It wasn’t an issue of narrowing it down correctly, I gave it my exact street address and it showed every house on my street.
Hmm. If they can work out the kinks, it might become an interesting tool. Right now, the only reliable way to pull comps on a wide range of houses is the MLS, but I’d like to see that change. The MLS has become an exclusive club, when it shouldn’t be. All people have the right to know what their house is worth without consulting a real estate agent.
When was it not a private association for realtors only?
Before the crackdown on mortgage fraud and tightening up of realtor certification programs, you could buy MLS access in many states. You didn’t need a license. No one advertised it, but I have several friends that had access in North and South Carolina with full permission.
Most people just assumed only realtors could access it, but a few of us pesky investors are always finding loopholes.
Zillow has an interesting business model - that is doomed to fail unless they change it, and soon!
They make thier money from ad revenues. How long do you suppose Zillow will last when what they are selling (home value data, primarily generated from top-line, non-adjusted MLS sold data) is exactly what Realtors will not allow them to do?
Currently, Zillow hires a local “broker of record” in each area where it needs access to the MLS data. However, according to Zillow’s PR team, they also explain they are NOT in the business of selling Real Estate. This is just NOT gonna fly with the blue-haired Realtors working desperately to maintain thier stranglehold on thier 6% commissions.
Look at eRealty & ZipRealty. They actually DID sell Real Estate and got trounced, in the long-run, by “the establishment.” And this even AFTER they won numerous suits against the NAR and various state and local authorities / groups / MLSs.
Zillow is having problems here in Salt Lake City. I put in my address and they valued the house at $1.2 Million. I WISH…my house is worth $190k tops. However, the tax assessed info is correct, i.e. sq footage, lot size, bedrooms, baths, etc.
The site is a joke as far as I’m concerned.
Everyone I have spoken with tells me the data is not accurate. They did a tremendous marketing job though, and it really came out of nowhere fast.
For Round Rock, TX, the site uses tax assessed values from TWO years ago! Ugh!
I tried it for my house and it gave a higher price than the comps in my subdivision. Its taking all nearby houses on my street and some of them are in another subdivision, much newer than mine.
I tried for somebody else and they got way lower than the market value for their subdivision.
I use it just for fun!!! ;D
Simply said, if anyone wants to pay me for the price Zillow lists my personal residence at they can have it tomorrow!!!
“…but from what I have read the data coverage is still spotty.”
It’ll always be spotty. Zillow IS NOTHING NEW! It’s just another Automated Value Model (AVM), and those have been around for quite sometime. Here’s what Fitch Ratings has to say about AVM’s & anthing less than a full-blown inspection;
(Fitch Ratings, is one of the major risk-assessment firms for the global bond market)
‘Fitch is imposing a devaluation, of the homes backing mortgages in bond pools if they’ve been performed by “automated valuation models” (AVM’s), broker price opinions, desk reviews, tax assessments or drive-bys.’
AVM’s have proved to be highly unrealiable–returning valuations which have proved to be 15-30% inaccurate…even in so called “cookie cutter” neighborhoods.
I plugged in our two latest purchases; one returned a valuation some $30,000 too high…the other…some $40,000 too low! It also missed a full bath on one property, was off by nearly 300 SF GLA & couldn’t possibly know about (or adjust for) some functional obsolescence.
Unfortunately for investors…AVM’s often return valuations that are overinflated. But, keep an eye on those FSBO’s…every once in awhile…you might find a homeowner who underpriced their property because, they relied on one of these faulty valuation models.
“Its taking all nearby houses on my street and some of them are in another subdivision, much newer than mine.”
That’s because, AVM’s do nothing more than average. One of the 10 Commandments of Appraising is; Appraiser’s Shall Not Average! Homebuyer’s in the marketplace don’t average…they walk through a home (in their price range, and in neighborhoods, or school districts in which they’d like to live) comparing the total attributes one home has to offer versus others–until computers can do that…they’ll always be wrong.
-Infowell
Thanks Gary, I just bookmarked both of these sites…
Anyone have feedback on these?
Oh, I just found Zillow and my house was undervalued by $20K, so the Jury is still out ???
Everyone of these sites will have “spotty” values at best and Infowell has explained why very well.
Valuation websites only pull sale data that is submitted to them through the county’s GIS system or other even less trustworthy methods (such as using the county’s tax basis to calculate value or adjusting the last known sale price for expected appreciation).
If your county publishes the sale data, then these sites should be accurate, right? WRONG!!! There is one property I bought that the GIS as listed as a sold price $200K OVER what I actually paid (I can’t wait to sell it!!!).
If you want to know the true FMV of a property, get a good RE agent to do a BPO or get an appraiser to get you a true FMV of the property. Better still, learn your market well enough so that you can have a good idea what a property should sell for in a given area.
Raj
“…Infowell has explained why very well.”
Thanks Roger…I appreciate that.
“If you want to know the true FMV of a property, get a good RE agent to do a BPO or get an appraiser to get you a true FMV of the property.”
Very good advice.
The cost of an appraisal, or CMA from an experienced, qualified Agent or Appraiser is very affordable, and well worth every penny spent.
Just make sure you research the individuals experience level (how long have they been an Agent, or Appraiser, and what is their area of expertise?). In the case of an Appraiser…make sure the person inspecting the property is actually the Licensed or Certified Appraiser. There’s a HUGE nationwide problem currently w/unscrupulous Appraisers sending trainees into the field & signing their reports as if the Certified Appraiser actually inspected the property (you don’t want rookies inspecting a potential purchase…especially if it involves rehabbing, and cost to repair).
Another alternative would be to do what I did…go to work for somebody as an Appraiser for years…value some 4500 properties and/or become an Associate RE Broker & put in even more years. If you don’t have that kind of time, or inclination…hire a pro…it’s much less time consuming, and less expensive!!!
If you don’t have the $200-$400 for a valuation (or want to spend the money)…reconsider whether you should be investing or not.
-Infowell
I agree with Infowell. I had the pleasure of speaking with Donald Trump recently and one thing he told me really stuck in my mind.
He said what he does is Hire people that are very smart at what they do and then he Listens to them.
I always tell my colleagues …
“You don’t have to do it, you just have to Lead It”
Have a Great Day!