Tim Collom, who leads the Tim Collom Real Estate Group who founded House Real Estate in Sacramento, and three other agents told Inman that it seems like the portal giant is having a difficult time properly reflecting the astronomical boom in home prices due to historically low inventory and intense bidding wars.

Collom said that estimated home values provided by companies like Zillow and Redfin “never line up” with reality, but they’ve only gotten worse in recent months: “They’re not off by $10,000. They’re off by like $100,000 to $200,000.”

“In Sacramento and some other areas, Zillow estimates can be high by 10 percent and they also can be low by 10 percent, but very rarely do they hit the mark right now,” he added. “I think it’s because of the market volatility and how fast it’s going — even seasoned real estate agents are struggling to keep up with price trends right now.”

“As a child, Tim Collom couldn’t sit still, except to doodle and draw in his notebook. Although his active spirit and creative mind sometimes caused problems in the classroom, Collom said it’s become the foundation for a 20-year career as a respected Realtor and celebrated artist.

“Naturally, as a kid, I couldn’t sit still. I think that’s a tendency you find with a lot of salespeople,” he said with a chuckle.

Twenty years ago, Collom’s effervescent personality caught the attention of an agent who thought the then-21-year-old had the personality to make a splash in Sacramento’s real estate market. As a new student at Sacramento State, Collom took the agent up on his offer, promising to give it at least one year.

“I fell in love with the industry and the job and everything about real estate,” he said.

Although Collom loved serving his clients, he began to look for an escape from the stresses of staying successful in an unpredictable career, which included winding down every evening with a glass of wine. However, what began as one drink, turned into a habit Collom knew he needed to break.

“It became excessive and I knew I had to stop that,” he said.

So, Collom turned back to his first love — art. He transformed his garage into an art oasis, complete with a drawing table, multiple easels, studio lighting, paintbrushes, palettes, and tubes of brightly-hued oil paint. Collom painted landscapes, animals, and scenes from everyday life, such as people driving boats on Lake Tahoe.”

“Two local entrepreneurs, in the middle of a pandemic, have collaborated to develop a special treat for Sacramento– coffee with an artist signature! This has never been done before, and Good Day is the first to announce it.”

“Risking a conflict of interest is what’s keeping Sacramento-based Tim Collom Realtor Group leader Tim Collom from ever offering a buyer’s incentive, even if the market experienced another sudden slowdown.

“Right now, there’s really there’s nothing that we need to incentivize,” he said. “There are multiple offer [situations] everywhere.”

“Even if the market slowed down, I wouldn’t give an incentive,” he added. “I think that’s important [to] the integrity of our business not to do that. Even when it comes to listing agents offering bigger commissions, we’ve stayed away from that, too.”

“We’ve always maintained the commission that’s offered is usually enough, and people should really do what they’re supposed to be doing as far as their job is concerned,” he continued. “Agents really shouldn’t be incentivized by the commission anyway, they should be doing the right thing for their clients. I know that’s against your article, but I feel like that’s the truth.”

Collom specifically pointed to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), which prohibits kickbacks, referral fees and unearned fees among other things. Although it seems buyer’s incentives, such as gift cards or including the seller’s car with the sale, doesn’t violate RESPA, Collom said it’s too great of a risk.

“I think there’s a lot of dangers involved with incentives just because it’s not an even playing field,” he said. “What happens is that people start buying homes because of the incentives and not necessarily an upgrade to the house, like new countertops or flooring.”

“My group has the top agents in Sacramento and we could probably offer all sorts of incentives,” he added. “But when does it stop? Ultimately, it always should be about the houses and real estate.”