Replies

1. 
   jayzog | Feb 10, 2006 04:45am | #1

   I just checked it out today. They nailed my house exactly as it was appraised 1 year ago. 

   Then I checked some of my clients houses- one is in a multi million $ hood, my educated guess is it would sell for 4 million- they had it as a 1.5 million house.

   Pretty cool site, the satalite pictures and all, don't know how accurate it is though.

2. 
   RW | Feb 10, 2006 04:54am | #2

   I had a friend tell me about it just the other day so I looked. I think it nailed my neighborhood pretty good except my house. For some reason I'm $40K over everyone else. That struck me as odd. In nosing around town, I think some of the info has to be dated; there's neighborhoods that are on the ground now that in the pics are just a field.

   "A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you." -Bert Taylor

3. 
   JerraldHayes | Feb 10, 2006 05:21am | #3

   I just learned about Zillow.com from a post over on the JLC website and wrote this about it there.

   "That's pretty kool Dick (I could see my truck and car in my driveway even better than with Goggle maps) but I wonder just how accurate the data really is. I checked my house and it had what I thought was pretty close to the right number but the pointer was pointing to my mailbox down at the bottom of the road a quarter mile away and not my property which was almost off the screen to the right.

   I also checked some of the other houses in my neighborhood that I knew prices for and it was off on them. One neighbor's house who I know sold for and even million it had at $780,000 and another neighbors house that is on the market right now for $900,000 it had at $752,000. And a client of mine a few miles up the road whose house is at least 3 or 4 million it had $1,151,501 and Martha Stewart's 153 acre estate which she bought for $16 million before making the improvements on it was only 2.35 million?

   In zillow.com' defense though it does say on the home page that it "is a beta site".

   Another similar service that I haven't checked out but that I see advertised for on TV might be housevalues.com."

   While all the houses in my area seemed to be under valued I also just this past minute checked on one of my brothers who just sold his house over in Monroe Connecticut for $540,000 it it had it at $752,000 which works out to be $212,000 over and the other houses in his now old neighborhood all seemed over price by roughly the same kind of margin.

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1. 
   zak | Feb 10, 2006 05:51am | #4

   From what I heard about it, it's all based on statistics given by county governments- sounds like a lot of links in the chain for mistakes to come up in the details of the house and lot, as well as the comparables, and how comparable they really are. Then again, I'm not sure that a lot of appraisals aren't the same. My house hasn't had an appraiser inside in a long time- the bank did a drive-by for the mortgage, the county does the same thing for taxes (if they even come by). I wish it had my area on there so I could see what their accuracy is in my area.
   zak

4. 
   catch32 | Feb 10, 2006 05:57am | #5

   Zak,

   I'm in the lending industry. We used Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) from several different companies. They can work well in new tract developments where the homes are all very similar. They do not work well in less developed areas, or in older urban neighborhoods.

   They use techniques such as developing a ratio between sales prices and the tax assessors value, or adding appreciation to prior sales of a house, or developing an average $ per sq. foot.

   AVMs can be hit or miss. Sometimes the are right on. Sometimes they are $100K off.

   If you really want to know the true value of your house talk to a good real estate agent or and appraiser.

5. 
   JasonQ | Feb 10, 2006 08:09am | #6

   Eh, not that impressed, at least for my neighborhood.   It actually got pretty close on my market valuation, but most of their figures for recent sales in my neighborhood are WAY off - like $20K over.  Wondering where they got their numbers from, 'cause they sure don't jibe w/ the tax records.

   Also doesn't (can't) account for things like condition, etc.  So, how useful a tool is it?  Not very, from my professional standpoint as a realtor.

   Jason

1. 
   ruffmike | Feb 10, 2006 04:30pm | #7

   They missed on my house also, added on to and assessed over 2 years ago. Missed by a couple hundred grand                            Mike

       Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.

1. 
   BillHartmann | Feb 10, 2006 04:57pm | #8

   I live in one of those areas that has houses that vary from 80,000 cabins to teardowns that have been replaced with $500,000 houses and everything inbetween.It seems to have my house, but one down the street is listed at $400,00 (which is probably about right), but shows it as a 1 bedroom, 700 sq ft house. Which is was 8 years ago, before they trippled it with additions.It appears that they use property taxes as a base and then adjust them.But the again the property taxes are not accurate here.

1. 
   aimless | Feb 11, 2006 08:59am | #16

   "It appears that they use property taxes as a base and then adjust them."

   The tax assessor says my house is worth $150,000; zillow.com says $622,000. The tax assessor is MUCH closer.

6. 
   TGNY | Feb 10, 2006 05:03pm | #9

   We have one in NYC called propertyshark.com. It list all kind of info, including pictures, phone numbers, violations, bldg. permits, etc.

7. 
   mvpulsts | Feb 10, 2006 05:05pm | #10

   Prices for my neighborhood seem to be over 7 years out of date. Im in an older urban undeveloped area of Atlanta and prices seem to match my house 2 owners ago. Ive been here 5 years.

    

   I purchased for 85k, 5 yys ago. the site has my house listed for 30k. seems I overspent?  Today, major fixer uppers are about 125k here.

   Matt

    

8. 
   arrowpov | Feb 10, 2006 06:11pm | #11

   For my area it shows the assessed values before the revaluation this year. The assessments are double and triple what they were.

9. 
   robert | Feb 11, 2006 02:32am | #12

    It lists my three bedroom two bath townhouse as a 3 Bd, 2.5 bath Single for $121K.

    Last month it was appraised for $155K with several half finished projects.

   Last sale on my block was $168K

1. 
   BobKovacs | Feb 11, 2006 02:41am | #13

   Guys-

   The site is showing "assessed values"- not "sales prices"  In most areas of the country, the two have nothing to do with one another, especially if the area hasn't been reassessed in a while.

   My house shows up as $74,000, which is exactly what my tax bill shows it assessed at.  All of the houses around me are identical, and all show from $70-78k.   The houses have been selling for $330-$360k for months now.  The houses haven't been reassessed for around 15-20 years.

   Bob

10. 
    Rebeccah | Feb 11, 2006 04:20am | #14

    It's got my house and my neighborhood about right, based on my periodic review of asking prices on some of the MLS sites. They've got a lot of data for the SF Bay area, and good stats for their accuracy.

    The only thing is they have my house as a 3BR 1BA, and it has 2 baths. The bathroom was put in before I bought the house 1.5 years ago, but probably not many years before that, and it wasn't done with permits, which could explain why county records might not have it.

1. 
   wrudiger | Feb 11, 2006 08:23am | #15

   I'm in the SF Bay area as well and ours feels about right - $150K higher than the appraisal a year ago when I got the HELOC.  House next door sold is showing at $100K more than they bought it for 9 months ago.  Yep, that's about what's going on around here - absolutely crazy.  And it's probable resale value, not apprasied value.

11. 
    xxPaulCPxx | Feb 11, 2006 01:56pm | #17

    My place looked pretty accurate pricewise, but it didn't have its current upgrades listed... like the 2nd floor addition that added a bedroom and a bath and 500 sq ft of living space.

    Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA

    Also a CRX fanatic!

1. 
   Huck | Feb 11, 2006 06:58pm | #18

   ...and don't forget, all those screws, too!"he...never charged nothing for his preaching, and it was worth it, too" - Mark Twain