The "Zestimate" Reality

What is a Zestimate?

"The Zestimate® (pronounced ZEST-ti-met, rhymes with estimate) home valuation is Zillow's (an advertising agency's)  estimated market value, computed using a proprietary formula. It is not an appraisal. It is a starting point in determining a home's value. The Zestimate is calculated from public (local tax records) and user submitted data;" your real estate agent or appraiser physically inspects the home and takes special features, location, and market conditions into account." says Zillow.

Let's break down the data that one finds on Zillow as a Zestimate:

• Property square footage, taxes, and lot size all come from county tax records. These tax records are not always up to date and accurate.

• The county appraisal of your home is not the real value and does not include upgrades, remodels, lot price, extra building's etc. This is why you will see on your tax data a lower price than what you think you home is worth. Most tax data is updated every 1 to 2 years so always check your tax bill and the Assessor's Tax Questionnaire that you receive. Give the Assessor's office the exact data that you know about your home as well.

• SOLD data of property sold in the Springfield, MO and SW Missouri area through REALTORS at the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors is NOT of public record nor is it syndicated out to websites, or ad agencies such as Trulia or Zillow (yes these are ad agencies not real estate experts).

Now that you know what a "Zestimate" really is,  here are the things one should do when looking how to accurately price their home:

• Call a Murney Associate agent for a REAL Comparable Market Analysis on your home.

• Know that the Murney.com website pulls accurate data multiple times a day so that our agents are more informed on how to find the value of your home.

• Syndicated website such as Zillow.com, Trulia.com, Realtor.com, Homes.com etc only pull data from our local MLS every few days, sometimes weeks, so the data that you are most likely seeing is INCORRECT, therefore call on your Murney agent to provide you the best and accurate data.

• Search homes on Murney.com instead of these syndicated websites so that you are getting the best information.