March 2008

The March 'Hood Report

I've been trying for some time to write the story of our refinance last fall - our first experience with refinancing. In my mind the essay deftly frames our refinancing experience as a microcosm of the sub-prime crisis that exploded at precisely the same moment. But maybe there isn't enough distance between me and the experience to allow for that kind of eloquence, because it isn't working yet.

Even though it seems we've avoided the turmoil - we didn't have an interest-only loan, and the Seattle region's real estate downturn has been mild so far - I still spend a good deal of energy fretting about this, our largest investment. Did we borrow too much? Buy at the wrong time? Trust that the Hilltop had changed more than it really has?

Enter Zillow, the online real estate valuation site that's just entering its third year. I use it extensively at work to quickly ballpark prospects' home values, though it has a reputation for inaccuracy. (Have I mentioned my prospect research credo is "close enough?")

A visit to the site today revealed not only a new birds-eye view of our house, with Boaty Boat Boat featured in the back yard,

but also a pleasingly high Zestimate (tm) of our home's value. The value graph also shows the impeccable timing of our purchase (represented by the $ symbol). The purple line is our home's value, and the yellow line is the U.S. average:

Thanks, Zillow, for singing us your soothing lullaby! Never mind that the house across the alley is on the market for $179,000, almost $40,000 lower than its Zestimated (that's right - I'm using it as a verb) value. And our friends who took off in August to move to New York state? Their home, 2 blocks away, is still on the market.

But look at that purple line going up and up!