Your home value matters. For most people, a home is their largest asset. Understanding the value of the home is important if you ever want to sell, refinance or borrow against your home’s value. Most ways of determining your home’s value are more art than science.
If you choose to do a mortgage refinance and possibly pull cash out of your home, your lender will order an appraisal, and a person will put a value on your home. If you choose to sell your home a realtor will find comparable homes and your ultimate value will be determined by what someone else is willing to pay.
However, if you want to track your home’s value over time, a number of online home appraisal sites can help you understand your home’s value better.
A word of caution:
The value these sites give you are estimates only, and can materially differ from what your home is actually worth.
To play around with some of the online home appraisal apps on the market and to learn more about your home’s value, read on below.
Why Your Home’s Value Matters
Outside of providing a place for your family to live, your home is an important part of your financial plan, too.
Here’s why it matters:
- Investment value: Over time, your home should theoretically increase in value. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, home value prices increased 8.4% in 2022 and 4.3% since 1991. When your home increases in value, your net worth increases. If you sell your home later, you will make money on your investment.
- Borrowing power: This is especially true if you ever wind up borrowing against your home’s value. If the value of your home increases significantly, you’ll have a lot more leeway when it comes to taking out a home equity line of credit, or HELOC to pay for expenses like a remodel, a car or education for your kids.
- Tax implications: “Keeping an eye on the market value and property tax assessment value is important so that you’re not paying tax on an artificially inflated property value by mistake, or vice versa,” says Minnesota Financial Advisor Jamie Pomeroy.
- Resell value: “If you are within 3 years of selling your home, you will want to keep tabs on the value and the real estate market in hopes that you can sell at an opportunistic time,” says Jose V. Sanchez, financial advisor and contributor to LifeInsuranceToolkit.com.
- Estate planning: Finally, knowing your home’s value can be important when it comes to estate and elder law care planning as well, notes Joseph A. Carbone, Jr., CFP Founder and Wealth Advisor of Focus Planning Group.
- Homeowners insurance: Don’t overlook the fact that knowing the value of your home is critical to making sure you have enough homeowners insurance coverage.
So, if you are actively considering a mortgage refinance or a home equity loan, your best option is to get a free quote. You can see what your rate will be and how much you can get approved for, by selecting your state below.
Convinced? Here are websites that make the task of tracking your home’s value easy and fun:
How much is your house worth? Top 10 best online tools to help you estimate your home’s value:
- Zillow
- Trulia
- Redfin
- Realtor.com
- Real Estate ABC
- Eppraisal.com
- HomeGain.com
- Chase Mortgage Services
- RE/MAX
- ForSaleByOwner.com
1. Zillow
Zillow is one of the biggest – and most popular – websites for monitoring your home’s value. One financial advisor I spoke to, Joseph Carbone, says the best part about Zillow is the layout of the site and how easy it is to use.
Just by entering your home’s value into the website’s friendly interface, you’ll get a Zestimate – a Zillow-created estimate of your home’s value. Beyond finding out how much your home might be worth, you can also shop for homes in your area with the website’s consumer-friendly tools.
How to find your home’s value:
Type in your address and Zillow will immediately let you know if they have a Zestimate for your home. You can also create an account, claim your home, and get regular updates on any changes in value. They have really set the bar high for all the other free home value estimators that exist today.
2. Trulia
Trulia.com works similarly to Zillow. Once you reach the website, you can enter your home address and learn how much your home might be worth. Instead of offering a Zestimate, however, Trulia offers the average listing price for similar homes in your area.
Other information offered on Trulia includes the average list price for all homes in your area, along with standard details on your home – square footage, lot size, and bed/bath information.
If you plan to refinance your home, Trulia is also ready to help with its own approved set of lenders.
How to find your home’s value:
After searching your address on the home screen, you’ll be brought to a page with a lot of information about your house and property, and you’ll be asked to contact them for an estimate.
3. Redfin
Another website that has become popular among real estate enthusiasts and homeowners is Redfin Estimate. With Redfin, you can enter a handful of details about any property and learn about the local neighborhood, the “walkability” of a property, and how much property taxes cost each year.
