My home is worth what?

We have all seen it, that little or BIG number under our address on that Zillow website. "How does Zillow know what my home is worth?" Many real estate websites will now give you an estimate of your home’s value. Zillow, in particular, was one of the first sites promoting this online valuation tool, the Zestimate

How are these online home values calculated? Can you trust the value that you get? If you go to five different websites, you will get five different values. One might say that your home is worth $900,000, while another might value your home at $1.1 million. You don’t want to rely on an online home value to decide whether you will make $200,000 more

or less than you should when selling your house.

While online values may be fun and interesting to look at, they are not reliable at all. The reason these estimates are so far off is that they are simply based on statistical data, meaning that they’re looking at public records to determine the features of your home. If your home is a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home with 2,000 square feet, it will, according to the Zestimate or a similar online valuation tool, give a value similar to any home with those qualities. It will not factor in things such as the location, condition or any remodeling and landscaping that you may have done.

Home valuations need to be accurate. It is important to know what data is used and how it is analyzed. If you want to know your home's true value, speak to a local professional. A Realtor will look at the characteristics that are driving what buyers are determining to be the value of your home in today’s market. Your local realtor will also be able to advise you on the markets trends

and what is the best next step in your home ownership decision.

Oh and to answer that question, "How does Zillow know what my home is worth?"

- It doesn't!

Contact us today and we will supply you with some simple questions that can get us started on helping you determine the most accurate market value for your home.

Ciara Crews 

BIG RED REALTY GROUP    |  773-520-2571    | ciara@bigredre.com