By now I’m sure that many of you have heard of Zillow, a real estate portal that’s been around for a couple of years. Zillow may not be the busiest real estate website, but it is ranked right up there in the top performers.

One of the “innovations” Zillow brought to the industry is their “Zestimate.” This is an Automated Valuation Methodology used to come up with the price of a home. Keep in mind that Zillow doesn’t actually visit any of the homes where they offer an opinion on price. They do it using a mathematical formula. There are a lot of neighborhoods in Annapolis, Bowie, Crofton and the surrounding area where a “formula” isn’t going to work all that well.

Updated kitchens and baths…Zillow wouldn’t have a clue. Same goes for Harvest Gold appliances, wallpaper, carpet stains, etc. You get the picture.

What buyers and sellers need to understand about Zillow is that it should be used as a starting point, not a be all, end all. Zillow even publishes their error rates by State and County. You can actually click here to see what it is for Anne Arundel County, MD.

Yesterday, I heard another Realtor® say, “If Zillow provides Zestimates, Realtors provide Zactimates.” That’s it pretty much it in a nutshell. Contact a local Realtor, who is familiar with the market, for a comparative price analysis on your home. Don’t depend on an automated evaluation method.