2 Ways to Get a Free Home Appraisal and Check Your Property Value
The housing market is constantly changing, and property values can shift quickly. As a result, you might only have a vague idea of your home’s value — or, possibly, not even a clue.
To determine your home’s true market value, you can hire a licensed appraiser for around $400 to $600. According to a 2023 Appraisal Survey by the National Association of Realtors, the typical cost is $500.
However, if you’re just looking for an informed estimate, you can get a free home appraisal through online tools or an experienced local real estate agent.
With insight from top Los Angeles real estate agent Rima Rafeh, we’ll guide you through your free home value estimate options.
Home appraisal overview: Determining your home’s value
In technical terms, a home appraisal involves hiring a professional certified by your state to conduct a comprehensive inspection of your property to assess its value. Mortgage lenders require an official appraisal to ensure they’re not lending a buyer or homeowner more than the property is worth.
When used colloquially, an appraisal may simply refer to a home value estimate generated by an algorithm or a real estate professional. Homeowners usually seek out appraisals and home value estimates to determine how much equity they’ve built or what they could sell their home for in the current market.
Now that you’re up to speed on the technicalities, here’s how to get a home appraisal for free:
Option 1: Get a home appraisal for free online
The first and easiest option is to rely on the magic of the internet. Online appraisal software made a massive splash in the real estate world when it premiered in 2006, giving homeowners the power to quickly ascertain their home’s value and take a more proactive role in participating in housing markets. Since their inception, the involved technologies have rapidly improved, providing more and more accurate estimates every year.
Today, online home appraisals have a median error rate of around 2.4% for listed homes and 7.49% for off-market properties. Still, for homeowners who want a free, fairly reliable appraisal in minutes, online value estimators are a no-brainer.
