Tuesday, October 26, 2010

I Want to Price My House Right for the Market. Should I Rely on Zillow.com?



Should you rely on Zillow.com to price your home for the market? To be upfront about it, the answer to your question is, “Yes” and No.” Here’s why I say “Yes:”

Zillow.com is a wonderful and useful site. To paraphrase the information on their site, it’s one of the “leading online real estate marketplace dedicated to helping home buyers and sellers find and share vital information about homes, real estate, and mortgages…Our goal is to help people make intelligent decisions about their homes - whether it's buying a home, selling, renting, leasing, remodeling or financing - it's all about empowering people with data and information.”


Now, here’s why I say, “No.” The Zillow site doesn’t really know the details of what’s happening in your specific neighborhood because it operates on a mathematical algorithm, not on the real information that you’ll get from a realtor or an appraiser.

So, frankly, on the Zillow web site, your property’s selling price may be too high – or too low! And the wrong price can prevent you from selling your home quickly in a tough market.

From my perspective, you should use Zillow as a starting point to get a general idea of your home’s potential selling price. But, don’t rely on it alone! Definitely talk to someone who knows your town, your neighborhood, and your street. You’ll be a much happier seller if you do!

If you’d like to talk more about Zillow and other online sites, please give me a call today! I’d love to help you out in any way I can.