Find Your Home Value
Home Appraisal Tips & Advice
California Home Values and Property Taxes: Are the Laws What They Should Be?December 22, 2008
California is once again rethinking Proposition 13, the law that bases home property taxes on the purchase price of a house. Will a new property tax law pass? California Home Values Are Falling: Can There Be an Upside?
September 30, 2008
Home sale prices are down and most people have seen a loss of home value in their neighborhood. Can there be a hidden benefit? Selling Your Home Successfully in Today's Market
September 8, 2008
Yes, the home selling market has slowed in the past year; however, houses are still being purchased on a daily basis. What is the secret to successful home selling? Automated Appraisal Services--are they an Accurate Portrayal of Your Home's Value?
By Sheryl LandrumHome Worth Columnist
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Recently at our weekly Realtor meeting, one of the agents asked if anyone had been experiencing home value issues with their home buyers and home sellers that had been looking at online automated appraisal services. The uproar that ensued supported the fact that automated appraisals are not a correct representation of a home's value.
Why Automated Home Appraisals Don't Accurately Portray a Home's Value
Automated appraisals rely on several data sources such as tax records, the sales history of an individual home, and home sale comparables. What automated appraisals cannot determine is a home's increase in value due to home improvements, landscaping, and other upgrades that increase a home's worth. I decided to go to Zillow.com, probably the most popular of the automated appraisal sites, to check the value of my home. I was delighted with my Zillow appraisal, it was even higher than my professional one--hmmm.I decided to compare my home value estimate to my neighbors'; unfortunately, this is where my bubble burst. My home value estimate was over $90,000 more than my neighbor's home value--the neighbor whose home was easily worth $75,000 more than mine due to home improvements and upgrades. My home was valued higher as it had sold a few times and each time for a much higher price; my neighbors were the original homeowners of theirs.
When You Want an Accurate Home Value Estimate, Who do You Call?
While automated appraisals can be a good beginning point to determining your home's value, only a professional appraiser can give you an accurate home value estimate. The appraiser is the choice of your Realtor or loan officer as well; call either of them to help you determine what your home's true value is.About the Author
Sheryl Landrum is a Senior Loan Officer with First Capital Mortgage of San Diego at the Prudential Realty Office in Bonsall, California.