Using the Wisdom of the Crowd to Improve the Condition Assessment of Residential Real Estate

Abstract

The “wisdom of the crowd” refers to the phenomenon where by the average estimate of a group is superior to the estimate of any individual within the group, even if that individual is an expert and the others are not. When applied to real estate, it demonstrates that a group of non–real estate professionals can arrive at a more accurate physical property categorization than a real estate expert. Importantly, this more accurate assessment of the property’s physical condition can be achieved by merely viewing photos of the property. This appraisal trend makes the finding even more relevant to practical implementation.