More Home Valuation Data??

Yesterday, Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions (say that ten times fast) launched another home appraisal site, CyberHomes.com .  Its another fun way to snoop around the neighborhood.

For those Firefox users... it is fun to bring up CyberHomes, Zillow, RealEstateABC, and HouseValues in separate tabs within the same browser and compare their valuations.  (IE users...I guess you could use separate browser windows, but that is sooo 1999.)  First thing I would recommend is to close HouseValues.  It requires you to register.  The only reason you should have to register for a website is if you are paying for something...or if it is something that needs to be password protected. 

Next, search your home address in the three remaining sites.

Here are my results (...here at HotPads...we only rent...so I guess this is my Property Manager's results):
CyberHomes:  No Results
Zillow: $835,000 (Tax Assessment, No Zestimate)
RealEstateABC: $1,256,000

Interesting... while I like Zillow's interface much more.  RealEstateABC makes me feel much better about the outrageous rent I pay in DC.  Suddenly, I am now getting more bang for my buck!

Lets try another home at random (1761 16th Ave S, Seattle, WA):
Cyberhomes: $382,338
Zillow:  $348,297
RealEstateABC:  $376,000

These comparisons are the definition of anecdotal.  I would be interested to see someone do this type of comparison across all of the different home valuation sites using a couple hundred addresses.  I would do it...but... I am a renter.

In the end, Zillow takes the cake for search functionality.  I have no idea who is more accurate.  Cyberhomes is definitely a site worth checking out.   They have done a good job...with being live for only two days, I am sure we will see many improvents in the future.

Check out the screenshot below.  Zillow is the only valuation site to figure out the 'favicon' for firefox.  Kudos.

Comments

[Douglas Pope]

At least someone took my suggestion. Thanks Pittsburgh Homes Daily!

http://www.pittsburghhomesdaily.com/2006/11/10/online-home-valuations-for-ten-homes-around-pittsburgh/