The temptation to know what your home is worth may be as old as time. For decades, real estate agents would ask this question of homeowners via mailings and it probably was the single most engaging of all marketing efforts. Which homeowner does not care what their most prized investment/possession is worth? 

Then along came the aggregators and low and behold, they took this critically invaluable marketing ploy and re-packaged it, providing instant gratification with a valuation estimate and it worked.

Yesterday, I received an email from an aggregator asking whether I'd like to know what my home is worth, and of course, I clicked on it. It gave me a number, which we can all argue about. The number did not upset me at all. What did upset me were the other numbers (square footage and other info that was completely inaccurate). Not slightly inaccurate but very inaccurate. Too late. They already knew I had shown interest, and I bet that data will be sold to some agent out there to help them profit off this. I expect an email or call shortly.

An article this weekend in the Journal showcased a kitchen renovation that had cost the owner $1 million, highlighting yet again that this needs to be communicated clearly to the consumer.  Whenever I market "what is your home worth?" and receive a call from a prospective seller, the first thing I don't do is say a number. If I did, I would be acting irresponsibly by providing a value without knowing all the facts. The first thing I do is schedule a visit to better understand the property. Yes, condition, furnishings, upgrades, neglect, additions, renovations, views, light and so many other aspects to what drives value are invisible to the digital world. The virtual elimination of these elements is probably driving inaccurate valuations across the board. We need to message this better. We have allowed digital messaging to skew this invaluable conversation- starter and only once the consumer fully understands what exactly drives value, will they revert to reaching out to me, a much more trustworthy, accurate provider of value.