The short answer is, don’t pay attention to those sites. They have algorithms that are meaningless. They have no way of knowing what is inside of a house or what condition it is in. For example, there is a house in Weaverville that is a complete rehab project. It has no heating system, rotted floors, no functional kitchen or bath…… it’s probably best to scrape it and build a new home. Zillow doesn’t know any of this since it’s not on the market and they have never been inside. Tax records have it valued for the land only at $66,000. Zillow compares it with other homes in the neighborhood and has it valued at $355,000. Do you see the problem?
Here are some helpful articles on this topic. They are a bit dated, but the information hasn’t changed
Forbes – Pay attention to the last couple of paragraphs: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwake/2018/06/27/how-accurate-are-online-home-value-estimates/#60f353766013
Also this article – http://miamibeachlifestyle.com/why-your-zillow-zestimate-may-be-wrong/
