zillow is a good start, not final

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Can anybody tell me that the appraisal process can help me from being paying too much for purchasing a house?
The home price appeared to 40,000USD higher than the zestimated value and 2009 tax year estimated value.
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zillow.com is a good start to fine market price, not final. They pull the data from many places, including tax assessment, recorded deed, MLS selling price, then do a model to find out the price. The best way to find out a fair market value is by using latest sale figures (3-6 month), and adjust for built year, size, lot, bedrooms, bath, and so on. Then take into account the market trend. A detailed market analysis from your Realtor should help a lot.

Tax assessment is even more so, since it normally lags housing market by a few years.

Hope this helps.
www.sunskitehomes.com