PS members....what is the sq footage of your home?

[orbaya]

We have a 2000 sqft home with three bedrooms, two baths. Income over $130,000. Paid $217,000 for it. We don''t have any kids so no expense there.

 

[Mara]

Kayla I think you told that story before, I love it...

I''d love to see pictures of this cute house!!

Personally I think you really do get the house you were ''meant'' to have at least once in your life...

Our story isn''t as cute but we had seen these townhouses, but none of the unit we wanted were available, they were down to their last 5 or so, all inside units. Plus an end unit even if it was avail was $30k out of our max comfortability range. We were about to put $$ down on another complex about a mile away in a more desirable area but we didn''t like the townhouses themselves as much but were consoling ourselves with the nicer area thinking it would go up quicker. We got a call that same weekend after visiting the other ones and trying to talk ourselves into it, that one of the ones we wanted here was avail, the gal had fallen out of financing and they would give it to us for the price that she was paying (aka right at our max comfortability range). We jumped on it and it was ours a few months later. The sales gal told us..you know I have a waiting list 3 pages long for these outside units but I just remembered you guys from your visit (3 weeks ago) and I called you. We think it was definitely fate. We adore our place and it will be hard for us to leave it...I tell friends I wish we could just take our unit and plunk it down on some land somewhere and never have to ''move''.

Funny thing, I looked up those other townhouses that we almost bought into on Zillow and they are valued at $100k less than ours is now...and they sold for the same price we paid back then. So ours has gone up double in the same timeframe and we thought that the other area would appreciate faster...but I guess not. Who knows if our next ''purchase'' when we move will feel as right but it was fun to have it feel like it was fate this time around.

 

[koko]

SF: 2160, Ranch home on 2 acres purchased for $103,000.00 in 1992 now appraises for double that. Outside of Atlanta, GA. (over 100K yearly, but still "only" a 1.15c diamond)!!

 

[moremoremore]

2000 sq feet of sublime design. LOL.. JUST KIDDING!!!
I just saw this piece of sh*t on For Sale by Owner...And it is $690,000.00 for 2000 sq feet in this neck of the woods.

it's CRAZY.

 

[moremoremore]

Thought you''d like to see the outside!
Just to clarify. This is NOT my house lol....although I''m sure somebody loves it.

As for your question DF, big enough

 

[firebirdgold]

Ok, that zillows thing is just whacked. Maybe it works better for you guys in the eastern half of this country, but there is something seriously wrong with it in the west. It says my house is worth 1.05 million!! Somehow I don''t think so, it''d be nice though.

Doesn''t even think any of the houses on my bf''s block exist, and the houses nearby are 100,000 to 50,000 more than they probably should be. It''s missing most of the development nearby including the streets where my friend has owned a home for more than 3 years. Not to mention my parents house near los angeles was undervalued by 83%!!

Maybe I just don''t know how to use Zillows??

 

[Mara]

The Zillow thing says it''s beta...not sure how accurate it was for others but for us it was about $20k less than what comparable units are selling for right now for us...so we know it''s very close. Also I looked at some other areas near us and they seemed very close as well...but it was definitely not up to date as there is a 1 year old complex across from us and on the satellite it still shows that as undeveloped land.

 

[Waited2Long]

Zillow totally nailed the value of our home, based on recent comparables. Got the details of the home right too, including our 768 square feet of living area. I haven''t read all 5 pages--is that the current "winner" for small home on PS? This place has been here since the war I assume families with children have lived in it, but I don''t see how.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/5/2006 4:15:51 AM
Author: Waited2Long
Zillow totally nailed the value of our home, based on recent comparables. Got the details of the home right too, including our 768 square feet of living area. I haven''t read all 5 pages--is that the current ''winner'' for small home on PS? This place has been here since the war I assume families with children have lived in it, but I don''t see how.

I am not at all good with square feet. I cannot estimate how many were in any house in which I lived. This posting cannot discuss square footage .

In 1954 my mother finally convinced my father to buy a house, rather than to continue renting an apartment. They bought the house where they now live in Connecticut. At the time it was four rooms with an unfinished attic and basement (on about 1/4 acre).

There was a kitchen, a living room, one bathroom, and two other rooms. My brother and I shared a room until my father and my mother''s uncles built a room in the attic for me. I was traumatized to be sent up there alone, although everyone thought I would be overjoyed to have my own room! I felt as if I were being sent into exile and was frightened every night.

There were woods all around the new development in which my parents'' house was built. The roads were dirt.

My father, who like my mother grew up during the Great Depression, has been quoted as having said, "We will never get our $15,000 back!" Present value: over $800,000, possibly over $900,000.

 

[Momoftwo]

Most people know their square footage because it's on the appraisal done for the mortgage. Zillow says my home is worth 888K which is about 25K under what I thought. We bought at a great time 2 years ago and because of our sale of our previous home to purchase this one we were able to put 20% down and now have about 45% equity in a very stable market. What affects home prices more than anything else in an area is income levels. Incomes here support the housing market and the demand for larger and larger homes.

 

[Gemklctr]

Zillow has the correct description of my house (at least prior to the work we had done last year), and the valuation is close to my bank''s appraisal, but they identify the wrong house on the aerial photo. My house is shown, but when I put in my address the arrow points to a house down the street, and on the general neighborhood photo they don''t list a valuation for my house.

Anybody else have this problem?

 

[pearcrazy]

Zillow is off by about $30,000 in my neighborhood. The house next door to us sold last summer for 31k more than Zillow's estimate and the house across the street sold for $28k more than Zillow's estimate three years ago.

 

[Mara]

Yeah seems like not all of the houses have valuations on them. Kinda interesting. It doesn''t seem perfect by far, it does note ''beta'' which hopefully means they are bug fixing!! So far everyone I have told about it loves it.

 

[Momoftwo]

I think part of the problem is old data, i.e., finished vs unfinished basement or additions that will add more value to your home. My neighbors who have finished basements, and lots only a little smaller than ours (we have 2/3 acre they have 1/2) have the same value as ours except I know they finished basements and we don't which would add 60K+ to their values. These valuations are generalizations based on location, lot size, and square foot.

My parents house shows up with two listings at the same location, same size, but different amounts (about 35K different). So, apparently there are problems with the software and/or data.

 

[Waited2Long]

Date: 3/5/2006 10:40:17 AM
Author: pearcrazy
Zillow is off by about $30,000 in my neighborhood. The house next door to us sold last summer for 31k more than Zillow's estimate and the house across the street sold for $28k more than Zillow's estimate three years ago.

It may actually be that Zillow has reason to believe that prices have come down since last year. It has happened in my neighborhood. October of last year seems to be the peak. Houses very similar to mine actually sold for just under $500k around that time. Today the same type of houses are listing at low-mid $400k...and they're not selling very quickly at all. Dig around Zillow and you'll find a historical graph of the estimated home price. The chart for my house does show an inflection point late last year, with the estimated value dropping ever since.
Problems with the site, including showing the wrong home in the satmap, or being way off in the data, are not uncommon. You know they're working on it! They only know what the tax records say. If add-ons or major work happens without the right county permits, Zillow won't know. Kind of a good thing actually.