Zillow is a billion-dollar website that "gives" automated estimates that purport to figure the sales value of each home in the United States. Zillow tries to reach this goal this task by using a complicated logarithm which crossreferences factors which alter real estate 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 Google the Internet for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll find countless posts by angry homeowners and skeptical real estate purchasers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Fairlington 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 sales 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 buyers and sellers. Real estate sellers and property purchasers should know that there is not a single community in Fairlington where either a bank or tax collector uses Internet for tax assessment or appraisals. Our professional advice is to take "valuations" from any computer with a grain of salt. Putting too much trust into a website can cause a lot of irration.

Call one of our local experts today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's worth. We promise that a computer won't set the value. Rather, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty Realtor will measure the unique variables which make up your home's ideal price.