Can You Trust Zillow to Give You an Accurate Home Evaluation?

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As the Rochester market continues to heat up, many homeowners are going to Zillow to see how much their homes are worth. Are these online home value estimates accurate? Should you trust them? 

In most cases, Zillow estimates are anywhere from 5%-15% off. They use a basic algorithm that uses similar home sales in your neighborhood to come up with a value. However, finding the true value of a home is not that simple.

The best way to find a home's value is to talk to an agent who will pull comparables and physically assess your home. There is no way for Zillow to account for all the things that give a home its value. Zillow is a great tool to get an idea of your home's value, but not to find an accurate home value. 

If you would like to have an agent give you an in-depth market analysis, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to help you in any way possible.

Why You Need a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home

Want to sell your Rochester Area Home? Get a FREE home value report.

Want to buy a Rochester Area Home? Search all homes for sale.

Now is a very good time to sell your Rochester home, but I want to advise you that trying to sell it on your own is not a wise idea. Selling your home is a full-time job, and that's why you should leave it up to a professional.

Here are a few reasons why I don't think it's a good idea for you to sell on your own:

• Real estate agents maximize the sale price of your home by exposing it through multiple mediums and channels. This results in top dollar for your home.
• Agents also know the legal ramifications of contracts that you'll be signing, and without one you could be stuck in a very bad situation where you may be forced to sell your home for a price you don't like, or to a buyer that you don't approve of.
• Realtors also have a broad knowledge about title insurance, seller disclosures, inspections, financing, and much more.
• Your time is very valuable, so instead of using your own time and money to sell a home, why not let a professional do it for you? When you let an agent sell your home you have a good chance of making a profit from a sale. 
• Real estate transactions can be emotional and stressful. Using an agent can help to take away the stress of selling and an agent also helps you make decisions with your head instead of your heart. 
• You will sell your home quicker and for more money when you use a real estate agent. The longer your home sits on the market, the less money you will get for it, so it's important that you sell quickly if you want to get top dollar.

Hopefully you'll think twice about selling your own home because I've seen a lot of people try do it without a lot of success. 

If you need help selling your Rochester home this summer, please feel free to reach out to me!

Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Buy a Rochester Home

Want to sell your Rochester Area Home? Get a FREE home value report.

Want to buy a Rochester Area Home? Search all homes for sale.

Now is a great time to buy a home in Rochester as affordability is sky-high. This is why I'm going to be discussing a series of questions that you should be asking yourself if you're unsure of whether you're financially capable of purchasing a home.

• Do you have a steady income?
• Do you pay bills on time?
• Do you have money for a down payment and for closing costs?
• Can you pay a monthly mortgage, plus other expenses?
• Do you have money saved up to pay for other expenses?

All of these questions should help you to decide if you're actually ready to buy a home. The most important part of the home buying process is speaking with your lender before you actually begin searching for a home. This is probably the largest financial transaction that you will ever be a part of in your life, so it's very important that you have your finances in order. 

As always, if you're thinking of buying or selling a home in Rochester, please don't hesitate to contact me!