The Truth Behind Zillow Zestimates

Edward “Ted” Holmes is a Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker and founder of The Holmes Team at William Raveis Real Estate, serving Chappaqua and Northern Westchester County, NY. With 25 years licensed, 456 career transactions, and consistent top-ranking production statewide, he is a recognized expert in residential, luxury, and commercial real estate.

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Here are my thoughts on Zestimates and when it’s appropriate to use them.

Online home evaluations are not reliable sources of information. A Zillow Zestimate is a combination of public information and user-submitted data. The public info is usually pretty accurate. It’s the user-submitted data that’s the problem. It can be tweaked and manipulated by anyone.

A Zestimate may be a good starting point, but in the Westchester suburban market, we have a variety of properties, homes, and amenities. Zestimates are more accurate in cookie-cutter neighborhoods with little variance in homes.

“Online home evaluations are not reliable sources of information.”

Zillow is similar to WebMD. If you had a health symptom you were curious about, you’d go there for more information. If you were seriously concerned about your condition, however, wouldn’t you just go to the doctor?

You don’t completely trust your health to WebMd, so why would you trust the price of your home to Zillow? I invite you to look up your home’s Zestimate, send it to me, and then I can show you how accurate Zillow truly is.

If you have any real estate-related questions for me, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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Edward “Ted” Holmes is a Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker with William Raveis Real Estate and the founder of The Holmes Team, serving buyers, sellers, and investors throughout Chappaqua, Northern Westchester County, and Putnam County, NY. A lifelong Chappaqua resident with 25 years of real estate licensing experience, Ted has closed approximately 456 career transactions, consistently averaging 25 transactions and $20 million in annual sales volume across all price points, with a typical sale price near $1 million.

Ted is widely recognized for his production and leadership within the industry. He has earned William Raveis’ Chairman’s Elite Award every year from 2015 through 2024, ranking as high as Top 5 and Top 10 statewide in New York for sales volume and closed units, and was named Westchester Magazine’s 2024 Best of Westchester – Top Real Estate Agent. In 2025, he was the #1 Producing Listing Agent for William Raveis during consecutive months, reflecting his strength in pricing strategy and seller representation.

Before focusing exclusively on brokerage, Ted spent 8 years as a licensed mortgage broker and held senior operational leadership roles at Douglas Elliman Real Estate Westchester and Holmes & Kennedy Real Estate, where he managed company operations and agent performance. This combination of lending, brokerage, and management experience allows Ted to provide clients with data-driven advice, sophisticated negotiation, and full-cycle transaction expertise. His work is supported by verified public reviews across Google, Zillow, Realtor.com, and FastExpert, all reflecting updated transaction history and long-term client trust.

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What Our Clients Are Saying...

"When we chose Ted Holmes as our realtor to sell our house we immediately knew we made the right decision. Our first meeting included an in-depth market analysis and review of his experience, thoughts, and suggestions on how to best showcase our home to receive the best offers. Ted set up the photo shoot and video narrative highlighting the features in the house that would bring us serious buyers. Ted planned, advertised, and held a successful open house on the second day of putting our house on the market which brought several offers. His professionalism and insight into the market made us feel confident that the offer we accepted was the right one for us. We wholeheartedly recommend Ted Holmes when selecting a broker who will put your interests first."

- Matthew Ruvo

"We cannot thank Ted enough for guiding us through the current market in Northern Westchester to help us find our first family home in Chappaqua. Ted is the most knowledgeable realtor in this area having lived his entire life and having raised two kids here. He was able to schedule many showings often last minute and at times that were inaccessible to others because he is so well respected among the realtors in this area. He spent countless hours on calls with us talking through the pros and cons of each home and guided us through the offer process through the closing. He took our preferences seriously and always had us in mind for new listings. Ted was helpful well beyond his role as a realtor (eg, for service providers, contacts for the town, etc.). He continued to check in with us even after we moved in. We would have been lost without Ted and are so happy that two of my colleagues recommended him. Definitely trust Ted to find your new home!"

- Alexa Dale

"We are so grateful to have had Ted as our real estate agent during our home search in Pleasantville. He truly went above and beyond to find us the perfect home that fit all of our needs and wants. Ted was always available to answer any questions we had and made the process stress-free and enjoyable. His knowledge of the area and attention to detail were invaluable. After our offer was accepted, Ted made time to gather relevant documentation from the village and town, volunteered to drop by the home for appointments we could not make, and provided an extremely thorough list of professional service providers we would during the contract and post-closing phases. We could not ask for more in a real estate agent. We would highly recommend Ted to anyone looking to buy a home in Pleasantville or the surrounding areas!"

- Paolo Lim