House Values?

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

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.

I did that once too when it said we only had 1 bedroom and 0 bathrooms and of course square footage was off. Once I changed the info the estimate went up like $20,000 but it's still off by maybe $50,000. I have seen numerous houses that are right on target though. It really just depends.

 

[lucyem]

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.

This. This is especially true in places like New England where copycat houses in subdivisions do not exist to the extent they do elsewhere. My agent has said it is a total pain for them to constantly have to educate buyers on this fact when they say "well Zillow said……". I know a farm that sold for $850,000, where the owners took a hit, after the market crash, and Zillow has it's value at $257,000. There are just too many factors for Zillow to get it right.

 

[scoutie]

They sure are doing a disservice to sellers

Zillow is awful. Even after I updated my listing (new paver patio, finished basement, new Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors), the price barely increased.

 

[AnnaS]

Zillow is awful. Even after I updated my listing (new paver patio, finished basement, new Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors), the price barely increased.

Is is not always accurate so when one checks - hard to get a clear/accurate assessment.

It really does not matter what you put into the house. I tell everyone I can put in gold faucets and appliances, this does not really increase the value of your home. If we had two identical homes and yours was more updated, yours would be worth more but I believe fair market value (give or take thousands - some give low/med/high - is all about location and square footage/lot size. I could be wrong.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

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.

Why? No seller is going to base their price on a Zillow estimate and buyers will quickly learn the real value of homes after working with a realtor and viewing some homes.

 

[tvguy]

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

Zillow gets their specifications from local property tax records. Maybe the tax assessor never updated their database, or maybe your neighors never got a building permit? Especially 20 years ago, many people just didn't bother with permits and in some cases, with using a licensed contractor.