LOOKING FOR YOUR HOMES VALUE?

 In our ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence, the pro-technology crowd (of which I’m proudly a part) often touts the promise of AI for everything—including estimating home values. And while the technology is impressive, the reality in real estate is a bit more… nuanced.

There are many sources offering automated home valuations:

• Tax assessors

• Real estate websites

• Mortgage lenders
  All of them use some form of predictive model to guess what your home is worth.

We get asked all the time:

• “Is the Zestimate accurate?”

• “Is Zillow usually high or low compared to real value?”

• “Which site gives the most accurate home value?”

After more than 40 years of combined real estate experience and over 1,000 closed transactions, we’ve compared real sale prices with these automated valuations thousands of times. So often, in fact, that we created a graphic to help clients understand just how widely these “guesstimators” can vary from reality.

What You Should Know About Automated Home Appraisals

Take Zillow and Realtor.com, for example. These sites are, first and foremost, advertising platforms. They offer basic listing data and home valuations as a way to attract visitors—then sell advertising and leads to real estate agents, lenders, and insurance companies.

So how does Zillow come up with its property value?

Outside of using a complex algorithm and nearby recent sales, your guess is as good as ours. The exact formula is proprietary and not fully transparent.

The Bottom Line
While automated tools like Zillow and Realtor.com can provide a rough estimate, they’re no substitute for the insight of a local expert who knows your neighborhood, your home’s unique features and condition, and current market trends. If you’re serious about understanding your property’s true value—or if you’re thinking of selling—call us for a no obligation assessment!   If you're just looking for help challenging your county assesment, we can help you there too.   No cost or obligation!!!