Can I Trust the Online Estimate of My Baltimore Home's Value?

Can I trust the online estimate of my Baltimore home's value? Treat it as a starting point, not a price, because it only knows what's public: the size of the house, the bedrooms and the baths.

I'm Eric Figurelle with the Figurelle Team of Cummings & Co. Realtors. When I price a home, I use an online estimate the same way I'd use a first draft.

It knows what's public. That's the size of the home, the number of bedrooms and baths, and records from the area.

That's a real start. It isn't nothing.

It doesn't know about your new kitchen.

It doesn't know you replaced the roof.

It doesn't know you finished the basement.

And it doesn't know what still needs work. The bathroom you haven't touched. The older heating system. The spot on the ceiling you keep meaning to check.

My home valuation page says the same thing: online estimates don't take into account many of the updates and changes you've made inside and out.

Because a conversation catches what a record can't. When you tell me about the house, I hear the roof, the kitchen and the basement. I hear what you've fixed and what you've been putting off. Then I compare all of that to what's selling. That's why I begin with a call before I give anyone a number.

1. Look at the number and write it down. Don't throw it out. Don't treat it as a price.

2. Make a list of what you've done that a website couldn't know. The roof, the kitchen, the windows, the basement.

3. Make a second list of what still needs work. Look at the house the way a buyer would. They'll notice.

4. Ask, "Is this number too low, too high, or about right?" Your two lists will tell you more than the number does.

5. Bring both lists to me. We compare the estimate to what's actually selling and what I see when I walk through the home.

That's where a real price comes from. If you want to see the full method, here's how I price a home.

• Treating the number as a price. It looks exact. It isn't.
• Planning around it. If you decide your next move on a website's number, you may be planning around a number that's wrong in either direction.
• Being let down by a low number, or too happy about a high one. Neither is a price. "I don't want to overpay or leave money on the table" works in reverse for sellers: you don't want to underprice or overreach.
• Not telling anyone what the estimate left out. The updates are your best news. Say them out loud.

Here's an example. Picture two rowhomes next door to each other. On paper they look almost the same. Same size, same rooms.

One was redone from top to bottom. The other has the kitchen it had years ago. An online estimate may treat them as twins. A buyer would never see them that way.

This is an example, not a real sale. It's the reason I walk through every home.

Is an online estimate ever right?

It can land close on a home that hasn't changed much since its last sale. It can't tell you whether yours is that kind of home.

What if the estimate is higher than I hoped?

Write it down and tell me. A high number isn't a price either. We compare it to what's selling.

What if it's lower?

Same answer. Tell me about the updates it couldn't know, and we'll look again.

Where does a real price come from?

From two things: what's actually selling, and what I see when I walk through your home.

The first step is a conversation, which I explain in what is my Baltimore home worth. You can also look at Baltimore and the full home valuation page.

Send me a message, and we'll compare that estimate to what's really selling. Contact me here.

About: Eric Figurelle is a REALTOR® and Team Leader of the Figurelle Team of Cummings & Co. Realtors in Baltimore, MD, helping buyers and sellers across the Baltimore Metro area make clear, well-planned moves, especially sellers managing a transition or a sale from a distance.