Zillow doesn't know if cats sprayed all over the house...

Does Zillow know how much that house is worth?

A lot of people go on line to look at their house value.  I mean, why not? It's kinda fun!

Yes, I said fun.  Looking up "Zestimates" to compare what your neighbor's house is worth compared to yours can be amusing - especially if you have similar homes and they have updated their home and you have not and it's showing yours at value higher.  Many see this and gloat inside a little.

But when you need accurate numbers for selling or refinancing, it's no longer about fun.  It's about money.  And when it's about money, it's serious.

In order to understand why Zestimates are fun and not accurate, you need to understand what affects a home's value.  See the Top Factors that affect your home's value.

Zillow's algorithms can estimate location and market sales and tax data but there is no algorithm to determine the condition of a home or see if the home has had square footage added in a remodel.

So I just picked on Zillow here but they aren't the only website automatically "estimating" home values (their estimates are a bit of a running joke in the real estate community just because they were one of the first to do it).

If you really need to know your home value for selling or refinancing, seek professional help.  Have an agent come out and work with you to get a correct value and avoid surprises. Again, when it's about money, the only good surprise is winning it!

BUYERS - the estimate is not reliable for sellers, it's NOT reliable for you either!  You can't base your offer on some online estimated value!
Also, check out Things That Do Not Affects a Home's Value

Have questions about the value of a home?  Let's meet and review and do the CORRECT research!