Becky Ivins Movers Real Estate Podcast

I’m sharing the five major things that will not increase the value of your home. Today we’re going to discuss several things that won’t increase the value of your home: 1. Extensive professional landscaping. It is critical to have great curb appeal, some plantings, and not have a barren backyard. However, $100,000 landscaping jobs generally translate to about a $10,000 increase in the value of your property. So minimal landscaping is best. 2. Replacing big-ticket items. This doesn’t increase the value of your home. For example, buyers purchase a home expecting that the heating and air conditioning units are going to work. You get a slight increase for new items, but not what they originally cost.  3. Swimming pools and hot tubs. Pools now add a bit of value to your home, but if your pool cost $60,000 to install, you’re likely to get about $15,000 value back out, if it’s in great and new condition. Many factors contribute to lowering the value of a pool. “If you’re going to put solar panels in, stay awhile, then sell.”  4. Having a professional paint your house. Don’t worry about the paint so much—decluttering is actually more crucial. If you pay a professional to paint even a small area, it’ll likely cost a few thousand dollars. If you can do it yourself, you should.  5. Installing new solar panels. Solar panels are becoming fairly popular again, but they can be expensive and you cannot get the full value back. If you’re going to put solar panels in, stay awhile, then sell. Some buyers don’t like solar panels because they won’t know how to care for them and will have to pay someone to check them. Bonus: What you can do to increase the value of your home: Add a beautiful new deck! If you have a deck large enough to fit furniture and a grill, and it’s new and in excellent condition, you can frequently get 100% of your money back!  If you’re wondering what buyers will and won’t be willing to pay for as you start fixing up your home, call me. I’ll talk you through it, take a look at your home, and let you know whether or not you should do something differently. If you have any other questions, feel free to call or email me. I would love to help you!

Looking to sell a home? If so, you definitely want to avoid making these home selling mistakes. Selling a home isn’t always easy, and it definitely won’t be easier if you make any of these six selling mistakes. Here’s what to look out for as a seller:  1. Overpricing your home: Many sellers think they can start high and simply lower their price if needed. However, this tactic scares off buyers who are searching in the price range where your home should be. Each home has a value, and that value doesn’t vary a whole lot. It’s important to find a great real estate agent who can help you determine your home’s true value. Their expertise can also prevent you from underpricing your home and leaving money on the table! 2. Failing to make simple repairs: People want their new home to work, and the last thing they want to do is move in and start fixing everything. Do the necessary repairs before trying to make the house look nice. “Be prepared to have showings within an hour or two of notice.”  3. Neglecting to declutter the home: If there’s too much in your home, buyers will be unable to see themselves living in it. Cluttered living areas can easily turn off potential buyers, so hide or throw out unnecessary items. 4. Not allowing access for showings: You typically can’t sell a home without showing it to buyers. This means that you’ll have to show it whether you’re there or not. Buyers don’t always share your same schedule, so your home needs to be show-ready at all times. Be prepared to have showings within an hour or two of notice. 5. Getting super emotional: It can be hard to avoid feeling emotional during a home sale. However, it’s important to look at the sale through a business lens. Your agent will help you weigh out the pros and cons of buyer offers and help you when the emotions run high. 6. Choosing the wrong agent: Not all agents are able to provide you with the service you need. I make it a point to be up front and honest with my clients and ensure their needs are met. I can tell you exactly what needs to be done to get your home sold and guide you toward a great sale.  By avoiding these mistakes, you’re bound to have a better chance of finding the perfect buyer. If you have any questions or would like more information, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.  

People often ask whether we host open houses and, if so, why. We’ll answer this question today. Sellers often ask me whether or not my team and I utilize open houses to market listings.  This answer is we do, but not always.. When I’m asked this question, I like to make it very clear why we might choose to hold an open house, as well as the fact that an open house and a broker’s open are not the same.  Open houses are events during which you invite the public to come view your home during a set period of time. A broker’s open, meanwhile, is an event when other brokers or agents are invited to come tour the home. These are often done in gated communities or particularly unusual or high-end homes.  Back on the subject of open houses, our team likes to make clients aware that it’s possible to show a house without hosting an open house. One way of achieving this is by creating a listing video or a virtual 3-D tour. “As with everything we do in our business, the way we conduct our open houses is designed to help sellers maximize their results.”  Frankly, open houses are also quite beneficial to agents, as they bring in prospective clients. This doesn’t mean they don’t benefit sellers, though.  One of the main reasons we continue to hold open houses is that sometimes, buyers want to look at and explore the property without their Realtor following along. Of course, buyers have to show up for an open house to be effective, which is why our team puts up plenty of signs to lead buyers to the property prior to the day of the event.  As with everything we do in our business, the way we conduct our open houses is designed to help sellers maximize their results.  If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

