Zillow is the greatest website ever for curious home buyers like your self, right? Nope!
We all know and teach kids not to believe everything on the internet, but when it comes to home values everyone thinks Zillow is gospel. I’m not sure when,or why this is the case but apparently we all throw logic out the window when referring to Zillow….if they say my home is worth $400,000 than it must be. Ignore the fact that my home has 1 bed, 1 bath, no roof and sits in the middle of the river.
So I grew up in Fenton and sell a lot of home here. Often times I hear a home buyer or seller say “but this home is worth more/ less, Zillow says so.” Well if Zillow says so, let’s take a look…
I used Zillow to show me what the median list price was for the past 12 months.
Next, I used the MLS for the same information. For those of you who don’t know what the MLS is, it’s the database that all Realtors use and records the sale of all property in the area.
Do you see what I do? A $10,000 difference! For a buyer this is horrible news. They thought they could get a home for $185k but reality is they will need another $10,000. For a seller this is great news! Now they can get more for their home.
What’s the point of this? Remember what our parents taught us and what we teach our kids. You can’t believe everything on the internet.