http://www.zillow.com/

[underpants]

Bird's eye view of your house and the approximate value.

I have no idea how accurate it is-I just heard about it on the local TV morning show.

http://www.zillow.com/

Quick and easy.

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. This appraiser says it is not accurate, and they don't have a lot

of areas covered. Your best bet for true value on your home (factoring all of the attributes that make your home unique) is an ethical appraiser. And I stress ethical. This website really pisses me off. I spent a lot of time and money gaining an education for what I do...and these assholes (zillow and AMV's in general) think they can push a button and voila! It is based on an automated valuation model, which banks have tried to use and have failed. They can't seem to cut us out. Hmmmm...

:hi:

[underpants]

2. Eek! I know

My best friend is an appraiser so I know there is more to it than just click and pop.

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. The sad part is, a lot of unethical appraisers have made it hard on the

rest of us, not to mention unethical lenders who like to blame everything they mess up on on appraisers. Sigh...it sucks, but it's a living and I really enjoy it. :)

[underpants]

5. I really should go work for my buddy

he is swamped right now (he is really marketing himself) and he wanted another friend to come work for him and then maybe branch off-like he did from the office he started at.

Seems like a great job. Flexible time and all.

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. It is a great job. I got into it by typing reports first, and then went

back to school. We need ethical people underpants. I think you would be great at it.

[underpants]

9. Zilllow has our place OVERvalued

$205K according to Zillow

$189K according to the county assessor's office.

:shrug:

[Midlodemocrat]

17. Assessed value is usually lower.

[underpants]

20. D'oh!

I know nada about real estate.

Yes I wasn't even thinking that is the tax value not the sale value/price.

Stupid brain. :grr:

[Midlodemocrat]

22. Unfortunately, I know WAY more than I should.

I have to prepare prospect reports for work for non profits, so market value of a home is part of the overall wealth factors.

[ScreamingMeemie]

21. I am going to bet you have a newer roof, new windows, updates etc..

that the county assessor may/may not know about. The county assessor uses an AVM (go figure). If you take your SEV and double it, add on the improvements you have made, you get a fair "ballpark" of value. :thumbsup:


PPPsssssttt: Zillow is an average of assessed values and home sales for that area.

[underpants]

23. Could very well be

we are told that Hurricane Isabell hit it really hard. Something like 9 trees on the lot went down and a "few" hit the house. Roof repairs were done.

[AirmensMom]

4. Not accurate.

Wrong number of bedrooms and Sq. Ft. on ours ... and we just sold it and had it appraised for $30,000 more than zillow is showing it for. Also, it doesn't seem to take into account the size of the lots.

[underpants]

6. Yeah we live on a BIG lot

and the price of the house was at least $50K less than I expected-that my appraiser buddy ballparked it when we moved in (we rent)

I am going to check out the value at the county site if I can find it.

[AirmensMom]

7. The only way to really get the value

is to get an appraisal. They don't add a LOT of value for the lot size (certainly not what the premium was when we bought it), but they add some.

I'm surprised that they have our next-door neighbor's house at $1,000 more than ours. Same size lot, exactly the same house. But ours is extensively landscaped and we have maple cabinets, granite countertops, tile floors throughout, and tons of upgrades. Theirs is very basic and hasn't been remodeled since it was built 12 years ago -- even still has the same worn-out carpets in the bedrooms. That should give a clue as to what bullshit zillow is.

[ScreamingMeemie]

25. It is difficult to asceratain those things from the listings that I pull.

Unfortunately, the appraiser is only able to go by what the RE agent puts down on the listing, which is always the home's best attributes. Which ends up being a bit of a bummer. I usually trust neighbors though, if they are forthright and aren't teasing up their own home. :hi:

[matcom]

8. not too accurate YET BUT....

working in the mortgage industry (IT) i can tell you that this (and other comp sites like it) are going to change the industry.

i love Zillow for its entertainment value at least for now

[underpants]

10. They really need to update it though

My search of "Hot blonde" yielded nothing.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. And I can tell you that they won't. AVM's have been around and they

just aren't able to replace human valuation. Flagstar tried to go with AVM's a while ago and failed...to fraud charges. If you take major metro areas those values range too far and wide for these to ever work.

[matcom]

15. never say never

all of the mortgage IT publications these days talk heavily about the advances in the technologies. it is too soon right now but i'll bet in 5-10 years these will be accurate (enough) to do the job (save for rural areas)

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. I'm saying never. An acquaintance of mine is an exec for one of

the major banks. They have completely tossed out the AVM idea in favor of "distancing" the lender/appraiser connection. Fannie Mae just signed on. It's just not going to happen. The millions paid out in fraud recomps brought me much relief.

[Midlodemocrat]

16. For CA, due to prop.13, it is pretty accurate for market value.

It is impossible to get market value for CA otherwise. It has helped me enormously.

Some areas aren't covered, but it still in beta.

[Gormy Cuss]

24. You're right about the usefulness in CA

Since most people use local tax valuations as a ballpark estimate and ours are so out of whack because of Prop. 13, automated valuations do serve a useful purpose here. The other factor that makes AVM a better tool here is that the average lot is worth at least 2-3 times the value of the improvements. For example, if my house burned to the ground my property would still sell for 60-75% of the current appraised value based on the lot size and location.

Having said all that, I'm still a big fan of good appraisers and home inspectors. I wouldn't buy a house without either one.

[underpants]

19. http//local.live.com

real close up

[RebelOne]

11. Can't access it. I'm using Safari on a Mac. Says I must have Firefox.

I can't download Firefox because I'm on a company computer which is on a main server and we cannot download any applications.

[swag]

12. They got the right house,

with that big ol' fuckin' tree, it's unmistakeable.

The value seems to be in the ballpark, inflated though it may seem. The air doesn't seem to be coming out of the market in this neighborhood any time soon.

Fortunately the property tax assessor calls the value at about a third less than that.

Thanks.