  As a homeowner, here are the four different types of appraisals you need to be aware of: 1. Purchase appraisal. With these appraisals, licensed appraisers determine your home’s value in the same way a Realtor gives you a comparative market analysis. In other words, they base their appraisal on comparable sold properties in your neighborhood that were “arm’s length” transactions. By “arm’s length” transaction, I mean a sale that didn’t take place between two family members.  2. Refinance appraisal. These are based primarily on your good credit. Many refinances don’t require an appraisal, but if they do, appraisers take the priciest comparable homes into consideration so the mortgage company shows that you have more equity in your home. “Most Realtors aren’t appraisers, but they’re very good at determining a home’s market value.”  3. The county assessor appraisal. In this case, the county assessor establishes value based on last year’s home values and sales data. Because of this, sometimes their market values can be off, but it’s easy to appeal a county assessor’s appraisal of your home. I’ve done it myself, and I’ve helped a lot of people do the same. By lowering the county assessor’s appraisal, you can lower your ad valorem property tax.  4. Insurance appraisal. Here, the insurance company appraises your house at replacement cost, which is far greater than a purchase price, refinance price, or county-assessed value.  If you’d like to know more about the differences between various appraisals, talk to a real estate professional. Most Realtors aren’t appraisers, but they’re very good at determining a home’s market value.  If you have any other questions about this or any other real estate topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive from sellers when I go on listing appointments is whether or not I do open houses. Sometimes we do, but most of the time we don’t. When I’m asked this question, I like to make it very clear why we might choose to hold an open house. Frankly, open houses are more to the Realtor’s benefit than the seller’s. This is because open houses can generate leads for us. Sometimes the people who drop by are sellers who are checking out our marketing. Other times, we get buyer leads.  Also, open houses are most often held in vacant properties rather than in occupied ones. This is especially true of gated communities, where open houses are a must in order to gain prospective purchasers.  “Open houses are a somewhat old-fashioned as a regular way of doing business.” Sometimes, buyers want to look at and explore the property without the Realtor following along. This ties into one of the most unique reasons we hold an open house, which is to follow up with an interested buyer.  We may actually hold an open house just for one potential buyer, even if it’s only for an hour or so. Sometimes in situations like these other buyers may show up, which can actually be beneficial.  But ultimately, open houses are somewhat old-fashioned as a regular way of doing business. Back when I started real estate and was still carrying around the multiple listing book with one-inch, black-and-white photos, open houses were much more popular. These days, all the photos that are available online mean that buyers have access to a virtual “open house” 24/7.  If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Which is the best investment: a new home or an existing home? If you’ve been thinking of buying a home, you may be asking yourself this question. Today, I’d like to give you my opinion.  First of all, the answer may vary depending on where you plan on buying. When buying in a newer neighborhood, existing homes can sometimes be a better buy.  These homes are still current but tend to be cheaper than a new home. New homes do provide you with the option to pick and choose items you like, but this can cause you to go over budget if you aren’t careful.  If you are planning on buying a new home, be very cautious when choosing between your options. “When buying in a newer neighborhood, existing homes can sometimes be a better buy.” So, which is a better buy? Ultimately, the answer depends on your wants and needs. The right choice depends on what is important to you.  But, what about the sellers’ side of things? Which will bring more money: a nearly-new home or an older one?  Again, this depends on the neighborhood. Existing homes in highly sought-after neighborhoods will be very popular among buyers.  If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Today we’re going to talk about the best time to sell your house. Well, I’ve got an answer for that. It’s always the best time to sell your house in the world of a real estate agent. In general though, I’d say that the best time to sell your house is probably mid-February, before everybody else puts their house on the market. This is what I’d tell my daughter if she called me to ask when she should sell. She lives in a neighborhood that is school-driven; people buy there for the school system, as well as for the gated neighborhood. There, you’d want to get your house sold by the end of July, because school starts in August. In that case, that would be the best time to sell their house. If you’ve got an acreage, you do not want to put your house on the market in September because everything will have started getting drab, dull, and cold. You don’t want to try to sell an acreage in the depths of winter, either. “Keep in mind that during the spring and summer, there are always more buyers looking, but you also have more competition.” But, should you try to sell a condo or a zero-lot-line garden home in the winter? Actually, that’s a great time to sell those, because folks living in condos and garden homes typically don’t have school-aged children, so they can move year-round. Most of the folks in Oklahoma like to move during the warmer weather. Nobody likes to move during the cold or the holidays, so spring and summer are always good. But, it’s always best to be first. Keep in mind that during the spring and summer, there are always more buyers looking, but you also have more competition. If you have any questions for me, just give me a call. I’ll try to answer you by way of a return call, or maybe on the next video that we make. Otherwise, you can also email me. I’m here to be your real estate professional.

