Kris,

Here is something that has closed on Edwards within the last year. The best way to get a true comparable of your home is through an agent. Have an agent come to your home and do the comparable. I would be more than happy to help you determine a true value of your home. I hope this helps you. If you have any other questions I would be happy to answer them for you.

20838650 - Details: 15 EDWARDS RD, BRICK, NJ - $567,000

Or Click Here to go view all listings at once.

http://mls.momls.com/MonmouthReports/ListitLib/show_report.a…

Your Perfect Partner in Real Estate

Annmarie Howley
Coldwell Banker Flanagan Realty
Cell-732-330-8903

Kris, you've pointed out the first obvious incurable problem with these "valuations" on ANY of these sites: they don't have the process to take into account the sort of things you're talking about. And even if they did, they don't have the numbers for what your exact-replica-neighbor house SOLD for, which is the only way it can be used as a legitimate comparable.. So hear this: unless a site uses SOLD statistics, with legitimate amenities and seller concessions figured in, there is NO WAY that these comparables are worth a dime.

Kris,

As a RE professional, hearing your experience with Zillow DOES NOT MAKE ME HAPPY, especially when statistics show that Zillow is the 5th most popular website visited by potential homebuyers! Frankly, they are making our job as Realtors much more difficult because for some odd strange reason, buyers tend to believe Zillow over the hands on experience of Realtors and knowledgeable sellers.

As a fomer computer engineer, I can tell you that many "alternative" websites were "beta" in 2007-2008. Beta generally means a live testing phase. During this phase, they "work out the kinks" so to speak. Despite adding oodles of features during this phase, they then remove their beta status and in my opinion, a little too early when u consider the volume of features added. And as you say, missing a vital component . . . live help! . . . Just this evening I spoke to a women who said "I'm not selling my house," yet Zillow is advertising her house for sale, complete with her address! While I understand your frustration with the inaccuracy of Zillow data, can u imagine having your addressed published and having potential buyers doing drive-bys regularly!

Trulia on the other hand, has done a much better job at providing added value to consumers and RE agents alike, including the live help. Although Trulia does have it faults, I am confident today (more so than back in 2007 when I removed myself from the Trulia community), that they will continue to be responsive to the wants/needs of consumers.

Hang in there, girlfriend. It will happen, it's just a matter of time.

Sincerely,
Francesca

My dislike for zillow is unmatched by any - but, if you want to talk to the big talking head here is his link:

http://www.zillow.com/profile/spencer/

I beleive you can "twitter" him, too. That should be fun!

Good Luck.

I did join zillow and disputed the information presented at least a year ago. Nothing changed. Why would a non waterfront house across the street on a similar sized lot be similar in value? There is no way to find a live contact at zillow. They still even show our old listing agent. Very impersonal... Maybe I shouldn't complain to loud because our taxes are still extremely reasonable.

If anyone knows a way to contact a live person via phone at Zillow please let me know.

Francesca, you hit the nail on the head about internet portals in their infancy stage. People who take this information to heart including the real estate community will be misinformed on certain properties such seems to be the situation with our house. - Kris

Hi Kris (wink, wink),

With all due respect to Trulia and Zillow, they are internet portals in their infancy stage and the data is most of the time inaccurate for numerous reasons. I believe there is a disclaimer regarding accuracy and I know with Zillow they provide the seller with a way to "update" the accuracy of the info.

With this in mind, I always educate my buyers about this decrepancy, but it often takes multiple brain storming conversations to get them to understand.

Francesca Patrizio

You hit nail on head as to why there is no substitute for a live agent. Most programs go by size or taxes etc only. If you want the most accurate ideas of value speak to a local knowledgeable agent.