While I was researching the Fitch decision for the post The Future of Residential Appraisers?, I naturally went to the godfather of New York real estate appraisal, Jonathan Miller, to search his blogs, Matrix & Soapbox. I could not find a mention of Fitch but I did stumble upon this gem. It was posted on Soapbox, March 17, 2006.
It is titled Determining Accurate Values Are Only Human. It links to a two-part article by Inman, Zillow enters crowded space and real estate values need human interpretation (subscription required to read these).
What I found valuable was the following excerpt Mr. Miller mined from the Inman articles:
The challenge with relying on computers to establish value is the difference between stagnant data that exists in a database and knowledge that relies on human experience and complex thought processes. In the book “Social Life of Information,” John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid make exactly this point. A computer relies on information. When it comes to real estate, this means the property’s features, including bedroom-bath count, lot size and floor plan. Even when two properties have identical floor plans, one may sell for more because of the beautiful landscaping, the privacy, or some other factor the computer cannot access. The value of these features is often more intuitive rather than quantitative. As such, computers may estimate values, but the estimates will continue to be flawed because there is no scientific way to value these other factors. (emphasis added)
This sounds like a definition for unzillowable.
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