Sites that Estimate Your Homes Value

You might have heard this piece of wisdom: A man with one clock
always knows what time it is. A man with two clocks is never sure. The
old saw applies to the rapidly expanding number of sites that estimate
your home's value. First came Zillow (www.zillow.com) and its
"Zestimates," which launched with a splash earlier this year. Realtors
and consumer advocates gripe that Zillow's estimates are inaccurate and
confusing. Now comes CyberHomes (www.cyberhomes.com), the
Zillow-like site just launched by title insurance giant Fidelity National
Information Services. Both sites make it nearly effortless to look up
home values. So, The Palm Beach Post ran some homes currently listed
for sale and compared the prices to the valuations offered by Zillow,
CyberHomes and county property appraisers' sites. The results? The
numbers are all over the place, with CyberHomes offering especially
optimistic values. CyberHomes was above the asking price for four homes looked at. The lesson? Don't take these tools too seriously.