8 of the Top Free Online Home Value Estimators in 2024
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Adrian E. Hirsch, Contributing AuthorClose
Adrian E. Hirsch Contributing AuthorAdrian E. Hirsch is a South Louisiana interviewer, writer, editor, blogger and scriptwriter. She’s covered the region’s unique lifestyle, landmarks, architecture, art, antiques, food, music, pets and healthcare issues for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, New Orleans, Memphis and Gambit magazines among others. Having bought, sold and built homes, she’s survived the whims of the market, contractors, kids, rescued cats and dogs—not to mention hurricanes, erosion and termite invasion. Her real estate reporting aims to help families find the right home and maximize the potential of that major investment.
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Taryn Tacher, Senior EditorClose
Taryn Tacher Senior EditorTaryn Tacher is the senior editorial operations manager and senior editor for HomeLight's Resource Centers. With eight years of editorial and operations experience, she previously managed editorial operations at Contently and content partnerships at Conde Nast. Taryn holds a bachelor's from the University of Florida College of Journalism, and she's written for GQ, Teen Vogue, Glamour, Allure, and Variety.
Whether they’re considering selling their property, refinancing their mortgage, or simply curious about their investment’s current market value, many people want to know: “What’s my home worth today?” Free online home value estimators can give you an idea of what your house might sell for or how much home equity you’ve banked so far.
Many lenders and real estate companies have an automated valuation model (AVM) on their website where you can input your address to get a result. None of these tools are a substitute for a formal appraisal or the in-person expertise of a real estate agent, but they can be a useful starting point.
Most aggregate some combination of county auditor and tax assessor records, user-submitted data, and multiple listing service (MLS) listings and sales to produce the estimate.
How Much Is Your Home Worth Now?
Get a near-instant home value estimate from HomeLight for free. Our tool analyzes the records of recently sold homes near you, your home’s last sale price, and other market trends to provide a preliminary range of value in under two minutes.
You may be curious to know which online home value estimator is the best or which website is most accurate. A home’s square footage, acreage, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and year built are some of the main data points used for calculating value — but each tool may have blind spots where data is limited or only offer coverage of certain market areas.
One option is to put your address through a few different tools to see what you get. We queried the eight sites below for their estimate of the same home in the Dunwoody suburb of Atlanta, so you can get a sense for what each one provides:
| Tool | Estimated value of test home |
| HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator | $507,809 |
| RE/MAX | $582,068 – $599,662 |
| Chase Mortgage Services | $453,300 |
| Zillow Zestimate | $467,400 |
| Bank of America | $495,779 |
| Realtor.com | $488,600 |
| Redfin Estimate | $456,471 |
| Eppraisal | $635,592 – $674,907 |
We ran an address for a 2,305-square-foot home on a 0.3-acre lot with three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths in the Dunwoody suburb of Atlanta through each of the above tools.
Now let’s review each tool more in depth.
HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator
Value of test home: $507,809
How does it work?
With HomeLight’s tool, you can input your address and the software will analyze millions of real estate transactions, collect details about your property with a short questionnaire, and pull in the most important elements of a comparative market analysis. Users then receive a preliminary estimate of value in under two minutes sent to their email inbox.
What information do you need to provide for the best calculation?
- What’s your address?
- Are you thinking of selling soon?
- What’s the condition of your home? (needs nothing, needs a little work, needs significant work, or teardown)
- Anything else you’d like to tell us about your home?
- Email address for where to send the estimate
How does the tool fit into what the company does?
HomeLight is a real estate technology company that provides an array of services to buyers, sellers, and real estate agents. Through HomeLight, you can connect with a top real estate agent or request a cash offer on your home. You can also use the company’s Buy Before You Sell program to purchase your next home.
How is this tool different from others?
For a deeper understanding of your home’s value and current market trends, you’ll want to get a comparative market analysis from a local real estate agent. HomeLight provides a list of top-rated agents in the same email that contains your home value estimate, making it easy to take the next step if you so choose.
RE/MAX
Value of test home: $582,068 – $599,662
How does it work?
Enter your address and click Get Estimate, and RE/MAX will confirm that it has listed the correct number of beds, baths, and square footage for your home. The next screen shows a range of estimated value provided by SmartZip, which has a patented AVM that takes into account a number of variables.
What information do you need to provide for the best calculation?
- Address (provided by user)
- Number of bedrooms (confirmed by user)
- Number of bathrooms (confirmed by user)
- Square footage (confirmed by user)
How does the tool fit into what the company does?
RE/MAX is a real estate franchisor with offices all over the world.
