Good report card from Money Magazine

Nice piece in the September 2006 issue of Money Magazine, putting four online home valuation services to the test on an Atlanta-area home. Put to the test were HouseValues.com, as well as Zillow, RealEstateABC.com and Domania. The reporter also hired a professional appraiser (at a cost of $495) to visit the house and apply a specific appraiser.

The results from HouseValues, which provided an estimated selling price range that included the appraiser's specific estimate, also included extra features described by the reporter as "a price range of previous home sales in the area, and the agent's offer to do an in-person evaluation."

Not every service fared as well. One estimate was off from the professional appraiser's estimate by $166,000.

Of course, this is an endorsement not of our Web site, but the skills of our professional real estate agent subscribers, who personally put a value on every home coming through HouseValues.com. We believe strongly that real estate professionals, experts in real-time local market conditions, are uniquely positioned to help consumers truly understand the current market value of their home. Great work guys!