Want to know your home's value? Why your local agent is MUCH more reliable than your real estate website.

Want to know your home's value? Why your local agent is MUCH more reliable than your real estate website. Finally! I just read this article: 4 ways online real estate valuations fail. I will add this to my library for refuting the monthly conversation of off-based website property values. I know Realtors are not the only ones putting out this fire, mortgage brokers and appraisers have the same objection: But ***** says my home is worth $270,000!

Here's their list of ways consumers could get bad comps:

• if your home is older and has had a lot of improvements and even additions that are not in the county records, you're likely to get bad comps;
• if homes in your area are very different from each other, you might get bad comps;
• if you live in a neighborhood very nearby another neighborhood where homes have a much higher or lower value than your area's (say, because they belong in a better school district or even on the other side of the city limits), you're prone to getting bad comps;
• if your home is in an area where homes are dense, the algorithm might jump over many very nearby properties to get to a relatively dissimilar one even a half-mile away, and that can give you bad comps.
• The computer can't necessarily distinguish nuances in a property's condition or aesthetics, nor does it always correct for whether the house two blocks over was a short sale or a foreclosure

(Not to mention where the data comes from or how dated it is. Also look into the sites accuracy rate.)

"But when it's time to actually list your home, or figure out what it is worth, no computer -- no algorithm -- is as accurate as a living, breathing local real estate professional who sees and sells all the different specimens of homes in your neighborhood and sees firsthand what ready, willing, qualified buyers actually pay for them, day in and day out.

I think it's important for sellers interviewing listing agents to discuss the online comparables with prospective listing agents, but not as a counterargument to what the listing agents recommend you list your home at."

Understanding the source and educating the consumer is our job. I had to post this article for that reason: 4 ways online real estate valuations fail.

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