Comments on: Getting the Correct Estimate

By: Brent Schulz

Brent Schulz — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 12:32:40 +0000

I understand that home prices are down over the past year or two, but 33% seems unlikely in Omaha, NE. Why are comps from different towns and zip codes and not the same neighborhood? I’ve tried to select similar comps, but the sq. ft. on most is half of ours. Is there a way to update comps?

By: Luis Perez

Luis Perez — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:47:16 +0000

I recently had my house appraised for $181k and closed on the refi in May 2009. Yet it is listed by cyberhome with a value of $134k; the lowest within the subdivision. Note: there are aprox 4 models very similar in style, sq ft, land, etc that are valued $10k to $30k higher on the same site Cyberhomes and my house is in a cul-de-sac, new paint, carpet etc….. I know there’s a science to the process here but it’s very strange. It’s significantly lower than all other houses. I’m not upset because I know it was recently appraised, I’m more disappointed in Cyberhomes because there is no venue to present this for them to review or double check their algorithem, stats, or whatever public records they use. I’m just at a loss for the significant delta. I would question it if my house appraised for $250k likewise as I know per my appraisal it’s $180k. The only thing I noticed was that the bathrooms were listed as 2 when the house has 3.5 but that would only account for an upswing of $10k. it would be nice to submit a request to revisit the findings.

By: Reggie

Reggie — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:10:45 +0000

Hi Allen,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. First of all Cyberhomes is not an appraisal. Also as mentioned in this article, we have built in tools for you to adjust the homes value is you see incorrect information. Did we have the physical characteristics correct on the home? I want to look into our estimate with you.

Reggie

By: Allen

Allen — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:03:57 +0000

I totally disagree with the appraisal process! This website is off at least 40-50K on my house and it cost me a refinance. After hours on the phone with my mortgage company, I finally was told that they got my home value threw this website. I asked them to tell me how many bedrooms my house had and they couldn’t. I can’t believe that a banking organization would use this website for such data.

By: Lauren Baier Kim

Lauren Baier Kim — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:22:50 +0000

Hi, Nathan. If you increase the number of bedrooms, square footage, etc., on your home’s page on Cyberhomes, that should postively affect your home’s estimated value. You can also note home improvements and the value of the improvements. If your home improvement isn’t listed in the drop-down menu, choose “other.” Then describe your home improvement, and note its cost. I hope this helps.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:55:51 +0000

This doesn’t address the issue of incorrect information about bedrooms, square footage, etc. that are used to calculate the baseline estimate shown for the house. Sure, if the person clicks on the house they can see the corrected information, but up front they see a bed estimate. In my case, updating just the bed and bath information increases the value of my house by 35%. I don’t see a place to let everyone know that there is central air and a host of other improvements, like an attatched garage with a workshop. The simple fact is this site is used by banks to determine loan elidgibility, and now I have to call them back and let them know why your estimate is wrong and that yes, my house is worth appraising to see if I can’t grab a 5% interest rate.