How far off is your…

… Zestimate? Zillow’s estimate on your home’s value. Zillow isn’t the only one that does this. Nearly every website will give you an estimate nowadays. But here’s the thing. They are all different. And they are all wrong.

Let us explain what we mean by wrong… But first, we wil explain what a Zestimate is.

This comes up very frequently when meeting with homeowners to discuss selling their homes. There are a lot of people who feel confident that the Zillow estimate is the true value of their home even though it is an estimate.

Zillow’s own website on their Zestimate says: “A Zestimate is not an official appraisal, but is a starting point in determining a home’s value.”

You can also look at other websites like realtor.com, Trulia, and Redfin, and they will all give estimates. And guess what, all the estimates will be different.

The following are the home value estimates from several different well-known websites:

• Zillow= $1,215,200

• Redfin = $1,046,012

• Realtor.com = unable to locate property

• Trulia = $1,215,200 (Zillow owns Trulia)

If you owned this home and priced it off your estimate, depending on which website you looked at, it could cost you $150,000.

Here is the reality: They don’t know anything about your home beyond public records. They may know the bedroom count and square footage. But assuming that is all correct, they don’t know if your home has a view, is renovated, or has any other special features.

So if you’re looking for a starting point on your home’s value, check the estimates on 2-3 websites to get a rough idea.

The reality is that there is not a single number to “value” a home. We always share with our clients that there are three different prices for any home.

1. What an appraiser will say it’s worth. The truth is, if you hired 10 appraisers to appraise your home, they would most likely give you 10 different numbers.

2. Fair market value for a home. This is not a number, but it’s a reasonable range. This is how we always share the value of a home. The reason for this is we will give options for upgrades or repairs that could be done that would improve the value of the home.

3. Whatever a buyer is willing to pay. This is the reality of the ‘value’ of the home. You can make a large impact on what you would sell for (value) by making minor changes. Does this impact the value of the home, or is it just affecting the selling price?

Here is how we give estimates here at The Improta Team. Like most things in our business, we give our clients options.

OPTION ONE:
You can go to our website and add your address. Once you fill out the basic information, you’ll get a rough estimate of the value of your home.

Then, we will go in and run a market analysis on your home and dial in the home’s value. We update these ourselves, and we do it consistently to keep you updated.

* The more information you provide us, the more accurate this analysis will be *

This is our version of a “starting point.” You won’t need to talk to anyone, and you’ll get the first estimate immediately.

OPTION TWO:
Call us at (818) 619-3838. We will go through a quick phone (or email) interview to get more information on your home.

Some of the questions we ask:

When was the last home renovation?
When was the kitchen done? What does it look like?
When was the Master done? What does it look like now?
Do you have any issues we should know about?

OPTION THREE:
Have us come out to your home to do a free market analysis and staging consultation. This will allow us to get the most possible information on the home. We will also be able to go through the home and show what repairs or upgrades you could do vs. the ones that you shouldn’t.

This appointment takes between 20 minutes to an hour, depending on how many questions you ask. In the end, you’ll walk away knowing exactly what to do to your home to get the most out of it.

You don’t need to be ready to sell your home to take advantage of this option. Actually, it’s better you do this at least a year ahead of time. That way, you can be ready when you are ready to sell.

There’s no cost or obligation when you go with any of the three options.

Here is a reminder of the links and what they do:

Home Valuation “Starting Point” – CLICK HERE
Full Market Analysis – CLICK HERE
Market Analysis & Staging Consultation – CLICK HERE