How good are Zillow and Cyberhomes?

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Question:

Answer:

Zillow has better data in my home area. I live in a townhouse. We have 20 very similar townhouses here.

This is what Cyberhomes knows:

 BR: 	 	
 BA: 	 	
 Living Area: 	 	
 Lot size: 	 	
 Type: 	Condo 	
 Year built: 	 	
 Total rooms: 	 	
 # Stories: 	 	
 Heating: 	 	
 Cooling: 	
 

Zillow says 650k, Cyberhomes says 550k.
The reality is closer to 650k.

Here's the kicker about Zillow.

My neighbor's unit is valued 100k more than mine although my lot is 40% bigger :-) I think they have some skewed formula that takes the most recent purchase price into consideration.

I bought in 1999 for 295k
Neighbor bought in 2001 for 420k (maybe overpaid)

Apply x% annual appreciation on both and now mine is worth 650k and hers 750k

Reality is, mine is a 40% bigger corner lot. The rest is the same (except remodel projects that naturally will be unknown to these web sites)

Then I looked at cyberhomes' comps.

#1 comp was a sale on my street. A house with an identical floorplan to mine, but smaller lot, plus it shares 2 walls with neighbors. Naturally this is the strongest comp right?

It sold for 701k. Cyberhomes uses this comp and knows the number of bedrooms/ bathrooms.

Zillow does not even use this comp to determine a value!

Why Cyberhomes thinks that the price falls from 701k to 550k within 4 months is another story.

Don't get me wrong, I could care less about how much my primary residence is valued by some funny web site. I think they are both weak at least in this market here.

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