It’s not a tree, it’s not
bedding, it’s Zillow
– a free website with an on-line database of almost 90 million homes
that estimates property values, and provides sales amounts and other
public records.
Zillow’s
opening back in 2006 launched a new arena for homeowners to research
and evaluate properties. On their first day of business,
there
was so much traffic (over 300,000 visitors) that the site crashed.
At
their website, Zillow offers a free, do-it-yourself comparable
valuation report for both buyers and sellers. They offer
different valuation tools to help homeowners track how much their
single largest asset is worth.
According
to the site, Zillow seeks to provide (and claims) 90%
accuracy.
But just how accurate is Zillow? The Wall Street Journal
analyzed
1,000 recent home sales and found that Zillow’s Zestimates were
amazingly good – often within a few percentage points of the property’s
sales price. However, when Zillow is bad it can be really bad
–
off by as much as 25% on one in ten homes.
In property tax
appeals, an essential component is valuation and comparables.
Resources such as Property Tax
Appeal Guidelines include an appraisal and comps in their
structured protest presentation.
Is
Zillow the perfect source for comparable valuations for your
home? Probably not. However, for the price (free)
it is a
great starting place to get a handle on what you need to prepare for
your property tax appeal.
Michael Korbe