Preparing to Sell Your Home? Here’s my first piece of advice!

As many of you may know, being born and raised on the Sammamish plateau makes me a PNW native, but I have had the opportunity to move a few different cities including Dallas and Chicago. Having the experience uprooting myself from the Seattle area and relocating to new cities and states gives me a unique perspective for those planning to sell their home in Seattle and the surrounding areas.

Amidst the process of moving your life from one city to another, the last thing you want to be thinking about is trusting someone with the process of selling your home. With that in mind, I wanted to shed a little light on an important piece of advice I have gathered over recent years.

In the age of Google, where everyone has access to all sorts of information at the click of a button, it is important to know when to trust information and when to rather use the information as a guide for further research.

The most common thing that I see when working with a seller is that their very first move is to check the Zestimate of their home to see what the perceived value is.  Zillow is a common and often beneficial resource for home buyers and sellers - but you will doing yourself a disservice if you rely 100% on the site’s estimate (Zestimate) to accurately value your home. With that in mind, I want to caution all sellers who are tracking those numbers religiously.

Taken directly from the Zillow website it reads; “The Zestimate is calculated from public and user-submitted data, taking into account special features, location, and market conditions.”

Following this disclaimer, the site goes on to say that although a Zestimate may be a good starting point as a seller, your next move should be to consult a real estate professional to help determine the accurate value of your home.

But, why can’t you rely solely on the Zestimate? Well, first and foremost, Zillow hasn’t physically been in your home to judge the current condition. Additionally, they don’t have visibility into any remodels or upgrades that may have been done over the years. They also don’t have access to The Multiple Listing Service where all houses for sale are listed, meaning they are pulling from third party sites causing their information to be delayed and can be inaccurate.

With a market that is ever changing, please don’t rely on media reports or algorithms to determine the value of your largest asset. A real estate professional can help you to find comparable properties in the area that have recently sold and to see where your home stands, which is crucial when estimating the true worth of your home.

While, as a home seller, getting an accurate estimate may be an important step in the process, it is only the beginning. Selling your home can be a fun and exciting process, but it can also be daunting for many people, especially for first-timers.

If you are ever in a place where you want to start the conversation regarding the estimate of your home or any step in the sale process, let’s meet for coffee or hop on a quick phone call to answer any questions you may have!