While surfing around the web today, I stopped over at Yehoo! Real Estate. The Research portion of their home page presented some interesting numbers. As of May 8 (keeping in mind that today is June 8), the 'National Real Estate Market Snapshot' said that the median price of homes for sale in the MLS was $269,000. This was a 0.0% change from April.
Is there really any relevance to computing a nationwide median price for listings? And how worthwhile is it when that data is a month old, and obviously inaccurate? Hmmm ...
The next item that caught my eye was a navigation tab that said "Home Values - Updated!" So I clicked on that to give it a try. I used my home which is a 3-bedroom, 2-bath house, 1382 square feet, built in 1998. After entering my address, city, state and ZIP, and clicking on 'Search' I was told that the value range of my house was $261,198 - $299,108.
That range is actually pretty accurate, because I think in today's market my home would sell somewhere in the 270's. What was slightly amusing was the detailed breakdown of values on the right-hand side of the screen:
- Zillow.com -- $261,198
- eppraisal.com -- $280,104
- Reply.com -- $299,108
With just my address, I received three different values that were $20,000 - $40,000 apart. If I wasn't an agent, but was getting ready to sell my home, should I just start at the top because I can always come down? How about splitting the difference and pricing it right in the middle? And there must be something wrong with Zillow, I know my house is worth more than that!
On second thought, maybe it's best to talk to a local professional - an agent who works every day in this market and knows its intricacices. Because the one fact that will always overrule technology is that real estate is local. Online valuations may be quick and convenient, but a web server is no match for an experienced real estate agent.
Ultimately, buying and selling real estate isn't about houses and tax records, it's about finding housing and financial solutions for people. That's something that skilled and dedicated real estate agent do every day.
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On-line valuations are great for simple low LTV refinances as the right value isn't critical. Many of the automated appraisals that lenders use come from closed loan files. They take the appraisal information and enter it into a huge database.
I would hate to see the real appraiser disappear. Fee appraisers need to copywrite their appraisals to prevent this plagiarism.
Dave Kosmecki
http://www.americanstar.com