Zillow is a billion-dollar Internet marketer that provides automated estimates which claim to figure the ideal price of every home in the United States. Zillow tries to accomplish this task by using a sophisticated algorithm which crossreferences factors which affect real estate values, but here's a story I have heard from property sellers in Northern Virginia:

Our home was recently appraised for 650K. Zillow estimates the value at 521K. The estimate makes us one of the lowest priced homes in the subdivision. We have all upgrades in our home and it is the largest of the homes that were originally built in this subdivision. It was appraised at 750K before 2009. Our home has a basement. Neighbors do not have basement on one side and you appraised higher. Really? -- James E. - Fort Hunt

If you Google the Internet for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll find many posts by angry property owners and leery property purchasers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Beverly_plaza say that Zillow's valuations have a margin of error of approximately 20%. Even if we assume the margin of error is only 10%, in Northern Virginia that means a "z-estimate" is only within $50,000 of the actual ideal price. If the margin of error is an astounding 5% that means that a z-estimate is only within $25,000 of the asking price.

Yet Zillow (for now) remains popular with some real estate shoppers. Property owners and real estate buyers should understand that there is not a single neighborhood in Beverly_plaza where either a mortgage lender or tax collector uses Internet for tax assessment or appraisals. Our professional advice is to take estimates from any website with a grain of salt. Putting too much stock into a computer can cause a great deal of confusion.

Phone us today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's value. We promise that a website won't set the sales value. Instead, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty real estate agent will measure the many variables which make up your home's sales value.