Zillow is a billion-dollar Internet marketer that "gives" automated estimates that purport to figure the market value of every home in the United States. Zillow tries to reach this goal this feat by using a fancy logarithm which crossreferences factors which affect 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 Google the Internet for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll find many posts by upset homeowners and skeptical real estate purchasers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in The_jefferson_ __a_sunrise_senior_living_community report that Zillow's estimates 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 market 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 real estate shoppers. Home sellers and property shoppers should understand that there is not a single neighborhood in The_jefferson_ __a_sunrise_senior_living_community where either a mortgage lender or tax collector uses Internet for tax assessment or appraisals. Our expert advice is to take "valuations" from any website with a grain of salt. Putting too much trust into a computer logarithm can cause a great deal of confusion.

Call Nesbitt Realty today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's value. We promise that a website won't set the ideal price. Instead, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty expert will account for the many variables which make up your home's ideal price.