Plus, values might be slightly more accurate on this website, notes financial advisor Sanchez.
“As a broker, Redfin uses the most accurate data from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to calculate your property’s current market value”
Jose V. Sanchez
How to find your home’s value:
Redfin gives you an immediate estimate of your homes value just by entering your home address into the search bar on the homepage and selecting “See Home Estimate”. While calculating, they give you a breakdown of how they make their estimates.
4. Realtor.com
While Realtor.com might sound like a hub for real estate professionals, this website is free for anyone to use. Just enter your house address into the site’s homepage and you’ll learn an array of details including a price estimate of your home.
Beyond a pricing estimate, you’ll find out about the local schools, median listing prices in the area, and even property tax assessments. This tool is also great for learning about your neighbor’s home and how much they might be paying.
How to find your home’s value:
Type in your address in the search bar, selecting “Home Value”, and you’ll get an immediate estimate, with the option to sign up for an account, claim your home, and get regular updates tracking its value.
5. Real Estate ABC
Real Estate ABC links up with Zillow.com to provide the same Zestimate you’ll receive there. What I really like about this site, however, is that it lists a ton of sales data for recent home sales in your area.
If a house sold down the street, you’ll eventually be able to find out how much the buyer paid on Real Estate ABC. Since recent sales are the best indicator of your home’s current value, this kind of data can be priceless.
How to find your home’s value:
The interface for the site is pretty simple and outdated, but enter the necessary info in the provided fields, and you’ll get your home value immediately. They don’t require any contact information and also provide up to 30 comps for each address.
Related article: Home Sweet Home: What is the True Cost of Having Your Own Home?
6. Eppraisal.com
Eppraisal.com works similarly to the other sites on this list, offering its own estimate of your home’s value in certain cases and a Zillow.com Zestimate in others.
Beyond house prices though, Eppraisal offers details on homes sold nearby, plus current refinancing rates and more.
With Eppraisal.com, you can get all this data for free – and you don’t even have to enter your email address.
How to find your home’s value:
Enter the address in the search bar in the top right corner, and you’ll be given the results of your property value immediately — no contact necessary. You’ll be given both Eppraisal’s estimate as well as Zillow’s and the difference can be surprising.
7. HomeGain.com
While HomeGain.com is mostly a home shopping tool, one of their widgets lets you find the value of your own home for free.
The downside with HomeGain is that they require you to enter your email address to get “unlimited MLS data” for your area. Unfortunately, this usually means you’ll end up on a huge mailing list – whether you like it or not.
How to find your home’s value:
Follow the prompts on HomeGain’s homepage to find your home value estimate, and eventually, you’ll be asked to input contact information for someone to reach out to you. The interface is nice, but you won’t get immediate results with this one.
8. Chase Mortgage Services
While this might seem strange, Chase Bank has their own home property value tool offered for free online. Simply enter your home address, your state, and your zip code to learn how much your home might be worth.
Instead of giving an exact estimate, Chase offers a price range they feel your home falls into. Since they also offer an estimate of all of your neighbor’s home values, this is a fun tool to play around with. Best of all, it’s free, easy to use, and doesn’t require you to enter any personal data.
How to find your home’s value:
Simply enter your address to get a range estimate for the value of your house. You’ll also get a list of a few nearby sales for comparison.
9. RE/MAX
Real estate firm RE/MAX has also jumped in the game with its own home value estimator. While this is likely a ploy to get you to use their services when you sell your home, the online tool is free and easy to use.
Best of all, you don’t have to enter any personal data or offer your email address to get a free estimate of your home’s value.
Once you enter your address, you’ll be presented with a color map of your neighborhood along with all of your neighbor’s home values. Since real estate firms use MLS data to come up with estimates, this tool tends to offer a fairly realistic estimate of most home values as well.
How to find your home’s value:
Follow the simple prompts to get automated estimates that you can compare to one another. For a more accurate valuation, you can contact them.
10. ForSaleByOwner.com
While this site was created to help homeowner’s advertise and market their own homes in lieu of a realtor, it offers several tools any homeowner can benefit from as well.
