In this YouTube monologue, Mendell Gosnell of Centurion Real Estate Management explains why Zillow’s rental Zestimate should be treated as a rough starting point rather than a definitive guide. He outlines the algorithm’s blind spots—such as lack of unit‑specific details, neighborhood nuances, recent upgrades, tenant demand, seasonality, and local rent‑control regulations—especially in fast‑moving Oregon markets like Salem, Eugene, and Corvallis. Gosnell then describes Centurion’s hybrid, data‑driven approach to setting rents: using real‑time comparable listings, assessing unit condition and amenities, gauging tenant demand, accounting for vacancy cycles, and leveraging decades of market experience and internal software. He emphasizes the risks of overpricing (long vacancies) versus underpricing (lost revenue) and stresses the importance of continuous market monitoring, testing pricing, analyzing lead and showing metrics, and making rapid adjustments to maximize income while minimizing vacancy. The video concludes that Zillow can be a useful reference, but professional, locally‑informed management is essential for optimal rental performance.
Chapters
Can I trust the rental rate on Zillow? If you've ever looked up your property on Zillow and thought, wow, I could get that much in rent, or maybe, uh, that seems way too low, well, you're not alone. I'm Mendell Gosnell with Centurion Real Estate Management, and today I'd like to talk to you about whether you can trust rental rate estimates and, uh, just the different um, things you see online and why local expertise still matters more than algorithms. Zillow uses a formula called the Zestimate. It looks at things like location, number of bedrooms, and past rental listings. The problem though is it doesn't know your specific unit, neighborhood nuances, upgrades, exactly how things look inside the house. Or the tenant demand. Zillow's data can be months out of date. And in Oregon's fast-moving rental markets like Salem, Oregon, and Eugene or Corvallis, that can make a big difference. Let's take a look at why Zillow can be wrong or sometimes is often wrong. Zillow doesn't see what we see. It doesn't know if your property backs up to a busy road or if your unit has new flooring, AC, or updated appliances. It also doesn't factor in tenant demand, seasonality, property conditions, or local regulation limits like Salem's rent cap under Oregon's statewide rent control law. While it is a good starting point and it's, it's a data point that we use in our company, it rarely gives the full picture. How do professionals determine rent? Well, with Centurion, we always like to look at a range, not an exact number. I think that's a little bit more realistic. And taking a data-driven and boots-on-the-ground approach, you know, it is part art and part science. So we look at real-time comparable listings, unit condition and amenities, tenant demand by area. Time of the year and vacancy cycles, historical rent, rent performance. And then we use our own internal systems, decades of market experience to set the rental rate that balances maximizing income and minimizing vacancy. So that's a real key there because sometimes we have clients that really want to maximize the rent and we try to encourage them to maybe set it at a more, more realistic level. And when you set it too high, it tends to sit on the market longer than it needs to and sometimes just doesn't get rented. Some important factors to keep in mind, which brings us to the next— the risk of overpricing or underpricing, as the case may be. So overpricing based on Zillow can lead to long vacancies and stale listings. Underpricing, on the other hand, means leaving money on the table every single month. The goal isn't just to rent it fast, it's to rent it right. As we like to say, we strive to get the best tenant at the best price in the shortest amount of time. And so that's what we strive for here at Centurion. And that's where professional managers' market knowledge really pays off. They, um, For instance, our company, we're listing, you know, dozens of properties every month. And so we have real-time data on the lead volume that we're getting, how many leads it takes to produce a certain amount of showings, and how many showings it will generally take to get a good qualified renter into your property. At Centurion, we monitor market data daily across multiple Oregon cities. We test pricing, analyze showing traffic, and adjust quickly to make sure our clients get top dollar without unnecessary vacancy. So again, it's part science and part experience, and 100% focused on performance. So we definitely wanna look at what the bottom line results are gonna be. So you can trust Zillow's rent estimate. It's a good place to start. We use it, but it's not the only software that we use. We use a number of internal softwares, our own data software, and just real-time data from other houses and apartments that we're renting day to day. Every property, every neighborhood, and every season is different. Keeping an eye on things and adjusting when you need to in a timely manner is really going to help you to maximize your performance, and that's what we're here to help you do. Appreciate you watching. Have a great day. Thank you.