Today we’re going to talk about the number of days on the market. “Days on market” means the period of time from when you put your home on the market to the day you put your home under contract. Our average in the Oklahoma City metro area is around 68 days on the market.  Does it matter how many days your home stays on the market? The answer is yes. The faster your home sells, the more money you end up getting from it. So, how can you help keep your home on the market for fewer days? It all comes down to price and presentation if you’re a seller. It’s the agent’s obligation to provide you as the seller with enough information to accurately price your property and help you stage it properly so that someone will put in an offer after walking through it. “Your real estate agent is a marketer, not a salesperson.” Most importantly, it’s about marketing. Your real estate agent is a marketer, not a salesperson. You don’t ever sell a house, but rather you market a property to convince a buyer that they want to purchase it.  So, how do I stack up? Right now we’re averaging about 37 days on the market. Some homes are on the market for only a few days, and others for much longer. I recently listed a home that went for full price on the first day it was on the market. Some homes, such as the homes in the luxury market and are priced over $750,000, can be expected to stay on the market for longer due to there being fewer buyers. If you have any other questions about this topic or you’re looking to buy or sell a home, please give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to speaking with you.

What are foreclosures and why do they happen? To make it simple, foreclosures are properties that have been repossessed by the lender. The buyer fell through with their obligation to make payments, which can happen for a variety of reasons. Whether someone has an accident that impedes their ability to produce income, they lose their job, or they are going through some other hardship, there are many ways for a person to find themselves in this position. The bottom line is that if payments are not made, the property will be foreclosed upon. This is why my team and I tell buyers at closing that, “If you don’t pay, you don’t stay.” Once the lender takes a property back, it is considered an REO (real estate owned by a third party). On the MLS (the multiple listing service), professionals actually have the ability to see whether or not a listing falls under this category. Since this information isn’t available to consumers, buyers will need to trust the help of a professional to locate foreclosure properties for them. “Before someone has stopped making payments on a house, they probably also stopped maintaining the house.” In fact, I often receive calls from people saying they want to look at foreclosures. My first question to them is, “Why?” Most people tell me it’s because they want a good deal. At this point, I tend to encourage them to look at other homes. I will certainly pull foreclosed homes for them, but I like to show clients that I can also find them great deals on listings that aren’t REOs. Generally, my opinion about foreclosures is this: Before someone has stopped making payments on a house, they have probably also stopped maintaining the house. People who don’t have the money to make payments will likely also not have any funds to make sure the house is in good condition. The maintenance of foreclosed homes is almost always delayed maintenance. Despite this, there are a few benefits to foreclosure listings. From my perspective, I like that foreclosure properties aren’t being listed by an emotionally attached seller. The bank wants to get rid of this property, making them easier to negotiate with. That being said, most foreclosure listings are sold as-is. Whether the property a buyer is looking at is a foreclosure listing or not, I always advise them to get a full inspection. Going so far as to turn the utilities back on in a foreclosed home to do so is definitely worth it. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How do you know whether or not your house is getting enough activity while it’s on the market? There are many different types of activity. As your real estate professional, it’s important to me to track the different kinds of activity on your home. I am basically the marketing firm for your property, and I will tell you about the activity on your home. For example, if I’m seeing good activity on your house on different websites, then I need to tell you about that. I may say, “Your home was viewed 36 times on Trulia this week, and seven of them stayed on and looked at every single picture.” A good real estate agent will give you that information. Another important activity marker is the number of buyers who drive by to look at your property. This number can be a little harder to judge, but we keep track by placing a brochure in front of the home. If someone is interested in your home, they’ll pick up a brochure. Then we can judge how many people are driving by your home based on the number of brochures that are missing. We also have an 800 number on those property brochures in order to track the number of times someone calls to listen to the recording for that property. We can see how many calls we got, and how many of those calls for the same number. Someone might call a number of times to share the description of the house they want to make an appointment for with their spouse or family members. “We will tell you what buyers say about your property after each showing.” Having advertised sources of activity and knowing where the activity is coming from is extremely important to me as the marketer of your home, and that information should be relayed to you as the consumer. You need to know whether or not your house is being marketed properly. Another way to track buyer activity is through showings. Sometimes, people schedule showing appointments and don’t show up. It’s rude, but it happens. Sometimes buyers find the house of their dreams right before they come to look at your property; it’s nothing personal.We will call you after each showing to tell you if they showed up and what they liked or disliked about the home. They may say something like, “I love this house, but it really smells like cat pee,” or “The house is great, but that backyard will be too much of a hassle to mow.” We will take that feedback and use it to prepare for your next showing. You may not be able to change the backyard, but you can deep-clean your carpets or even replace them to get rid of unwanted smells. Your real estate agent should tell you all of the things that other Realtors and buyers say about your house at each showing. A good real estate agent will make sure that happens. If you have any other questions about selling your home, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

