Yahoo recently added property value estimates from two companies to its real estate site. This addition allows consumers to view an estimate of value on their property from three sources simultaneously.
They have added Reply, based in San Ramon, and appraisal.com, of Orlando Florida to those from Zillow. Even though all three companies attempt to give values of millions of properties nationwide, their estimates can vary widely. One example in Southern California showed the same house as being worth somewhere between $1.14 and $1.42 million dollars, depending on which company did the calculating...quite a difference!
Appraisal is not an exact science, at best. In my appraisal class, we learned that a 5% differential was acceptable. However, a good Realtor who knows the area and local schools will use the right comparable sales and come up with a more realistic value for the property. Most of us will perform this service without charge.
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