The 4 Major Differences Between Zillow and Redfin
Long before you gather your moving boxes and settle into a new home, there’s a lot of research to be done when buying or selling a house (after all, it’s one of the most expensive decisions you’ll make in your life). Everything from your real estate agent to your lender to the type of home you want to buy (whether you purchase a condo or single-family home) can help you have a better financial outcome when buying or selling. And if you’re like most people, your first stop on any home search tends to be a website — and it’s likely that you’ll be scrolling listings on Zillow and Redfin.
But what exactly are the differences between the two? With Zillow, Redfin, and local real estate company sites begging for your attention, where is the best place to start? The short answer is that it depends on your goals, and what may be right for one transaction might not be the best for any future deals. To help you decide, here’s what you need to know when looking at Redfin vs. Zillow.
Redfin is more accurate when valuing homes.
Both Zillow and Redfin give homes an approximate value, but the Zestimate provided by Zillow might be slightly less accurate than that of Redfin’s. In a 2020 estimate — the most recent year for which Redfin has data — the company found that 64% of homes sold at prices “within 3 percent of the home price predicted by Redfin,” compared to “29 percent for Zillow’s Zestimate,” and “16 percent for Homes.com.”
It’s important to remember, however, that how much you spend on or get for your home won’t just be determined by a website. Final numbers depend significantly on the local market and demand for a property in your particular location. So, an estimate truly is a roundabout valuation.
If you hire a qualified local real estate agent, they can conduct a market analysis to help you determine an asking price when listing a home. Conversely, a buyer’s agent will help you come up with a fair price to offer the sellers to ensure that you’re not overpaying unless you get into a bidding war with another buyer.
Zillow is FSBO-friendly.
Not everyone chooses to buy or sell a home through a real estate agent, which is perfectly OK. However, one risk — especially as a seller — is that your home won’t be promoted on the MLS unless you pay a fee to have it listed.
Zillow allows folks to advertise their properties on their site, even if they are for sale by owner (FSBO). And having more eyes on your property is a big plus. Including FSBO homes is also why many people search for homes on Zillow. Unfortunately, Redfin will only show your for-sale-by-owner home if you’ve paid for a listing on Fizber (a real estate FSBO platform that allows owners to list their homes for a flat fee) or FSBO.com.
Redfin is a brokerage.
Zillow is a pay-to-play marketplace, so real estate agents bear the cost of listing their available inventory on the site if they use the Premier Agent program. Because Redfin is a full-service brokerage, it can pull information directly from the MLS.
Why does that matter to you? New listings populate onto Redfin quickly, whereas it can take a little longer for a Realtor to list a home on Zillow. In a heated market, it’s beneficial for both buyers and sellers to have properties in searches as soon as possible.
Zillow has a higher profile.
Even though real estate sites aren’t necessarily popularity contests, more eyes on your property — or access to more listed properties — can make a big difference when you’re selling. For example, Zillow currently has 2.4 million likes on Facebook and 451,000 Instagram followers, whereas Redfin pales in comparison with 467,000 likes on Facebook and about 107,000 Instagram followers at the moment. Nowadays, social media presence is an excellent indicator of which platforms folks gravitate towards.