When you sell a home, what information are you obligated to disclose about your property? People often seem confused about disclosures in the marketplace, but there is a clear statute that you follow. There is a set form of three pages for every residential property. All you have to do is answer the questions on that list. Basically, you will confirm whether or not everything is in working order, and whether or not certain items exist on the property. For example, if you have a swimming pool, you will have to say whether or not it’s in working order. If you don’t have a pool, all you have to do is say you don’t have one. The same is true for natural gas supply. Does natural gas come to the property, or is it a total electric home? Is there an underground storage tank? There are a number of things on the disclosure list, but it’s not left up to your imagination. It’s a defined list that the state requires all sellers of residential properties to fill out.Additionally, if your home was built before 1978, you will have to fill out another disclosure. The lead-based paint disclosure is required by HUD, by the state, and by the EPA. This form is very simple to fill out. You either have lead-based paint and you know it, or you’re unaware of any lead-based paint in the home. “The seller disclosure is a defined list of questions about residential properties.” If your home has never been tested for lead-based paint, then you have no records to disclose. The seller, the buyer, and the Realtors must all sign the lead-based paint disclosure. As a qualified real estate professional, I like to go over the forms with the seller as they fill them out. Sometimes, I’ll ask a question and the seller will look uncertain, so I’ll do more research on that. Other than the seller, your real estate agent should be the most knowledgeable person about the property. I should know whether or not it’s total electric, whether the soft water system is leased or owned, and whether or not the property has any easements other than utility easements. As the seller, if you have any questions about an item on the form, I always recommend that you err on the side of caution. You want the buyer to know everything about the property that they are entitled to. If the buyer isn’t going to buy your home because there’s been water in the heating and air conditioning ducts, let’s not sell it to that buyer. Let’s find a buyer who knows that you corrected the situation and won’t be afraid to buy your home. If you have any other questions about seller disclosures or the selling process in general, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

When listing your home, it’s very important that you use professional photography. Listed homes that use professional photography typically attract more attention, sell faster, and sell for a higher price than those that don’t. I have a few studies I want to show you that prove this fact. The first comes from IMOTO, a company that creates professional real estate photography. IMOTO did a study of 350 homes that used professional photography and 350 homes that didn’t, all 700 of which were located in the same zip code. They found that homes that had professional photography sold 50% faster and 39% closer to their original listing price. The second comes from Latter & Blum Inc., a New Orleans-based real estate agency. They conducted a study that found that homes that used professional photography attracted 118% more views online than comparable listings that didn’t use professional photography. The last one is an in-house study we conducted right here in our office. I studied the back end of different websites we advertise on because it matters how long someone stays on your listing and reads everything that’s written about it. You can’t sell a home that’s not marketed, and you can’t set an appointment with someone who hasn’t seen your home’s photos. We found that properties on Realtor.com within our zip code that used professional photos were viewed 16x longer than homes that didn’t. “Photography matters.” In case you’re wondering, we absolutely use professional photography for our listings.We use three different professional photographers who each specialize in a different style of photography. After all, different-sized properties require different photographs. If you’re listing an acreage with a lake, for example, you need a drone. If you’re listing a smaller property, you’ll need an extremely wide-angle lens to capture its dimensions accurately. We also use professional photography for a different reason than you might think. We use it to set a showing appointment—not necessarily to sell the house. This is because our goal is to get someone to want to see your house. Additionally, we recently added something super cool to our arsenal of marketing tools: 3-D imaging. We have a 3-D photographer who creates a virtual floor plan of houses which you can then view them through the same way you’d use Google Maps. This allows you to get an in-depth look at how the property is arranged, and it’s helped us sell a lot of homes. Lastly, outside photography is also extremely important. You don’t want to set a showing appointment for a property you think is a nice, big brick home only to find out that the front is a facade and the back is made up of rotting wood. If you have any questions as to how we can show your house in its best light or you have another real estate topic in mind you’d like to discuss with us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We’d be happy to speak with you.

