Can I rely on Zillow to figure out the sales price of my property in Hallowing_point_river_estates?
Zillow is a popular website that "gives" "z-estimates" which claim to figure the sales value of every property in the United States. Zillow tries to achieve this this task by using a sophisticated algorithm that crossreferences factors which impact home 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 web for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll find countless complaints by upset homeowners and leery property buyers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Hallowing_point_river_estates report that Zillow's estimates have a margin of error of approximately 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 home shoppers should know that there is not a single community in Hallowing_point_river_estates where either a bank or tax collector uses Internet for tax assessment or appraisals. Our expert advice is to take "valuations" from any computer with a grain of salt. Putting too much reliance into a website can cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety.
Contact Nesbitt Realty today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's value. We promise that a computer won't set the market value. Instead, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty real estate agent will take into account the many variables which make up your real estate's sales value.
