Belt Auction

What gives with home appraisals on Yahoo Real Estate ?

I took real estate appraisal classes back in the 1970's and learned some basics. I look on-line at the Yahoo home values and find that Zillow values my home at $167,000 and e-appraisal at $102,000. The 10 comps show an average of $147,000. What gives here ? I do not understand how the appraisals can vary by such a huge margin. This is in the Las Vegas area and we do have the highest foreclosure rate in the Nation. My tax appraisal dropped to $267,000 this year because of the decrease in values. Not interested in selling, just curious as to how such a wide variation between Zillow & e-appraisal is possible, when both should be using the same data.

Public Comments

1. Zillow is notorious for not having accurate values. I don't know about e-appraisal. The only way to get a legitimate, *realistic* appraisal on any property is from a local real estate agent.
2. The appraisals you are seeing are electronic appraisals based on the computer comparing the sales value of houses with comparable features such as number of rooms, type of roof, etc. A on sight visual is not conducted, so the roof on one home maybe new, but ready for replacement on another, Same with good and bad landscaping, painting, remodels, etc. Both houses are assigned the same value by the computer because one sold for a certain value, but the actual market price may vary greatly. A local appraiser tried using electronic appraisals, and low balled our house by $60,000 under market value. Get a new appraiser if one uses the electronic programs out there.
3. As far as I know, Zillow and the other companies that compile these stats use the county records as their source. As I have found the county records are wrong 50% of the time, so basing your appraisal on these would net such a return. The best way to find the true value is to have appraisal done from an appraiser. Not a real estate agent.
4. If you took an appraisal course, you know what a comp consists of. An electronic "comp", done from a database, is not a comp, and you know it (or should). A house at a low spot on the property (flooding problems) is worth less than one with a slight elevation under the house. That doesn't show on a database. A neighbor with a few wrecks on the front lawn depresses the value. It's like any other "one size fits all" solution - it may fit, but not very well.
5. There is practically no way in Hell for an online appraisal to be very accurate. The only way to get a real idea of any house value is to do comparisons with other houses that have sold in that neighborhood in the last 3 to 6 months in the current market.
6. The online appraisal sites are not accurate. I plugged my personal residence into a few appraisal sites, the values assigned were in a $70,000 range of values, and about 30% off of actual value. As a Realtor, I have to regularly educate my clients about these websites, and no, your house is not worth what that website told you.
7. Online appraisals are toys, not real appraisals at all. Do not take them seriously.