Not everybody is a competitor. Sometimes in a multiple offer situation, you’ll have people pull out just because they don’t want to compete. If buyers back out, you may not end up in a multiple offer position in the end. But how do you get your offer accepted? The first thing to do is to look at the value of the property you’re interested in and figure out the highest price you are willing to pay for that property. You want to make sure that you put down a substantial amount of earnest money. Price rules—and not just your purchase price. Your price at the bottom line rules as well. If you can afford to pay your closing costs instead of asking the seller to pay them, then do that. It’ll put you ahead of other offers that ask for those closing costs to be paid. “Price rules, but not just the purchase price.” Closing dates are pretty important. It may not matter to you when your closing is, but it might matter to the seller. If you can, indicate in your offer that the seller can choose the closing date at their convenience. Make it easy on the seller if you can, but do not eliminate anything that is truly important to you in the purchase agreement. A truly experienced Realtor can look at your offer and help you make sure that what you’re submitting to the seller is the highest and best offer that you can give them. Many times buyers don’t realize that the demands that they are putting into the contract are taking money away from the seller’s bottom line, and could hurt their chances of getting their offer accepted. If you have any questions or you’re looking to buy or sell a home in our area, give me a call. I’d be happy to help!

Today, we’re going to be covering a subject that is important to any real estate transaction: appraisals. First of all, what is an appraisal? Well, an appraisal is a value placed on a property by a licensed appraiser. This is different than a market analysis done by a real estate agent. Appraisals are much more in depth, and are based upon the values of similar properties within a certain, tight geographic area. This value is adjusted even further according to several factors. Things like square footage, the size of the lot, the age of the property, and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms are all important to the appraisal. Even in the past few years, the appraisal process has changed quite a bit. Previously, real estate agents had the ability to choose who appraised the property. However, regulations now typically require a third-party appraisal company to be hired by the lender. This is to make sure that there is no unnecessary pressure put on the appraiser. “Outside of simply determining value, appraisals can also impact the transaction.” So what exactly does the appraisal do? Well, outside of simply determining value, it can also impact the transaction. If the appraisal is lower than the amount offered by the buyer and accepted by the seller, the buyer may not be able to borrow as much as they may need for the mortgage. This is why it’s so important that your Realtor’s market value is very thorough before you even order an appraisal. The seller can also be affected. Even though a seller may price a property however they want, regardless of an appraisal, it would be difficult to find a cash buyer willing to pay any amount. This isn’t often the case. In most cases, buyers need mortgages, and as I mentioned earlier, an appraisal must be of sufficient value to support the purchase price. If an appraiser can’t justify a value, the seller will often have to reduce the value or the buyer will need to supplement the price with cash. Situations like these, if not handled correctly, can lead to a broken deal. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email, I would be happy to help you!

