When wanting to know a home’s value, Zillow has become one of the go to websites.

The website is quick, easy and can even keep you constantly informed of a current value. The Zestimate (which is what Zillow’s estimate is called) median of error is the draw back of this website.  In an article recently posted on the Florida Realtors® website, Zillow spends $1M trying to improve its ‘Zestimates’, it states: “Zillow has slowly improved its Zestimate from a median error rate of 14 percent when it started in 2006 to 5.7 percent… It’s now down to 4.5 percent nationally (it’s higher in some cities and lower in others).”

4.5%, the new standard for Zestimate’s, is excellent!

Recently, I marketed for sale, two nearly identical homes in the same community. Both homes listed for $139,900.00 and pended within a few weeks of each other, for full price.

Unfortunately, one of the owners decided to reduce their contracted selling price by $10,000.00 rather than losing the contract for sale and placing their home back on the market. This decision was made after their appraisal came in exactly $10,000.00 below the other home’s appraisal. Instead of disputing the appraisal, which the procedure can take some time, the Seller lost $10,000. The Seller felt that a quick, on time closing was the most important action. For sellers to be placed in this position is not uncommon. I’ve seen differences in appraisals of up to 10%.

The reality is that two equally motivated buyers (with the same alternatives available to them) will likely have two different prices that they would pay for the same house. So, to get (on average) within 5% of the value without even seeing the interior of the property is remarkable. Of course, the more your home falls outside of what could be considered “cookie cutter,” the more likely that your Zestimate will be inaccurate.

For curious property owners, a Zestimate likely is sufficient. But, there are other similar services that you can check your Zestimate with, like Trulia. If you still want more, check with your Realtor® for information from narpr.com, where a ton of information is available including a value estimate.

Or, if you want even more accuracy (and you live in Polk County) see realtyhighway.com for additional instruction.

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