How is this tool different from others?
Alongside the estimate of home value, RE/MAX’s tool shows a map of comparable homes for sale in the same ZIP code for homeowners to explore local trends more in-depth. Users seeking additional information can also click the “Contact us” button, and RE/MAX will follow up with a more accurate assessment.
Chase Mortgage Services
Value of test home: $453,300
How does it work?
When you type your address into the database, Chase generates an estimated price, a map that shows your property, and the sales prices of neighboring homes.
What do you need to provide?
- Address only
How does the tool fit into what the company does?
Chase offers an array of financial services. Through Chase, you can apply for a mortgage, refinance your home, or take out a home equity line of credit.
How is this tool different from others?
Chase’s home value estimator is powered by robust data collected from over 10,000 government and proprietary sources. Although Chase doesn’t ask for user-submitted information upfront, a user can adjust the number of beds, baths, total rooms, and total square footage boxes to either represent recent upgrades or forecast the value of a remodeling project. The tool also automatically pulls in a module displaying recent nearby sales information.
Zillow Zestimate®
Value of test home: $467,400
How does it work?
Enter your address into the tool and click “Get Started.” This will lead you to a screen with your home’s Zestimate®, but to view more, you’ll need to create a Zillow account or log into your existing one.
Zillow’s Zestimate® inputs public, MLS, and user-submitted data into a proprietary formula, which gives consideration to home facts, location, and market trends.
The AVM’s accuracy depends on the availability of data in a home’s geographic location. In some markets, home information — such as square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and other details — are more accessible than in other regions.
The company offers an up-to-date margin of error for top metropolitan markets and every state. The nationwide median error rate for listed homes hovers around 2.4%; the rate for off-market properties is approximately 7.49%.
What do you need to provide for the best calculation?
- Address only for standalone estimate
- Creation of a Zillow account to see additional details
How does the tool fit into what the company does?
Zillow and its affiliates offer consumers an array of products and services for selling, buying, renting, and financing homes. The company is known as a top website where you can shop for homes online.
How is this tool different from others?
Launched in 2006, Zillow is the original home value estimator tool. When you enter the home address and click “View this home,” the software generates an estimate and lists the square footage, number of bedrooms, and number of bathrooms for the property.
The page breaks out the factors contributing to the estimate — specific figures on comparable homes, tax assessment, and sales comps. It features a menu of graphs illustrating your home’s value, rental rates, and listing prices over the past 10 years.
Bank of America
Value of test home: $495,779
How does it work?
Once you enter your address, a screen pops up with your estimated home value alongside Google Earth pictures of your home’s exterior, number of beds and baths for the property, and the square footage.
What information do you need to provide for the best calculation?
- Address only
How does the tool fit into what the company does?
Bank of America offers financial services for home loans and refinances.
How is this tool different from others?
Bank of America’s tool displays MLS property details such as whether the house has a garage, pool, or fireplace, and you can scroll down to see a shaded line graph showing the home’s value over a 10-year period as well as nearby comparable homes in a map format.
Realtor.com
Value of test home: $488,600
How does it work?
Its AVMs compile basic property characteristics, local market information, and price trends to produce a home value estimate.
Realtor.com is the only site that gathers estimates directly from multiple, independent AVM providers. To offer consumers access to the same providers used by real estate lenders, investors, and brokers, Realtor.com sources its estimates to Collateral Analytics, CoreLogic, and Quantarium.
The company asserts homeowners benefit from the multi-pronged approach because presenting data from multiple sources with their own unique algorithms provides a more complete picture of a home’s potential value.
What information do you need to provide for the best calculation?
- Address only for standalone estimate and percent increase or decrease from the previous month
- Must share Facebook, Apple, and email address or create an account to access advance information
How does the tool fit into what the company does?
Realtor.com is a major home search and real estate media website.
How is this tool different from others?
If you “claim” your home by logging in with Facebook, Apple, or your email address, you have access to information on an owner’s dashboard. That page includes a graph of your home’s value over the past five years, market trends for your area, the property sales history, a home sale net proceeds calculator, and additional metrics and tools.
Redfin Estimate
Value of test home: $456,471
How does it work?
Users enter their address and Redfin delivers an immediate estimate of value along with the chance to claim “I’m the owner” of the property. After verifying ownership, a user can update and make corrections to their property details, similar to how they can on Realtor.com and Zillow. Pulling data directly from the MLS, Redfin bases its calculations on the value of recently sold homes in your area.
What information do you need to provide for the best calculation?
- Address only
How does the tool fit into what the company does?
