Zillow Rent Zestimate?

[Joseph Ellengar]

I looking at my first rental properties right now. Is the Zillow rent estimate a good metric? Zillow seems to substantially overestimate the value of my personal residence.

I'm in the greater Houston area.

Thanks.

[Michael Dumler]

@Joseph Ellengar personally I have never used Zillow's rent estimates as a resourceful metric. If the rent estimates are anything like their proposed sale listings, then more likely then not the numbers are inaccurate. Zillow claims to have made improvements in their algorithm, but take that with a grain of salt. To successfully pull lease comparables, I advise sticking to the mls or another site like Rentometer which tends to be more accurate. I would also reach out to several property management groups, as most companies will give you free market analysis. Hope this helps.