Can I rely on some Internet company to appraise the sales price of my home in Mount Jackson?
Zillow is a billion-dollar Internet marketer that provides "z-estimates" which purport to calculate the ideal price of each property in the United States. Zillow tries to achieve this this feat by using a sophisticated program which compares 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 search 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 leery property buyers who have discovered the hard way just out inaccurate Zillow's pricing can be. Many people in Mount Jackson report 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 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 buyers and sellers. Home sellers and home shoppers should know that there is not a single community in Mount Jackson where either a bank or tax collector uses Zillow for tax assessment or appraisals. Our expert advice is to take estimates from any computer with a grain of salt. Putting too much stock into a website can cause a lot of irration.
Phone Nesbitt Realty today for a free comparative market analysis of your property's worth. We promise that a computer won't set the market value. Instead, your friendly neighborhood Nesbitt Realty Realtor will take into account the complicated variables which make up your home's ideal price.
