Can I rely on some Internet company to figure out the market value of my home in North Springfield?
Zillow is a billion-dollar website that "gives" computerized estimates that purport to figure the sales value of each residence in the United States. Zillow tries to achieve this this task by using a sophisticated logarithm that crossreferences factors which alter real estate 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 research the Internet for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll find many posts by angry property owners and leery home shoppers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in North Springfield claim that Zillow's valuations 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 ideal price. 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 real estate shoppers. Property owners and home shoppers should know that there is not a single neighborhood in North Springfield where either a bank 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 website can cause a great deal of confusion.
Connect with Nesbitt Realty today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's market value. We promise that a computer won't set the ideal price. Instead, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty real estate agent will measure the complicated variables which make up your property's value.