Redfin is a real estate brokerage that charges a discounted rate (1% or 1.5%) for its listing services.
How is this tool different from others?
On its website, Redfin says Redfin Estimate is highly accurate among leading automated home-value tools, with a median error rate of 2.08%. If your geographic area is within its service zone, Redfin generates an estimate and displays a map with photos of other properties that have sold in the area. There’s also a link to schedule a sales consultation.
Eppraisal
Value of test home: $655,250 with a range of $635,592 – $674,907
How does it work?
Eppraisal’s estimator accesses public county records and culls the data from up to 20 recent property values and nearby comparable properties. To calculate a price range, it plugs that information into a proprietary mathematical formula that takes into account each property’s characteristics and recent property sales in the area.
What information do you need to provide for the best calculation?
- Street name and ZIP code
How does the tool fit into what the company does?
Eppraisal is a free real estate and home value website that aggregates data on recent home sales, neighborhoods, and local market trends.
How is this tool different from others?
Eppraisal provides information in a stripped down, bare-bones format. Besides the estimate, its results page shows a map and public records’ information as well as some home loan options.
Home value FAQs
How is a home’s value calculated?
You can calculate a home’s value through a free online valuation tool, hiring an appraiser, or working with a real estate agent to get a comparative market analysis (CMA). Free online home value calculators look at transactions in your area and public data to generate an estimate. But, if you’re looking for a more accurate number, you’ll need to work with a real estate professional who will look at your property’s condition, the market trends in your area, and other factors to calculate your home’s worth.
The most common method for determining home value involves an analysis of comparable sales. With this approach, recently sold homes similar to yours in size, age, and condition are identified as “comps,” which serve as a baseline for calculating your own home’s worth. Any differences in your home that would add or subtract value, such as an extra bedroom or aging roof, will factor into the calculation.
There are different ways to gather the data and information necessary for this type of analysis. Online tools will pull from publicly available records, gather real estate transaction data, and ask users to share updates about their property. An algorithm is able to make sense of those numbers instantly, resulting in a real-time valuation.
A real estate agent will be able to go a step further and access comps from their local MLS and even conduct a walkthrough of the property. These steps give them greater insights into the area and the ability to provide you with a CMA. Appraisers typically work from the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report and will physically measure the interior and exterior of the home in an onsite visit to make sure the public records are accurate.
What adds value to a home?
What adds value to your home depends on a variety of factors. Some of these variables are external, like a jobs market that attracts new residents to your area, easy access to trails and parks, or the development of local restaurants and shopping centers nearby.
A booming economy and market drivers like a low supply of inventory also work in your favor. These influencers have the potential to boost demand for your home and help it sell for more money.
Other factors are within your control. Improving your curb appeal with basic lawn care and cleanup improves the marketability of your home. You can also invest in larger upgrades that add value (just be sure to check on the ROI), and keep the house in great shape with proper maintenance over time.
Finally, to maximize value, be sure to list your home during the best time to sell for your city and make the effort to clean, declutter, and stage the home to impress.
How do free home value estimates work?
Generally speaking, automated valuation models run some combination of county auditor and tax assessor records, user-submitted data, and property listings and sales through a unique algorithm to arrive at a home value estimate. These tools are able to comb through millions of pieces of data almost instantly. With HomeLight’s estimate tool, you can simply input your address, and the software will analyze millions of real estate transactions, collect details about your property with a short questionnaire, and pull in the most important elements of a comparative market analysis to calculate your home’s worth. Keep in mind real estate experts advise using these tools as a starting point rather than the final word.
What is the definition of home value?
Home value is the amount that buyers are willing to pay for a property, depending on a number of factors, such as the location and condition of the home. Fair market value refers to the price that an average or reasonable buyer would spend on a house when there is no existing relationship with the seller, and no extenuating circumstances endearing the buyer to that particular house.
How often should I check my home’s value?
It’s a good idea to check up on our home’s value periodically and start owning your home’s history and value online. When the time comes to sell, buyers are going to look up your address, and if the internet says your home is worth less than you’re asking for, it could weaken your negotiating position.
In the weeks and months leading up to listing the property, looking up your home’s value before you sell gives you an idea of how much you can list it for and how your home compares to other listings in the area at that time. You should also check your home’s value when you’re thinking of making major changes to your property, like renovations or your updating property insurance.
What’s next after I receive my estimate?
After you receive your estimate, we recommend connecting with a top real estate agent who will conduct a comparative market analysis on your behalf to lock in a pricing strategy. With an estimate in hand, you can also calculate the cost of selling your home and find out the net proceeds of the sale.
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