While you can always contact a professional real estate appraiser, using a home value estimator beforehand is very convenient. Plus, most of the best home value estimators on the market are completely free. Read on to discover the ten most accurate home value estimator websites.
Most Accurate Home Value Estimators
- Redfin
- Zillow
- Realtor.com
- Trulia
- Ownerly
- Chase
- RE/Max
- Homelight
- Eppraisal
- ZipRealty
1. Redfin
The most accurate home value estimator is Redfin, as it uses historical pricing data and also considers real-time demand and market trends. Redfin estimates are more accurate than Zillow, and the interface is intuitive, making it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for. And best of all, the Redfin home value estimator is free to use.
The site can take you through the next steps of the process of selling it, putting you in touch with an experienced agent who will guide you through everything. And while not everyone will benefit from the extra feature of connecting to a real estate agent, Redfin is a useful one-stop-shop for those who want to make the sale of their home as streamlined as possible.
Of course, it’s always advisable to get a second opinion from an agent you trust, but Redfin is the most accurate home value estimator out there, so it can still make a good starting point for your sale if you are primarily concerned with closing the deal quickly.
2. Zillow
With data that spans around 110 million homes in the country, Zillow’s Zestimate is another one of the best free home value estimators. You can easily find data on your home and surrounding properties, comparing your current home’s value against others. The site also offers historical data and various other useful tools that can help you get the most out of your sale.
If you’re looking for the most advanced, detailed site to find your home’s value, Zillow should be one of your first stops. It can take a while to get used to its interface and figure out what each option does, but once you’ve got the hang of it, you will probably not want to use any alternative services.
3. Realtor.com
If you’re willing to spend more time waiting for a good deal and want to have a good overview of the market, Realtor.com is an excellent choice. The site is mostly known for its detailed historical trends. These can provide you with an in-depth look into how your local real estate market has evolved over the months and years.
If you’re willing to go through the verification process and confirm that you’re the owner of your home, you will get even more detailed information about it that you can’t find on any other similar site. This makes Realtor.com an invaluable resource for those who want the best possible overview of their situation.
However, Realtor.com is also known for slightly undervaluing certain properties. If you feel like your estimate looks too low, you might not be wrong. It’s always a good idea to double-check individual results with at least one other home value website to be sure that you’re working with the right numbers.
4. Trulia
Another one of the best home value estimators is Trulia. It provides detailed information, including the prices of other homes close to yours that have similar parameters. However, one downside of Trulia compared to other services is that it won’t immediately give you the actual estimate. Instead, you will see various details about your home and surrounding properties, but you will have to submit an inquiry to the company to get the estimate itself.
This is not ideal for users looking to quickly check their property value. If you’re in no rush to sell and are willing to wait until you’ve gathered more information, it’s worth contacting Trulia for an estimate once you’ve submitted your details to the website.
5. Ownerly
Ownerly can provide you with a more detailed home value estimate and report than some other similar websites, covering a wide range of factors. If you’re looking for a comprehensive report that outlines as much as possible, it’s one of the better options available.
You will not only get a basic price estimate but details that include mortgage refinancing rates, premiums for insurance policies, and even things like average renovation cost and home security cost. In addition, you can find out if there are better deals available on any of the utilities you use and will even see a list of offers for switching providers.
This makes Ownerly great not just for those looking to sell their homes but also for homeowners who want to maximize the value of their current investment and optimize their monthly expenses.
It’s a good idea to check your Ownerly report at least once every few months, just to be sure that you’re not missing out on any potentially better deals for things like electricity and other utilities.
6. Chase
The Chase home value estimator is another great option, as it's known for being extremely accurate and reliable. It’s not the most detailed tool on the market, and other home value websites will provide you with a much more thorough overview of your current situation.
But it’s still a good tool for getting a rough idea of where you stand in the current real estate market. You will see your current price bracket and the brackets of your neighbors’ homes. This can give you at least some rough idea of the difference between your property and theirs.
