What is the real value of your house in the Memphis area? By definition the value of a property, be it a house, a car or a horse, is what a willing seller is willing to accept and what an able buyer is willing to pay. The agreed amount of the executed transaction is true value. That being said, there are resources to approximate true value. We realtors are called upon to provide valuation information when we list a house or represent buyers. You trust us for our expertise in pulling together sales history, market information, competition, neighborhood conditions, and other factors to come up with a reasonable valuation, based on our knowledge in real estate sales. An appaisal is a formalized declaration of value by a licensed real estate appraiser. But appraisals produce more than just a magic number. Appraisal information is driven by variables such as type of loan applied for, government guidelines, and appraiser knowledge of neighborhood. The Memphis Area Association of Realtors and Chandler Reports, a private company, maintain separate databases of property information and sales data, that realtors and appraisers draw from. The Shelby County Tax Assessor's office appraises properties for the purposes of taxation. It is physically impossible to do a full appraisal on all properties in the County every 3 years, so updates to appraisals are based on computer models, and often do not reflect actual comparable sales data. Evidence of the imperfection of the system can be seen in the significant number of property owners who appeal successfuly in having Assessor appraisals changed. So here we are in 2009, in the domain of web 2.0. We are seeing valuations of local properties from companies no where close to Memphis. Using public and consumer provided information and ever evolving algorithms, companies like Zillow, Trulia, and Cyberhomes are providing valuation information. It is interesting to compare the valuations provided by these sources. Check your house (or a house you have wondered about) at the Assessor's site, and an online site like Zillow. They are free. You may be shocked by the difference. For a fee Chandler will provide you with comparable information about property; an appraisal will caost you usually $300-400, or you can call your realtor to pull it all together for you.