Why do people rely in Zillow.com for appraised value?

People use it because it is fast and it is free.

The vast majority of buyers/sellers are uneducated about the way it really works, but instant answers without a $300 invoice appears attractive.

We used Zillow and actually glad we did! The duplex we wanted was on the market for $230,000 Zillow said estimate low $155,000 high $185,000. When the mortgage hade it apprasied, it was at $172,000. So we we were glad to see Zillow was working for us. With the same for my mother-in-laws home. Realtor said she wanted to list it for $200- and it is actually only worth $130-

But if you want acurate apprasial...depending on what your looking at Zillow and the Mortgage company should be pretty close.

you can't go on what the house has sold before. People make many improvements that are not/may not be on City records. For city, most accessments are reacted every 7-10 years.

Some apprasiers are also working either for the realtor or the seller which will give 2 different figures also depending who they have to please.

Although, my husband builds houses, and it isn't just the house that is apprasied, it is also the location and size of the lot, and its surroundings (new development) which zillow already configures. He also knows what a house should go for per sq ft no matter where it is located... He says it is location that brings value and that is where appraisers may go wrong.

Zillow is the biggest joke ever, but so is ANY avm. As an appraiser you know that the market is so subjective that to get an accurate market value you need to assess each individual property. Also many banks are getting turned upside down on homes due to the fact that they loaned money based on avm's. And my last complaint is that some banks (especially chase) will actually put you on the "watch list" if your appraisal varies more than 70% from their avm. So if your subject has a lake that they didn't count into the avm, or a efficiency than you'll get automatically slapped on their "watch list".

Zillow is not the place to go for accurate information on finding the value of your house or a house you may be considering purchasing. The sales history of any given house is public record and can be found on line or at your local township/city office. Just do a little digging and you will be suprized at what information is available.

Because it's free