Watch on your mobile device >>
There are a number of online tools to determine your home’s value. This can be great information, even during a less than wonderful housing market. The most recognized among these is Zillow.com, but there are also several alternatives online that may offer a more accurate value than Zillow.
1.) Zillow.com. This is the most recognized home value online estimator out there. It has a relative easy user interface and is fairly accurate on its estimates.
2.) Real Estate ABC is a good alternative to Zillow, and in some cases provides an even better home value estimate. One unique feature is that it offers a list of possibly comparable homes for you to select from to be included in the valuation. The thought behind this feature is the fact you know what homes in your neighborhood are comparable to your own.
3.) Eppraisal This site provides home values as well as demographic data about the neighborhood, including education, finances, and employment of the home it is appraising.
4.) Reply has a simple user interface and provides a confidence rating for each appraisal it provides, based on the factors to generate the appraisal. These are based on features from comparable homes.
5.) Yahoo! Most people don’t realize that the popular search engine also has a good home value appraisal component to its website. It generates its home values by using Zillow, Eppraisal and Reply. This makes is easy to see and compare the 3 different appraisals of your home.
6.) HomeGain provides both market and census data in addition to the home value it offers.
7.) CyberHomes is very similar to many of the other home appraisal websites already listed. The values it provides are relatively accurate.
8.) Property Shark’s is not one of the best home value tools out there. The database is very limited.
9.) HouseFront is another alternative with what appears to be reasonably accurate home values.
10.) Rentometer doesn’t provide the actual value of the home, instead it provides the estimated rent you would pay if you were to rent the home. This can be valuable information to have, as it can contrast with other sites how much you would actually be investing in a new home, rather than just spending it on rent each month that offers no return on your investment.
In addition to the above free options to appraise your home, there are also many websites that charge a fee for the information or require you to enter your personal information so a local real estate agent can contact you.
Keeping an eye on the value of your home can be important, even during these tougher economic times. There are still fluctuations in the market but there still remain certain times that are better selling times than others.
