Can I depend on a computer to calculate the market value of my property in Rileyville?
Zillow is a billion-dollar website that provides "z-estimates" which purport to figure the ideal price of each and every residence in the United States. Zillow tries to reach this goal this feat by using a sophisticated logarithm that crossreferences factors which impact property 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 Google the Internet for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll find countless testimonials by upset property owners and skeptical home purchasers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Rileyville say that Zillow's estimates 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 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 (for now) remains popular with some buyers and sellers. Real estate sellers and real estate buyers should know that there is not a single community in Rileyville 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 trust into a computer logarithm can cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety.
Contact Nesbitt Realty 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 real estate agent will account for the many variables which make up your property's market value.