Their Pricing Scout tool is free and easy to use. Once you sign up, you’ll get an estimated market value of your home based on recently sold comparable properties in your area and a summary of local real estate characteristics.
How to find your home’s value:
Literally just type in your address and get a review including a sliding scale for market value as well as a list of neighborhood comps.
Tracking Your Home’s Value
We’ve watched home values go up most of our lifetimes. Rising home prices have a significant effect on our wealth, and ability to borrow. Even if you don’t plan to sell your home, watching your home’s value increase over time can be a lot of fun.
Many people have used their home equity smartly to consolidate personal debt or to invest in building a business from their home. While it’s important to always understand your asset values, try not to get attached to the ups and downs too much.
Remember, these websites and others let you watch your home’s value grow aren’t exact, and the only time you’ll get a true answer to the question “how much is my home worth?” will be when you go to sell or borrow against the home.
If you want “the real thing” – as in, a price that reflects every factor that goes into a home’s sales price – you should meet with at least 2 or 3 realtors or mortgage lenders to get price suggestions.
Chances are, a realtor will be able to offer more insight into your local market than any online real estate tool ever could.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
There is no definitive answer to this question as there are a number of different online home appraisal services available, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Some of the more popular online home appraisal services include Zillow, Redfin, and HomeGain. It is important to read reviews of these services before deciding which one to use in order to get the most accurate estimate of your home’s value.
The values these sites generate are as accurate as they can be accessing public home values. Nashville realtor, Matt Bogosian, of Kerr & Co. Realty cautions on one of the downfalls of these sites: “But the problem I have with those sites is that they don’t take into consideration things such as the homes condition, the lot the home sits on, the layout or floor plan of the home, and the finishes such as flooring and counter tops. These are all things that can greatly increase or decrease a Homes value. Take for example a home that has a steep sloping backyard that backs up to other homes. Well that same home located on a level lot that backs up to woods will certainly fetch more money.”
They certainly do. Kris Dolberry, realtor based out of Brentwood,TN, of the Dolberry Group uses these sites for a myriad of reasons: “We use Zillow and Redfin at our listing consultations to get a general idea of what the automated tools believe the property’s worth. And then we look at comps and look at the property specifically and get a tour of it.”
Most real estate agents have similar property value or home value tools on their website. Matt Bogosian, adds: “Most realtors will tell you those sites are not accurate and shouldn’t be used. However most realtors like myself also have our own websites that have the very same home valuation tools. A good majority of these valuation tools get their data from the same sources so you end up with similar results.”
Yes, you can do a home appraisal yourself. However, it is important to remember that appraisals are complex and detailed procedures, and it is often best to leave the job to a professional. If you are not familiar with the process, or if you do not have the necessary experience, you may end up with an inaccurate appraisal.
How can we find out what the value of our father’s home was on 7/11/2020.
I would like Zillow to do research on home values. They are $40,000 plus lower than
4 other sources. It is not even realistic. I am trying to do a reverse mortgage to have
funds for my husband to go to a home. This is not fair to me and others that Zillow cannot
do a little homework!! Before they estimate a price, let’s check it out, Zillow.
I am 80 years old and would appreciate a follow up. The more money I get helps my husband.
Thank you,
Carol
Agree with you Carol. Ive had mine appraised by a professional and they are well below the fair market value price of my home. Unless they factor everything factor in which they do not, they should not to be able to throw out wild guesses at peoples property as this can be a potential turn off to buyers.
Can you please give me a market analysis or estimate cost to sell “as is” for my house in 2114 Country Dell Dr. Garland, TX 75040 to sell as is. It needs about $10,000 -$15,000 of upgrades.
Thanks you,
Mike
I will offer this little bit of info. The northeast portion of Garland houses generally are about $165/foot. IE sub $300k. I am only aware because I plan to move there around the end of the year. Therefore saying your home needs $15,000 worth of work you are looking in the $280,000 range. I recommend that you do your own research for instance try realtor.com type in your address and it will give you an idea of its value. Scroll towards the bottom of the page there is a section that shows homes values nearby you. Some even on your street usually. At least you will be prepared. Then speak to a local realtor they can usually make a pretty good guesstimate of what you are looking at as far as price.
