Austin Rental Values vs. Zillow Zestimates

Zillow now offers “Zestimates” for rental properties in Austin. Want to see how much a home might rent for? Just look it up on Zillow the same way you would the value of a home in Austin. Let’s see how accurate it is.

I took a look at some actual homes I manage, from all areas of Austin, and compared the actual rented value to the Rent Zestimates for Austin.

Area Zillow Actual Difference
SW Austin 78736 $1,260.00 $1,295.00 -2.70%
South Austin 78745 $1,276.00 $1,195.00 6.78%
South Austin 78748 $1,394.00 $1,395.00 -0.07%
SE Austin 78741 $1,195.00 $995.00 20.10%
Central Austin 78704 $1,539.00 $1,795.00 -14.26%
Central Austin 78705 $1,332.00 $1,650.00 -19.27%
Central Austin 78756 $1,319.00 $1,595.00 -17.30%
NW Austin 78759 $2,429.00 $2,495.00 -2.65%
NW Austin 78729 $1,417.00 $1,395.00 1.58%
Cedar Park 78613 $1,252.00 $1,300.00 -3.69%

 

Looks like Zillow Rental “Zestimates” either get it pretty close or way off. Of the 10 homes reviewed, 4 are incorrect by 14% or more with three of the four underestimating the rent, and one over estimating by 20%.

Five out of the remaining six were within a margin of error less than 5%. Not bad, actually. These were mostly underestimated as well.

So how do you know “for sure” the rental market value for a house in Austin? There are some simple rules of thumb.

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