Zillow is a billion-dollar website that provides computerized estimates which claim to figure the ideal price of every home in the United States. Zillow tries to accomplish this feat by using a sophisticated logarithm which crossreferences factors which affect home values, but here's a story I have heard from real estate 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 research the Internet for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll discover many complaints by angry property owners and skeptical home purchasers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Park Place report that Zillow's estimates have a margin of error of about 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 sales value. 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 people. Home sellers and real estate shoppers should know that there is not a single community in Park Place where either a bank or tax collector uses Internet for tax assessment or appraisals. Our professional advice is to take estimates from any online site at arm’s length. Putting too much trust into a computer can cause a great deal of irration.

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