My home is 365 sound ave PECONIC NY 11958. Shows as mattiuck which also has a sound ave
Would LIKE TO KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CHARGE TO HAVE A HOME APPRAISAL DONE FOR MY MOTHER WHO WANTS TO SELL HER HOME.
Zillow is way off! It compares my three bedroom, three bath townhouse with a bunch of 1 bed, 1 bath places with half the square footage. Zestimate is a joke.
Please take the value that these varied sites give with a lot of salt as values from these sites can swing as much as 15% in either direction. If you are serious about finding the value of your investment. There is no substitute for a real estate appraiser. Realtors sell homes, they do not value them. Would you take your car that need for repairs to your Dentist?..
I have looked up my home’s appraisal on 5 different sites. Realator.com. Zillow, eppraisal.com, Chase and ReMax. The range is from 102k- 155k!!! This is so frustrating and confusing. Selling a house if stressful enough with out proper info. Does anyone know which website is more accurate?? Thanks for the advice
Hi Lisa – I’d think Realtor.com would be the most accurate. But the only way to know for sure is to have an analysis done by a real estate agent, or to have a full blown appraisal done. The websites are mostly starting points to give you a ball park. But if you’re going to sell or refinance you’ll need something more definite.
Yes, a local agent knowledgeable in your market is the best way to get an accurate home value. To answer your question about the most accurate home value website: there is now a website where you can actually order real comps online from a real agent in your area for only 5 bucks. RealEstateCompsToday.com has it’s own National Network of Real Estate Agents in every local market in the US. Every agent has voluntarily opted in to the network, ready to pull your comps and help you analyze them for an accurate house value. Just fill out a few property details on the order form and your comps will be immediately sent to a great agent in your area who will email your comps and analysis to you within about a day.
I tried it and it works great.
Thanks for the resource Lori!
I do not think that you can trust any of them.
I looked up 2 houses today
house 1
Zillow 76,000
Redfin 55,000
FSBO 65,000
house 2
Zillow 106,000
Redfin 144,000
FSBO 87,000
Hi Dan – Those are some pretty wide spreads, so I get what you’re talking about. If you’re looking for a value because you want to sell, talk with a real estate agent and ask for a value.
The websites estimates are simply wrong. I live in a 16 unit building, My condo is mirror image of another in building. Our units are the two largest. My unit is estimated at 77K less than the mirror image, and 50K less than my neighbor, which is significantly smaller. Its a joke. I emailed most of the sites but nothing changes. The estimates are not good starting points. Their formulas do not accurately estimate real estate.
good afternoon mr rose. i am in a fase of life right now where my grandmother that was the owner of the family ranch when she passed away about 8 years ago everything she had she left to her daughter. witch is my mother but she had noted that if anything happends to my mother before she can make any type of will to distribute all my grandmothers things, then it equally gets devided butween my four siblings and i . well my mother passed five years ago and she was able to distribute all little belongings my grandmother left well how ever she didnt devide up the land and there was my grandmothers 1 bed 1 bath houuse as well but with in the last two years it burnt down due to bad elictrical and this place was built in 1925 now my dad is trying to sale the property but idk how he became the execitor to do so when my siblings and i are the only people on the title for the land but he is trying to sale for 175,000 but the lowest estimate i have found doing my re3serch was 206,100 idk what to do how he is able to do so or if he able to just sale or what i need to or should do or wht im total lost i never dealt with this stuff before and my dad dont talk to me at all so idk what i can do i jw if you can help or give and points what way i should go please and thank you very much
Hi Lawrence – It sounds like your mom left your dad as executor of her estate. But there was unfinished business from your grandmother’s estate in the mix. If the property is titled to you and your siblings, your dad can’t sell it since he legally doesn’t own it. But you must get an attorney involved if your dad doesn’t realize that.
The sanantonio website is WAAAAY off on estimate. were talking a mere $100k
Has anyone tried HouseCanary? My buddy uses them. Don’t see much about them on here.
Haven’t tried it Bill, but thanks for adding it to the list of options!
Eppraisals is not free. It cost $9.99 for the report.
