House Values?

[2goofycampers]

Is there an acccurate website to find out how much your house is worth?

 

[Swimalie]

I usually look at houses that have recently sold in my area. I can tell you that the sites seem to have my value about $60k lower than recent sales.

 

[AnnaS]

zillow.com - it's an estimate

 

[crisi]

For accuracy, you'd need to have it appraised. Websites are based off tax value and sales of similar houses in the neighborhood - they don't know you put in a new kitchen. And in the end, its worth what it sells for. And that may be much less than the appraisal.

 

[DawnM]

Just make sure to really look at what Zillow says about your house.

Our house square footage is off by almost 1000 sq. ft. It also only lists one garage of the two we have, and one less bedroom and one less bathroom. I have no idea what the deal is. This house was never added on to, it was originally built this size.

Because of the above, Zillow lists our house as quite a bit lower than it should be.

Dawn

zillow.com - it's an estimate

 

[aprilchem]

Yeah, Zillow is often way off - we've had Realtors look at our house lately and Zillow is off by $100k+. It also has the wrong square footage.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

Yeah, Zillow is often way off - we've had Realtors look at our house lately and Zillow is off by $100k+. It also has the wrong square footage.

It is way off in our neighborhood. New house across the street sold for $310,000 in September the Zestimate is $217,000

 

[amcnj]

You still might be able to use sites like zillow and other real estate related ones to see what homes have actually sold for recently in your area. That is probably as good an indication as any, barring any special cirumstances for a given sale.

 

[xie]

Don't trust Zillow. Its data is faulty and everything from the house stats to the value is often incorrect.

If you have a realtor friend, have them pull comps in the area. Otherwise you might not be able to persuade a realtor to do this for you unless you want to list your house with them. We are fortunate enough to have a realtor living in our neighborhood. In the quarterly HOA newsletter, the realtor always has a chart that lists all the houses for sale in our neighborhood, the current asking price, which ones are under contract, and a list of what has sold in the last 12 months along with the final sales price. It's very good information to have. At least where we are, values are recovering but very slowly.

And the reason I know Zillow is kind of bunk is because its data doesn't compare to the comps the realtor puts in the newsletter, which is coming straight from MLA listings and actual sale closures recorded at the county courthouse.

 

[wiigirl]

Yeah, Zillow is often way off - we've had Realtors look at our house lately and Zillow is off by $100k+. It also has the wrong square footage.

Agreed...there is really no accurate way but get it appraised. If you want a "Best Guess" I would call a realtor and they should be able to give you a pretty accurate figure.

 

[pryncess527]

When I view property tax records for my county and pull up my house, one tab gives me comparable sales in the area. Your county might also provide that information for free on their website.

 

[ImDMous]

You can check trulia.com also. It's still just an estimate, but it tells you when it was last assessed, what the taxes are, what the average around the neighborhood is, etc. The more numbers you have, the better your estimate will be.

 

[Sinderelly]

If you are planning to possibly list your home I would contact a realtor(s). They should be able to come out and access the value of your home in person and will also have some comps for you to compare. Unless you already "know" a realtor I would talk to more than one to see who you feel most comfortable with.

 

[Swimalie]

You can check trulia.com also. It's still just an estimate, but it tells you when it was last assessed, what the taxes are, what the average around the neighborhood is, etc. The more numbers you have, the better your estimate will be.

I just checked trulia on my neighbor's house that sold 3 months ago. It says it sold for one price but says the estimate which is $20k less. The houses in our area re going up around $5k a month which means trulia is way off as well as zillow.

It also shows my house as 800 sq feet smaller than it is and my lot 2,000 feet smaller. Zillow does the same but I have the county records so I know they are off.

 

[tvguy]

Just make sure to really look at what Zillow says about your house.

Our house square footage is off by almost 1000 sq. ft. It also only lists one garage of the two we have, and one less bedroom and one less bathroom. I have no idea what the deal is. This house was never added on to, it was originally built this size.

Because of the above, Zillow lists our house as quite a bit lower than it should be.

Dawn

Zillow is interesting. If the information about the square foot and bedrooms is wrong, that isn't Zillows fault. They get that information from your city or county tax collector based on the plans submitted by whoever built the house.

Zillow is best in subdivisions with houses with the same floor plan and lots of sales.
Zillow has trouble in areas with custom homes of different sizes and ages and on different sized lots. But, REALTORS have problem in those areas too.

I interviewed 4 real estate agents last year before selling my parent's custom home and got a COMP spread of $200,000.
I had 3 offers right away, which made me wonder if I under priced it. But I sold it to investors who put $100,000 in upgrades in it and put it back on the market 2 months later for $245,000 more than I sold it for. They cut the price $50,000 in October, and another $50,000 in December.
Some of my real estate friends say the investors made one big mistake, they took out all the hardwood floors, and put in a little bit of laminate and a whole lot of carpet. They did Granite in the kitchen and both bathrooms, and new everything in the kitchen and baths, but 2 realtors have told me they think taking the hardwood out cut the value by $25,000

 

[AquaDame]

Some of my real estate friends say the investors made one big mistake, they took out all the hardwood floors, and put in a little bit of laminate and a whole lot of carpet. They did Granite in the kitchen and both bathrooms, and new everything in the kitchen and baths, but 2 realtors have told me they think taking the hardwood out cut the value by $25,000

Agreed. We bought our house about a year ago - it was flipped as well with the kitchen/bath upgrades - and the #1 thing we ALWAYS hear when people see it is how gorgeous our hardwood floors are. The marble, stainless, modern everything else is garbage in comparison.

 

[MillauFr]

but 2 realtors have told me they think taking the hardwood out cut the value by $25,000

Probably true. I just finished ripping out all of the carpet in our house. The hardwood floors under the carpet was beautiful. I just rented a sander from Home Depot and then refinished them. They look way better than carpet.

Zillow is pretty accurate with our house, but that is because our house would sell for about the average square foot price in our neighborhood.

 

[2goofycampers]

Thanks for the replies. They were helpful.

 

[2goofycampers]

Update: I went to Zillow, they had our house 400 sq ft smaller than it is. I signed up, corrected it and they added $400.00 to their estimate. A $1.00 per ft.
They sure are doing a disservice to sellers.

 

[AnnaS]

I always wonder how zillow gets updated. My neighbors house still shows the square footage of the original home. They built a second story 20 years ago but it does not show it