Pop quiz: How much is this trailer worth? Answer at the end of this post.
We’re asking sources in the Public Insight Network to help us out on a research project, and we’re asking all you Marketplace Money listeners to help out, too. (For some background, check out Tess’ interview about why people use sites like Zillow in this economy on this weekend’s Marketplace Money with Nic Retsinas, Director of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.) We want to know how home appraisal web sites have changed from the boom times to the lean times today. And we need lots of you to help.
But just to give you a flavor of what we’re hearing from you as we gather data, here’s a look under the hood:
Dan Fitzgerald of Warren MI is trying to refinance his home. He checked his home value on Cyberhomes.com and observes,
If Cyberhomes is right, I’m about 40 percent upside-down on my mortgage. Good thing I don’t need to move unless GM goes out of business…uh, oh…
Andrew Kubik of San Diego, whose online home estimates ranged from $967K to $1.1 million, uses data from these sites to reduce his property taxes:
In California, we can apply to have our property taxes temporarily reduced under proposition 8. So I use Zillow to get recent comparable sales and parcel numbers to complete my form. I got my tax base lowered from $1,140,000 to $1,090,000 in 2008 (for tax bill savings of $500), and have applied to have it lowered to $950k for 2009 based largely on current listing in my area and other information garnered from zillow.com.
And to answer the pop quiz at the top of the post…
Soeren Paulsen of East Setauket NY tells the story of a South Carolina trailer he bought for $6K that Zillow estimates at $89K! “I bought the property almost one year ago, when prices were even higher - for slightly over $6k, including all closing costs. At best, the property is currently worth maybe $10k, so Zillow is off by $79k.”
How exactly does that compute, anyway?
If you’ve used home appraisal sites in the past, or just want to look up your numbers, go here to share what you’ve found.
This is a very useful and informative website. I am looking to move to a larger property and was wondering what could i do to my current home to increase its value? How long can we expect the low interest rates for mortgages to continue and should a home buyer be searching to find a long fixed rate mortgage or variable tracker type?