However, you still won’t get to see any actual price estimate. On the other hand, Chase’s home value estimator requires practically no data other than your address. So compared to other tools that might ask you for your name and other personal details, this one is better for a quick, non-binding check.
7. RE/MAX
Given the solid reputation RE/MAX has on the real estate market, it should be no surprise that the company also offers a useful home value estimator. The tool is straightforward to use – you simply enter your address and are immediately presented with a basic estimate of your home and surrounding properties. You can even look around an interactive, color-coded map that shows you various insights about property values in your area.
You should find the results of RE/MAX’s home value estimator to be quite accurate. Keep in mind that the company uses the tool as a hook for its real estate services. If you haven’t decided on a real estate agent yet and aren’t careful, you may be easily convinced to proceed with your sale directly through RE/MAX.
Remember that using the tool is completely non-binding, and you’re not required to go with a RE/MAX agent even if you use their home value estimator.
8. Homelight
Homelight takes more time to use than other home value estimators on this list as they require you to submit a request for your estimate after providing some basic data. However, if you’re serious about selling your home and want to get some good estimates, you should add Homelight to your list of home value websites.
It can take a while to receive your report as the system isn’t completely automated. Homelight pulls data from several reliable sources and provides a better estimate than many other sites on the market.
Keep in mind that the company will immediately start trying to sell you its real estate services. The e-mail containing your estimate will also have offers for selling your property, with or without using a real estate agent.
While Homelight’s real estate agents are quite competent at what they do, users who just want to get a price estimate should still be wary of the company’s practices and do their best to avoid these offers until they’ve compared some real estate agents on their own. It’s not rare that you’ll be able to get a better deal elsewhere.
9. Eppraisal
Eppraisal is more of an aggregator of other similar services and not a dedicated price estimator tool with its own sources. It will query over a dozen other home value websites and provide you with a detailed report about your price according to them. The tool also uses Zillow as one of its sources, so you can generally expect a reliable estimate of your property value in most cases.
For some properties, Eppraisal might not have enough information to provide you with a comprehensive report. In those cases, it will simply fall back on data from some of the biggest service providers like Zillow. If you have more special circumstances in your property, you might want to use other tools, as Eppraisal’s estimate will probably not match your actual home value in this case.
10. ZipRealty
ZipRealty is great if you don’t mind providing more information about yourself and your property. The site requires you to create an account to obtain the full, most detailed version of its report. The sign-up process is fast and can be completed in less than a minute. However, you should still remember that other sites can provide you with similarly detailed reports without requiring any additional information from you other than your address.
The site also tries to get you to use the company’s real estate services. Combined with the account registration requirement, this may be a bit too much for some users who just want to quickly check what they can get for their homes. Sellers who’re looking to get a good deal and are prepared to wait a few months to finalize things will probably not mind this.
How Do Home Valuation Websites Work?
Home valuation websites rely on public data to make their estimates. They use various sources to compile their results, and some are more extensive in their analysis than others. In the end, it all boils down to comparing sales data about surrounding properties and aligning it with several factors, like the age of your house and other individual variables.
Getting a basic estimate is always as simple as entering your address. In some cases, you might even see additional related data, such as estimates for your neighbors’ homes.
Many of the best home valuation websites on the market are free. While they might lead you to various additional offers, the basic service usually doesn’t cost anything. It’s therefore recommended to use at least several different tools to get a good overview of your home’s value.
You might notice that the price is almost identical between some services but deviates more in others. That doesn’t necessarily indicate inaccuracies in any specific service. It’s just the result of different sites relying on various sources for their estimates.
Best Home Value Estimator Websites Bottom Line
Working with at least several home value websites is a good idea if you want to make sure that you have an accurate overview of what you can get for your home. If you don’t mind submitting some additional information and creating an account here and there, you can get a pretty comprehensive set of estimates that will allow you to make the right decision at each step of your sale. And, of course, make sure that you do your own research when it comes to working with a real estate agent. While some of these sites will try to push their services on you, it’s rarely a wise choice to go with an agent recommended by a home value estimator.