Zillow is a billion-dollar Internet marketer that "gives" "z-estimates" that claim to calculate the ideal price of each property in the United States. Zillow tries to achieve this this feat by using a sophisticated logarithm which compares factors which affect property values, but here's a typical story I have heard from home 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 research the web for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll find countless testimonials by angry homeowners and leery property shoppers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in London_commons 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 still remains popular with some buyers and sellers. Real estate sellers and property shoppers should understand that there is not a single community in London_commons where either a mortgage lender or tax collector uses Zillow 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 can cause a great deal of disappointment.

Get in touch with us today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's worth. We promise that a website won't set the value. Rather, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty expert will take into account the complicated variables which make up your real estate's ideal price.