Can Zillow Help Price My Home?
I list dozens if not hundreds of homes each year and most sellers have already done a little bit of research on their home and how to price it. Many of these homeowners turn to larger corporate sites such as Zillow and Trulia. The problem is that these large, nationwide websites can only give certain information and many of their estimates are completely off. I’ve even seen estimates as far askew as 40% to 50% off actual value. So what are homeowners to do? I haven’t got into any flat out arguments but I have certainly had to debate actual property values with many homeowners who feel that their property should be worth a lot more. These homeowners look up similar home prices on Zillow and feel that their home is worth the same. The problem with this is that companies like Zillow can only go on the information that has been entered into the system.
Zillow is great for looking up past history on a property or learning about previous owners, potential taxes and mortgage payments, but coming up with an exact price in order to list and sell their home leaves something to be desired.
Many users can actually edit the information and add in their own details on a property. This could affect what future sellers find and then require out of their home. For instance: let’s say that a particular property was listed two years ago at $500,000 but due to the market and the home itself its actual value may be closer to $450,000. Zillow Doesn’t know any changes or the condition of the property currently so while it may have been worth $500,000 2 years ago, due to foreclosures and short sales, the property may be in disrepair significantly devaluing the cost.
Zillow is always trying to offer the most accurate value for your home but because they don’t know the history of the neighborhood or the condition, a similar home down the street might be priced completely different than your home. Their averages are based on a set of algorithms that works with other homes in the area with similar features. But one home that may have 1000 ft.² and two bedrooms could be drastically different than another 1000 ft.² home with two bedrooms that has additional improvements increase the value.
So don’t be offended if our value is different than Zillow. We know the individual market and neighborhoods much better than larger, national companies and can accurately price your Puget Sound home to sell.
