Zillow's been talking about me

My neighbor approached me the other day and remarked, "Did you notice what zillow said about us?"

I wasn't aware he was on speaking terms with Zillow... or that my name had somehow been brought up in conversation... so I played along, "No... what's Zillow been saying?"

"Zillow says your house is worth $41k less ever since the bank accepted the offer on that corner house. They say my house is worth $38k less."

OK.

I don't really have a bone to pick with Zillow... but my neighbor is not too happy with them right now.

Knowing I'm an agent, my neighbor wanted my opinion. These are the things I shared:

 

• It's difficult to know exactly what any home is worth right now. In some neighborhoods there are so many bank owned properties that the "new retail" value is the price of the latest sold property... even if it's bank owned.

• Zillow provides an approximation of value. They aren't as accurate as a licensed appraiser who will be able to take into account all factors. Sometimes their figures are high... sometimes they are low. Often they won't have some essential information, such as how many beds and baths a home has. However, they are a pretty good gage for a "ball park" figure. They aren't pulling prices out of thin air... they have a methodology and a formula- but a consumer will want "someone in the business" to give them richer information to help judge values.

• The values are never written in stone. They change each day... especially as new data arrives. Every sale changes the comparisons.

Has Zillow been talking about you? What do you have to say about them?

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Chuck Willman is an Arizona based real estate agent. www.AZvest.com