Zillow is a billion-dollar website that "gives" automated estimates which purport to figure the sales value of every home in the United States. Zillow tries to accomplish this task by using a sophisticated program which crossreferences factors which impact 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 Internet for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll discover countless posts by angry homeowners and skeptical property purchasers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Crystal_springs_knolls claim 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 buyers and sellers. Property owners and property buyers should understand that there is not a single neighborhood in Crystal_springs_knolls where either a mortgage lender or tax collector uses Zillow for tax assessment or appraisals. Our professional advice is to take estimates from any website with a grain of salt. Putting too much trust into a computer can cause a great deal of unnecessary anxiety.

Contact one of our agents today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's market value. We promise that a website won't set the market value. Rather, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty real estate agent will take into account the complicated variables which make up your property's sales value.