Recently in the real estate world, Zillow released a new program to the Orlando market called "Instant Offers". An Instant Offer is for the seller who feels like they can save money by not using a Realtor or does not want to spend time getting their home in showing condition. A seller can upload pictures of their property, and in 48-72 hours, they will be provided with cash offers. If the seller decides to go with one of the offers, a free inspection would be done and a property analysis from a Realtor will be provided at no cost to them.
This sounds like a quick and easy process, especially if you do not want to get your home ready or deal with showings. The downside is that the offers that the seller receives will oftentimes be 20-35% less than the market value of the house. Since the offers are so much less than the market value, the seller is not really saving the money they thought they would save by not using a real estate agent.
So why is Zillow not the most accurate website for determining the value of a property? Well, Zillow is not able to give accurate evaluations because they are not able to see in the home to take a look at the updates and other factors that are taken into consideration when calculating the value of a property. It would be like someone who is sick checking out WebMD to find out what is wrong with them. Instead, they would go to a doctor to get professional help for their illness. The same thing goes for real estate. Zillow is a great website for information and to get an idea of what is out there, but a professional real estate agent will be able to provide the most accurate evaluation of a property. Using a real estate agent will help anyone looking to sell their home get top dollar for it and will put more money in the seller's pocket.
As always, we are here to help you! Please feel free to Contact Us, and I hope that I have helped you get real estate smart.
