How Accurate are Home Valuation Sites?

Many people turn to the internet to value their home, their biggest investment. I understand why, it’s easy and immediate. I recently had my home appraised to do a refinance (which is a subject that I’ll talk about in another post), and I wanted to share with you the results compared to the most common three sites Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com.

Zillow- Zillow valued my home at $196,956 and has it listed as a foreclosed property (which it’s not). I have tried putting in a correction and they refuse to change it.

Realtor.com- Realtor.com valued my property at $187,521 with it not being a foreclosure.

Redfin- Redfin valued my property the lowest at $178,412 also not as a foreclosure, which of course it’s not.

Appraisal- Based on the online values you would guess that my house would appraise somewhere between $178k-$196k right? And even that’s a big range of $18,000. Wrong, my house appraised at $210,000. Redfin has my home under valued by $31,588!

Why does this happen? These sites use public records and equations to value your home. To them your house is a statistic. They’ve never seen inside, don’t know the condition of your home, and even have blatant mistakes (like my home being listed as a foreclosure!). Also keep in mind that with these sites some homes are under valued like mine, but others are over valued. I’m not saying not to look at the sites, but just remember there’s no accurate way for them to value your home. If you ever want a true value, call up a Realtor and they’ll be happy to help! I myself help several of my clients and friends keep tabs on their home value, even if they’re not considering selling.