Has anyone ever used http://www.zillow.com/ ? Should this website just be used as a quick reference or totally disregaurded all togeather?
It’s a fine toy…in my opinion it cannot be trusted as reality in a lot of places. Some folks have reported it to be relatively accurate in their area but I can’t see being even a few thousand off if - especially on some thinner deals.
My two cents…
keith
Should this website just be used as a quick reference or totally disregaurded all togeather?
I recently had a client that used Zillow and their property was valued at $225,000. They had an appraisal completed and the value was $290,000.
Now I am sure that that large of a discrepancy does not always hold true. Zillow and other “online” property valuators should only be used as guesstimations. The only sure way to get a property value is through an appraiser.
They’ve got my mother’s house listed with incorrect square footage and a very low value compared to the actual sales in her neighborhood. Her house is a ranch style so it can’t be because of a missing level.
And they are listing my house with only the ground floor’s square feet included - perhaps they don’t count basements?
Topaz
Basements typically aren’t counted as living space. You usually need things like heat and windows to be considered living space.
Also in some areas they do say it works and others are really off.
In my area, Zillows is typically about 10% lower than what the market is bearing…I use it as a tool, but I certainly would not trust the numbers…Who knows, maybe it is more accurate than people think, they also post what properties recently sold for…