Zillow is a billion-dollar Internet marketer that "gives" "z-estimates" which purport to figure the ideal price of every property in the United States. Zillow tries to achieve this this task by using a fancy logarithm that crossreferences factors which affect real estate values, but here's a typical 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 search the Internet for the phrase "Can I trust Zillow?" or "Can I trust Z-Estimates" you'll find countless posts by upset homeowners and leery real estate shoppers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Mount Crawford say that Zillow's valuations have a margin of error of about 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 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 people. Home sellers and property purchasers should know that there is not a single neighborhood in Mount Crawford where either a mortgage lender or tax collector uses Zillow for tax assessment or appraisals. Our expert advice is to take estimates from any online site at arm’s length. Putting too much reliance into a computer logarithm can cause a great deal of disappointment.

Contact one of our agents today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's market value. We promise that a website won't set the value. Instead, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty Realtor will measure the many variables which make up your real estate's sales value.