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Appraisers do valuation. They have licenses to do so.
Agents do likely sales prices.
They are not the same thing.
I'll say everyone gets to pick how they want to be preyed upon, and some like to be preyed upon via pop appraisals.
This is where regulation should step in, just_because some folks are easily plucked.
Oh good grief. Now I'm getting really confused. So we can go to a human Realtor to get a house value and maybe that's the best. Then some are saying that the Realtor's website gives wrong information but the human Realtor is correct. Now we have someone saying that human Realtors also give wrong information if its on an email.
I'm just gonna keep it simple. The Realtor website gives the numbers right there in black and white. The Realtor's website is clear and easy. It's like having your own little Realtor right on my iPad. But I guess hopefully not like a mini version of one of those Realtors who gives wrong values on emails!
When you hire a real estate agent, they will form an educated opinion on value by looking at the recent comps. This is different from the online valuations, which don’t seem to use any valid criteria to base their prices on.
I totally get that it being done by a computer is not 100% accuracy and that a human Realtor is more accurate. But I use the Realtor website for valuation of my house because it's the online version of a Realtor valuation - quicker and easier but not 100% accurate. For my use tracking my house value every month I don't need 100% accuracy and I'm not going to call up a human Realtor to value my house every month. They would hate me. So that's why I just use the online version of a Realtor valuation on the Realtor website.
Oh, I get that. I do that too, but I can’t figure out how they come up with their numbers. I am in a pocket neighborhood and I keep track of what houses sell for.
Just for example, my house in Ohio sold for $368k in 2010. Zillow has the value at $186k, and last listed at $69k. I’ve sent them a correction, but they don’t seem to care. They are confusing the house, with an adjacent lot that was sold separately.
Oh, I get that. I do that too, but I can’t figure out how they come up with their numbers. I am in a pocket neighborhood and I keep track of what houses sell for.
Just for example, my house in Ohio sold for $368k in 2010. Zillow has the value at $186k, and last listed at $69k. I’ve sent them a correction, but they don’t seem to care. They are confusing the house, with an adjacent lot that was sold separately.
You can look at how Zillow comes up with the values. They have 3 parts to it: 1) sales comps and you can see WHICH ones they are using. My biggest issue with this is that they are often WAY out of date. I have seen them go back as far as 2005, which is ludicrous. 2) average of local sales prices relative to list. So if most of the houses are averaging at 94% of list, that's what they use. 3) Tax assessor values. This might work if they tax assessor was any good at valuing but if you live in the Chicago area, as an example, you know they are wildly all over the map.
My best suggestion is to go to Zillow and look at the comps they are using. Also, look at listings in your area. They aren't sales and there will be outliers (like my house that I want buy which is overpriced by 20%). But it should give you a clue.
And lastly, I don't know what the value of your house is, but not even a great appraiser is normally going to be down to the $500 in estimating a value. The lower the price and the more comps you have, it MIGHT be possible. But I would still save every month if I were you.
Absolutely. REALTORS are professionals in the industry and REALTORS know how to value homes better than just about anyone else. Duh! That's a no brainer. Therefore I most certainly trust realtor.com's home value estimates much more than some random .com site like Zillow. If you wanna know what your house is worth, just look it up on Realtor.com. Go right to the source. The people who know what they are doing. Are you gonna trust some .com geeks to say what your house is worth or are you gonna trust the guys at realtor.com who are actually REALTORS who sell houses? I see a lot of people complaining about Zillow being inaccurate or whatever. The answer is simple. Use Realtor.com estimates instead! Duh.
LOL. Some realtors can not even do basic math. Some do not even understand the concept of "price per square foot". Realtors are salespeople. Some good, some bad, most meh.
We don't have much else besides our house and I like to track the value of it. Sometimes it's hard to save money month to month so if Realtor.com says that my house increased in value by like $500 that month then I figure that's like money in the bank and I don't really have to kill myself to put the money in savings because I figure that I am saving through my house. That feels good and I can do something else with that money. I love to keep tabs on the value of my house just like I watch my bank balance and I love how Realtor allows me to do that. I'm one of those people who likes to stay on top of things.
Since tracking my house's value with Realltor, I also decided to reduce the amount put into my 401k plan because I really need that money for something else anyway. Realtor said my house went up by about 14,000 last year so I can certainly feel good about that since without even doing anything I'm meeting my savings goals!
Maybe I'll give Zillows a look just to see but I like to keep things simple and I'll just continue to use Realtor to track my homes value every month.
Technology is not all bad you know! As a Realtor, you probably don't want me calling you every month asking you to value my house so it seems doing it through internet Realtor is good for both of us.
this is the best answer I have seen in weeks on the forum. thank you!
I contacted zillow about an amazingly priced luxury condo in hawaii... They put me in touch with a local agent who informed me that there was a leasehold on the property for $8K a month until 2027 and a maintenance fee for $3K a month.
Thanks current owner of the property, I guess informing the public on any leasehold in the information section of the listing would be too much to ask.
"With great power comes great responsibility..."
Responsibility which the pop appraisal purveyors shirk.
"To whom much is appointed, much is required."
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