I don't know about your area but for mine is far from what is really going on. If you want to know what the market is ask a Realtor, most will give you that information if you ask.

Even by Zillow's own standards, it's not good for the two counties covering Birmingham.

http://www.zillow.com/howto/DataCoverageZestimateAccuracyAL.htm

I generally agree with both of the answers you've already received. The best resource for determing a list price for your home is reliable information on the homes most like yours and within your subdivision that have sold in the past three months. If you are working with a licensed real estate professional s/he can provide you with this information. Otherwise, yes, having an appraisal done would give you the help you're seeking to determine a list price. Also, important to consider is how quickly you want to sell.

If you know the community and can weed through the Zillow comps, using only those that actually compare favorable to your home, you may be able to arrive at your own estimated value. Be sure to use similar square footage, number of bedrooms, similar year built, etc.

Our recommendation is to be cautious when using the "Z" number because they may not have enough information about the area to do, what you will be doing to arrive at an accurate number. Use their information BUT "fine tune it."

Good luck

It's not very accurate. It's most accurate in subdivisions that have the same houses built over and over and over. A subdivision like Riverchase has too many variables for Zillow Zestimates to consider. You would get a better estimate by asking two or three agents to do a comparative market analysis or having an actual appraisal done.

Zillow is not accurate as an estimating tool the information provided does not account for many variables most important Time. You would be better off using a professional local realtor who would be more than happy to assist you with a CMA. Or better you could hire a appraiser which should give you a very close to current market value as seen by the banks. This could be used by your buyer to help in getting a mortgage since the appraiser would have been doing it for the bank at that time anyway.