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.