--Malcolm ForbesInnovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

These high volume developments make it difficult to distinguish your property from the many others that look similar, so you'll have a tough time arguing the merits of your property versus the comps when the time comes to refinance or sell.  

Rather, when looking at the comps used in both the appraisals and Zillow, I'm starting to think that both methods of evaluation might suffer from a common characteristic: Not distinguishing between distressed sales and normal sales.And this might make sense.

Personally I think its easier to establish oneself and then begin investing with money outside of what you need for living expenses.

Those things basically read "You will not win if you try to sue me unless I am a high-level crook, so be prepared for that" -- and then you either like the operator/team/asset/location/asset class, or you can't deal with the passivity and lack of control.I get the same feeling when I play poker: if I think I can win, then go for it -- but calling the person who took your money a fool and requesting your money back just ain't gonna happen.I suppose one gets some measure of relief knowing the track record, the skills, and the integrity of the operator, and imagining oneself in a "herd" -- after all, these $10, $20, $50 million dollar equity-side investments don't happen unless dozens of doctors and millionaires have faith and confidence in the operator and investment.

Is there some other distinguishing factor that causes such a difference in pricing?

One underwriter has written about QCDs:In General A "quitclaim deed" is a deed which conveys whatever interest the grantor has in the property, as distinguished from a grant of the fee or other estate with warranty of title.In some jurisdictions, the grantee in a quitclaim deed is not regarded as a bona fide purchaser for value even though the grantee may have paid full value.

In my experience, the best way to distinguish serious buyers from tire-kickers is to send quality deals out to your list!

It's kind of like being a real estate agent in that way; distinguishing oneself from the pack isn't that hard.

@Ashish AcharyaGates is distinguishable from OPs facts.