Firstly, I appologize if I posted this in the wrong forum and to the moderators, feel free to move it if it would be better suited somewhere else. A huge portion of working out these deals has to do with a fair value of a property and I was wondering what is the best way to estimate that value. Is Zillow.com sufficient for this or is it better to order one of those appraisals or even have an official appraisal done? I’m just not sure how much money to put into the appraisal process and don’t want to spend any more than necessary if zillow works just fine. Thanks so much.
Zillow works fine if you take the time to weed through the data they provide and use the comps that are the best for determining the subject property’s value.
Zillow should never be used for true value of a property. You will need sold comps for that.
Isn’t that what Zillow is providing? Sales data?
The freebie sites aren’t very accurate so I use zillow, cyberhomes,homegain and sometimes realquest. Homegain is usually very high but they provide area sales in the last six months. I do this plus view the home and the area myself. Herbster
It’s not an accurate data. Most of the time it’s going to be way off from the actual comp value that is why you always want the recent sold comps in determining the actual market value of a home.
I like to start off by using the tax assessment as a launching point, usually you can find this info on your counties’ website, so its nice and easy to pick up instantly.
Pay for Realquest or Haines if you have it in your area. Zillow sucks!
The only way to determine a true comp for a home is by finding recent sold data. The best place to find this is in the MLS. If you are not an agent then find an agent who will pull comps for you. I have several students who will pay a realtor very little to pull comps for them.