Can I trust Zillow to appraise the value of my property in Mount Daniel?
Zillow is a billion-dollar website that provides "z-estimates" that claim to calculate the ideal price of every home in the United States. Zillow tries to reach this goal this feat by using a sophisticated logarithm that crossreferences factors which affect 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 research the Internet for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll discover many complaints by angry property owners and skeptical home buyers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Mount Daniel say 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 still remains popular with some people. Home sellers and real estate buyers should understand that there is not a single neighborhood in Mount Daniel where either a mortgage lender or tax collector uses Internet for tax assessment or appraisals. Our professional advice is to take estimates from any website at arm’s length. Putting too much stock into a website can cause a lot of irration.
Email one of our local experts today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's worth. We promise that a computer won't set the value. Rather, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty Realtor will measure the many variables which make up your real estate's market value.