My house was left to me when my parents passed. It is paid off so there is no mortgage. I do owe some back property taxes and the house is in bad shape. It is a large lot in a very good location. I want to sell but I dont know how much to ask for. Ive seen a valuation of $186,000 online but the house is not in very good shape. It will need major repairs that I cannot afford. I just want to cash out. Do I subtract from that what I think the repairs will cost?
It’s not quite that easy Catherine. It makes sense, but some people won’t want to do the repairs, so it isn’t a direct match. It might be better to invite some real estate agents in to give it an estimate of what it will sell for. If you want an unbiased opinion, hire an appraiser. For a few hundred dollars they can give you as close a value as you can get.
I just wanna know how much my house is worth so if I do get enough money I can buy it from my Mom and her siblings. My Grandpa, his friends and some cousins built this house in the 60s. I really wanna keep it in my family. Unfortunately right now I don’t have a job….so I’m about $232,405 short of what they’re saying my house is worth right now…. And I don’t think I’d ever be able to save up enough money in enough time…
Hi April – Some of the sources listed in this article can help you determine the value of the house. As far as buying it with no money and no job, I can’t help with that.
Dear Jeff Rose, thanks for all your efforts for providing financial intelligence that ultimately improves our quality of life.
Wanted to note a correction on ‘free home value estimates from the listed websites’, Redfin insinuates ‘instant home values’ only to direct you to a page offering ‘professional estimates’ requiring contact with a listing agent. Granted there is no obligation, however all Real Estate Brokers offer free ‘market analysis (in essence free values)’ in hopes to get the listing. A touch deceiving if folks think they can enter an address and basic information to get a ball-park value. Richard
Thanks Richard!
Thanks for sharing you list of Top 10 best tools to help you estimate your home’s value. When finding your home value in Texas or other non-disclosure state, any “how much is my home worth” tool in these markets can vary widely depending on where the tool is getting its data. It is particularly important to get an estimate from a real estate agent. For example in my market, San Antonio, TX, it is likely the data used is from the county assessor’s office. Assessor values are used to determine taxable value and not a reflection of the home’s market value. When I receive requests on my website’s property valuation tool –
http://www.sanantoniotxforsale.com/cma/property-valuation/ – we immediately reach out to those interested and offer a free comparative market analysis (CMA) report.
To arrive at a more accurate home value, we consider a variety of factors along with the most recent home sales for a comparable home to arrive at the home value. It is important for us as real estate professionals to know how appraisers value homes in order to give those interested in the value of their home a more realistic idea of how much their home is worth. Most real estate agents will do this without obligation. We do!
Thanks for educating your readers! It is important for sellers to have the best information at their fingertips when it may impact them financially.
Thanks Liz!
The quotes I keep getting do not include my 2nd story. I have 2 more bed and another full bath. My sq ft is twice what they are saying. Can i assume the double of their appraisal?
Hi Jane – It’s not that simple. What I’d do is look at the values of homes similar to yours, that do have the second floor and extra rooms, and use those values for your own home. The fact that your house has a second floor doesn’t mean that the value will double, but it should be higher.
Is Zillow really on this list?? Zillow by their own CEO admission states that their values can be off by as much as 18%…While well known and popular site, I was hoping to see sites that provide “Accurate” valuations.
@Alex I’ve personally used Zillow and it’s been worked for me just fine. I’ve also talked to others who have used it with good results.
I have tried the websites above with no success. They all tell me an estimate is not available. My house is in a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania where all of the houses are fairly similar. Any suggestions?
Hi Richard – I’m guessing you can’t get an estimate because you live in a small town where there are few sales. Try asking a real estate agent to give you an estimate. They’ll usually do that for free if you tell them you’re thinking of selling.
This was a great post, thanks for sharing! I have heard of Zillow before but not of the others!
I suppose Zillow is my favorite of all the tools because it’s well known. There are a few I haven’t heard of so thanks for providing this round up.
Great material and presentation, as always. For me, it seems to depend on location most of all.
LOL answers in your pockets! I would say that like yo mentioned dream home is just what you think today. Two years from now it may not be what they were looking for. When just purchased and though we didn’t get our dream home we are close to our dream neighborhood. There are a lot of homes out there and more are being built.