Zillow is a popular website that "gives" automated estimates that claim to figure the sales value of each property in the United States. Zillow tries to achieve this this feat by using a fancy logarithm which crossreferences factors which affect property 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 web for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll find many complaints by angry property owners and skeptical property shoppers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Mattingly claim 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 value. 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 people. Home sellers and home shoppers should know that there is not a single community in Mattingly where either a bank or tax collector uses Internet for tax assessment or appraisals. Our professional advice is to take estimates from any website at arm’s length. Putting too much reliance into a computer can cause a great deal of irration.

Email one of our agents today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's worth. We promise that a computer won't set the market value. Rather, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty Realtor will account for the many variables which make up your real estate's value.