Zillow is a popular Internet marketer that provides "z-estimates" that claim to figure the ideal price of every residence in the United States. Zillow tries to achieve this this task by using a complicated logarithm that compares factors which alter 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 discover countless complaints by upset homeowners and skeptical home purchasers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in The_lofts say that Zillow's valuations 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 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 home purchasers should know that there is not a single neighborhood in The_lofts where either a mortgage lender or tax collector uses Zillow for tax assessment or appraisals. Our expert advice is to take estimates from any computer with a grain of salt. Putting too much trust into a computer can cause a lot of irration.

Email Nesbitt Realty today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's market value. 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 home's sales value.