Can I rely on some Internet company to appraise the sales price of my property in Crestbrook?
Zillow is a billion-dollar Internet marketer that provides automated estimates which purport to calculate the sales value of each and every property in the United States. Zillow tries to achieve this this feat by using a fancy logarithm that crossreferences factors which alter real estate values, but here's a typical 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 search the web for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll find countless posts by angry property owners and skeptical home purchasers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Crestbrook say 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 market 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 still remains popular with some real estate shoppers. Property owners and real estate buyers should understand that there is not a single community in Crestbrook where either a mortgage lender or tax collector uses Zillow 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 computer can cause a lot of disappointment.
Connect with one of our local experts today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's market value. We promise that a website won't set the sales value. Instead, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty Realtor will measure the complicated variables which make up your real estate's sales value.
