We were so pleased when our broker shared this information with us about one of the largest consumer Real Estate website out there. And are even more convinced that a computer cannot replace what we do for a living.
Real Estate Website misses CEO & Owners Home Value
So how can you really believe a website that just automatically tells you what the value of your home is and then think that’s it. Presto here’s where I should list it. We as Real Estate Agents have to endure so many times in our careers “Well the Zestimate says my home is worth.”
Well when a consumer website gives a Zestimate of $1,750, 405 and says that the value will increase 4.2% over the upcoming year. This all sounds good and promising. But when you research and see that this same home was actually sold in February 2016 for $1,050,000 which is nearly 40% below what the Zestimate says. This should be alarming to you.
When you decide to list your home for sale. We believe that your goal is to sell your house. How if you used this site to determine the value of your home would you ever think that it would sell? The simple truth is it won’t.
A website cannot replace what we as REALTORS do for our clients. We have knowledge of the communities in the area. And yes there are some communities that sell at a higher price per square foot than others.
You cannot just mix together every Single Family, Condo and Town Home into a bowl regardless of bedrooms, bathrooms, garage vs no garage and say hers is the value of the property. What we do for our seller’s is we will look at comparable homes to theirs. We look at typically 10% +/- in square footage, we look in the same neighborhood (first) go back 180 days to see which homes have sold. If the seller’s house has a pool we will look for pool homes in our search.
You really want to compare an apple to an apple, not an apple to a watermelon. Now sometimes it is pretty easy because there are sales in the same neighborhood. But when there is not any or enough to see the trend, then we will open the search up slightly. We will normally do a radius search and only go out far enough to get enough homes to see what the trends are.
The initial value is solely based on statistical data from sales in MLS and the Property Appraiser site. When we meet with our seller’s there things that can allow us to adjust the value up in some cases. (Renovations, upgrades, condition) but there are things that can also have us decrease the value too.
In summary, we love what we do for a living and would never want to do anything else. We are a family run real estate business, since our son joined the team last year. Our goal is to sell your house for the highest price, in the shortest amount of time and with the most favorable terms. So if you really want to “Sell” your house, we are always available at 813-300-7116 or simply click here and we will be in touch and come sit down with you and show you what the value of your home is.