Most buyers spend a lot of time on Zillow and Redfin before they ever talk to an agent. That’s fine — it’s good to know what you’re looking at. But both platforms have real limitations that can lead buyers to make decisions based on incomplete or inaccurate information. Here’s what to trust, what to ignore, and what to actually use them for.

Zestimates: Useful as a Starting Point, Dangerous as a Decision Tool

Zillow’s Zestimate is a model-generated estimate based on public data, tax records, and recent sales. It’s not an appraisal. It’s not what a buyer will pay. It’s not what a bank will lend against.

In active, well-documented markets, Zestimates can be reasonably close. In Lake County’s suburban market — where homes can vary dramatically in condition, updates, and lot characteristics within the same zip code — they’re often off by $20,000–$50,000 in either direction. A home that Zillow values at $420,000 might realistically sell for $395,000 or $445,000 depending on factors the algorithm can’t see from the street.

Use Zestimates to orient yourself in a neighborhood. Don’t use them to make an offer or decide whether to list.

Days on Market: Read It Carefully

Both Zillow and Redfin show days on market, but they reset the clock when a listing is cancelled and relisted. A home that’s actually been sitting for 90 days might show 12 days on these platforms if the agent pulled it and relisted it last week. That’s a red flag that gets hidden.

The MLS — what agents use — tracks cumulative days on market across relistings. If a home has had multiple price reductions and relistings, that history is visible in the MLS even if Zillow is showing a fresh listing date.

What Zillow and Redfin Are Actually Good For

Photos and layout. Both platforms are excellent for getting a visual sense of a home before you visit. The photo quality and floor plan representations have improved significantly.

Neighborhood browsing. If you’re trying to understand which communities are in your price range and which schools are nearby, both platforms do a reasonable job of organizing that information.

Sold data. The sold price history on both platforms is largely accurate and useful for getting a general sense of what homes in a specific area have been trading for.

What to Use Instead

For accurate current market data, ask your agent to pull a CMA — Comparative Market Analysis — directly from the MLS. This gives you actual sold comps with accurate days on market, full price history, and data that hasn’t been filtered through a consumer-facing algorithm.

For property tax history and assessment data in Lake County, use tax.lakecountyil.gov directly. Both Zillow and Redfin pull tax data but it’s often one year behind and sometimes wrong.

Zillow and Redfin are good places to start your search. They’re not reliable places to end it. Treat them like a first filter, not a final answer.

Want accurate comps on a home you’re looking at? 847.650.4048 | joegattone.com