhood and can help you get the best price.
On a similar note, Redfin provides its own home value estimates.
While homeowners can’t edit their listings directly on Redfin, they can reach out to the Redfin team with information about renovations or changes.
This feedback helps improve the accuracy of their estimates.
Redfin also lets homeowners create their own owner estimate by comparing their homes with similar nearby properties.
What Homeowners Should Keep in Mind About Home Value Estimates
It’s important to remember that home value estimates are just that—estimates.
There are plenty of factors outside your control that affect your home’s price, like how many buyers are looking in your area or what neighboring homes are selling for.
Why the Zestimate Trick Matters More in Hot and Challenging Markets Like Florida
This ability to update your Zestimate can be especially helpful in places like Florida, where the housing market is facing some real challenges right now.
With record-high active listings in cities like Miami-Dade and Sarasota, sellers are competing hard to stand out.
Florida homeowners are also battling rising insurance premiums and homeowners association fees thanks to more frequent hurricanes and flooding.
After tragic events like the Surfside building collapse in 2021, these costs have surged, leaving many with fees that actually exceed their mortgage payments.
Because of all this, many sellers in Florida are dropping prices by as much as 40 percent, with some units slashing nearly half a million dollars from their asking price.
Knowing how to boost your Zestimate could help your home catch a buyer’s eye even in a crowded and difficult market.