Can I rely on Zillow to appraise the value of my real estate in Portners_landing?
Zillow is a billion-dollar Internet marketer that "gives" computerized estimates that claim to figure the market value of each property in the United States. Zillow tries to accomplish this task by using a sophisticated logarithm which compares factors which impact property 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 web for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll discover countless posts by angry homeowners and skeptical property buyers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Portners_landing say that Zillow's estimates 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 value. If the margin of error is an unlikley 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. Home sellers and property purchasers should know that there is not a single neighborhood in Portners_landing where either a mortgage lender or tax collector uses Internet for tax assessment or appraisals. Our expert advice is to take estimates from any computer at arm’s length. Putting too much stock into a computer can cause a great deal of disappointment.
Contact one of our agents today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's value. We promise that a computer won't set the market value. Instead, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty real estate agent will measure the many variables which make up your home's market value.
