The LA Times article has more discussion of Zillow's valuation model.
Zillow does provide some useful, integrated data tools such as; county sales history, taxation, trend graphing and mapping. When it comes to current listing accuracy, however, access into a local MLS through a broker in the market its best. In Incline the leading site is www.LakeshoreRealty.com. The property search form is a direct link to the real time Incline Village Board of Realtor Multiple Listing System. Zillow is weighted toward larger Market Statistical Areas. They pay for data relative to market size, therefore, Incline data is usually stale.
In relation to their valuation model, accuracy is pretty good within homogeneous, tract style areas. Custom and vacation markets, like Incline, are very inaccurate based on my Zillow property searches. As in the stock market, historical valuations are a trailing statistic and not indicative of escrowed property price trending.
Additional real estate data for northern Nevada, outside of Incline, may be accessed via the Northern Nevada Regional Multiple Listing database (NNRMLS) via www.NNRMLS.com. It is the real, direct, MLS database for areas north of Reno to south of Gardnerville and the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, excepting Incline. The Incline Village brokers voted to not be included in the collective NNRMLS.
Thank you for viewing the Lake Tahoe / Incline Village / Crystal Bay Real Estate Blog. For more info or discussion contact me directly at Randy@RandyBull.com or 775-771-7338.
