Tagged: Zillow

January 14, 2016

Bank Profits: Eliminate Appraisers

Zestimate Gone Wrong. It all comes down to money and profits…

Once again the Zestimate has a home-owner up in arms. In a small town in North Carolina a home just sold for $20,000. It was listed at $55,000, then reduced to $45,000, and finally sold in 2015 for $20,000. Safe to say it needed a little TLC.

It was a shell in need of, well everything. But, we have to remember that automated valuation services don’t know anything about condition or circumstances. Before the house was listed for sale, the owner (from a different state) thought they had inherited a nice little nest egg. Not a fortune, but if it was close to the Zestimate, they would have quite a nice amount to play with…

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM / Home Valuation Code of Conduct

Bottled water and Automated Valuation Model (AVM) - Lie

May 12, 2015

Bottled Water and AVM – Sold on a Lie

How about bottled water? Advertising is a powerful tool and very smart people will do some very dumb things, if they are properly motivated. There are many examples of how advertising creates an illusion and how we all fall victim (at least for a while) to smooth ad campaigns. One great example is automobile insurance rates. “Switch and Save. Every insurance company ran ads promising savings over their competition. Well, of course, they all can’t be true, but for over a year there was a massive switch in policies by consumers. The ads worked. How about bottled water? News shows...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM

Are Realtors and AMC’s Killing the Home Valuation System? In a word, YES!

June 25, 2014

Are Realtors & AMC’s Killing the Home Valuation System?

Are Realtors and AMC’s Killing the Home Valuation System? In a word, YES! Many Appraisal Management Companies are now demanding that appraisers change the square footage details listed within their reports. Why? Because they saw a different number on Zillow® or in public records. How have we gone this far wrong? Appraisers generally turn first to their own files for square footage details. Next, they turn to the MLS, which is touted as “the most trusted source of real estate information in the world.” Then, if there are no other options (like in the many areas where the MLS does...

AMC / American Measurement Standard / American National Standards Institute / AMS / ANSI / Appraisal

November 18, 2011

The Fuzzy Math of Home Values

Fuzzy Math In a housing market that’s been mostly a cause for gloom, so-called home-valuation technology has become one of the few sources of excitement. After years of real estate pros holding all the informational cards in the home-sale game, Web-driven companies like Zillow, Homes.com and Realtor.com are offering to reshuffle the deck. They’ve rolled out at-your-fingertips technology via laptop and smartphone to give shoppers and owners an estimate of what almost any home is worth. And people have flocked to the data in startling numbers. Vigilant homeowners check their values to help decide whether it’s worth the hassle of...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM / Online Estimates