Can I trust Zillow estimates?

Zillow is a billion-dollar Internet marketer that "gives" "z-estimates" which purport to figure the market value of every property in the United States. Zillow tries to achieve this this task by using a fancy logarithm that compares factors which impact property values, but here's a story I have heard from real estate sellers in Northern Virginia:

Is Zillow accurate? — Many consumers have serious doubts about the accuracy of Zillow home value estimates.

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 search the web for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll discover many posts by angry property owners and skeptical home buyers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Norton_square say that Zillow's valuations have a margin of error of around 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 impressive 5% that means that a z-estimate is only within $25,000 of the asking price.

Yet Zillow still remains popular with some real estate shoppers. Home sellers and property shoppers should know that there is not a single community in Norton_square where either a bank or tax collector uses Internet for tax assessment or appraisals. Our professional advice is to take "valuations" from any computer at arm’s length. Putting too much trust into a computer can cause a great deal of irration.

Contact us today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's worth. We promise that a website won't set the ideal price. Instead, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty real estate pro will take into account the unique variables which make up your real estate's market value.