In any market, a property can receive multiple offers. We deal with this in our office on a near-daily basis. What that typically means is that folks may like a certain property and that property receives several different offers. When you have a multiple offer situation, there are several different ways to handle it. The first thing to remember is that it’s not the agent’s prerogative as to how to handle the multiple offer, and many agents are confused about that. Our real estate commission rules and regulations state that you must follow the instructions of the seller. My job as a real estate agent is to tell the seller what the options are and allow them to choose. If the property gets multiple offers, the seller has the option to look at just the first offer that comes in, or look at all offers that come in. Then you have an option as to how exactly to deal with those. Sometimes a seller will choose to look at all the offers, which is my recommendation as a real estate agent, and then we can issue what is considered in the industry to be a “highest and best.” This is a notice to all the agents involved that they can have the buyers issue a different offer on the property. They can change the price, the terms, or even the closing date—anything to make that offer more desirable to the seller. When we have a deadline for these offers to come in and they are received, I will then present all the updated offers to the seller for consideration. “The highest offer isn’t necessarily the best offer.” What makes it the best offer for the seller? It really depends on what the seller considers is the best offer for their property. Sometimes it depends on the closing date, especially if the seller is on a deadline and needs to close on or before a certain date. Other times, it’s all about the purchase price. The highest offer isn’t necessarily the best offer—it’s more about the bottom line and how much the seller can net for their property. It also needs to fall within the range of value that I have determined for the property. A price higher than the appraised value of the home can cause problems. Is a cash offer better than a financed offer? The cash offer is better if you have a big earnest money check. The buyer can take a walk through the property on the day of closing and drop the deal. If the check is small, then they don’t lose a lot of money by walking away. How can you as a qualified professional help the seller find the right offer? Before you even take a listing, you should know what the seller needs. Those needs should be realistic.They need a certain bottom line, closing date, and make sure that they have a qualified buyer. Knowing this information will help you find the right offer for your client. If you have any other questions about this topic or you’re looking to buy or sell a home, give me a call. I’d be happy to help.

People often ask me if the Oklahoma City metro area is a buyer’s market or a seller’s market, but there are actually two different answers. Because of the energy sector being out of work as long as they have been, it’s truly a buyer’s market in the upper end of homes, or those priced $350,000 and up. In the normal price ranges where average folks buy, you’ll find that it’s basically a seller’s market. However, nine times out of 10, sellers still pay the buyer’s closing costs. You’ve probably heard about low housing inventory in the national news, and it’s the same here. We just don’t have many homes for sale in the price ranges where most people shop; about $100,000 to $300,000. However, inventory in the upper end is plentiful, which has actually driven prices down.  “Low interest rates mean you have a lot of buying power.” Mortgage interest rates, which affect your buying power, are still really good. They’re hovering just above or below the 4% mark right now, and it’s pretty easy to get a mortgage these days if you have a job and a down payment. So what does this all mean for you? The next few months will be a great time to buy a home thanks to the buying power you’ll have with interest rates so low. Prices are also steady since we never really go way up or way down here in the metro. You won’t have as many options, so when you find a home you like, you need to strike quick. If you have any questions about the market or you’re ready to buy or sell a home, give me a call or send me an email soon. I’d be happy to help!

I get a lot of questions about whether or not Zillow’s Zestimate can nail down the true value of a property. It turns out that a woman in Illinois has actually filed a lawsuit against Zillow, stating that their Zestimate is not the true value of her property. My friend, Barbara Corcoran from “Shark Tank,” recently did an interview on “Good Morning America” about the lawsuit. Basically, the woman in Illinois said that Zillow’s inaccurate Zestimate hurt her ability to sell her home. Barbara says that it makes sense in this case. “The woman felt her home was worth $626,000 and the Zestimate came back at $562,00. That’s a $64,000 difference,” says Barbara. “If a typical buyer checks her Zestimate, then they’ll think her home is worth less than what she’s saying.” Barbara adds, “Her home was put in with a basket of other homes that have no bearing on the value of her home.” “One in 10 homes get a Zestimate that is 20% under its actual market value.” Zillow has since released a statement saying that their Zestimate is a good starting point for homeowners and buyers, but it’s not an official appraisal. Barbara agrees, noting that the company has been very forthcoming about the fact that the Zestimate is not a real appraisal. However, the problem is that the buyer does not realize that Zestimates have a fault factor of 5% and that one in 10 homes get a Zestimate that’s 20% less than its true market value. “They say it’s a starting point, but it’s not reliable,” says Barbara. “Every consumer out there knows about the Zestimate. They know to check it, and they use it as though it’s an appraisal. That’s the basis of the lawsuit.” If you want to know the real value of your home, hire a real estate professional to compare your home to similar properties. The other way to figure out your home’s value is to pay for an appraisal. You can’t just rely on Zillow’s algorithm. If you have any questions about your Zestimate or would like to learn more about home values in your specific neighborhood, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!