What Zillow, Redfin, and every bank portal produce.
What it is good for
Free, instant, and directionally useful for a quick orientation.
Where it falls down
It averages comparable sales. Where a corridor holds two genuinely different kinds of house — a 1954 original and a 2023 rebuild on the same block — an average lands in the gap between them and describes neither. It also cannot see inside your house.
What I produce, and what this page is offering.
What it is good for
Outliers are identified and excluded with a stated reason rather than blended away. Adjustments are made within the remaining cluster for lot, irrigation, orientation, garage, and condition. You see every exclusion and the reasoning behind it.
Where it falls down
It is a considered opinion of market value, not a certified appraisal, and it does not bind a lender.
What a licensed appraiser produces for the lender after you are under contract.
What it is good for
It is the number the loan is actually written against, and it carries professional liability behind it.
Where it falls down
It happens late, you do not choose the appraiser, and it is answering the lender’s question — is the collateral sufficient — rather than yours.
Reading two
You will get a range with a stated basis, the comparable set I worked from, and a list of every sale I excluded together with the reason for excluding it. If the honest answer is that your house is worth less than you were hoping, that is what the document will say.
No obligation and no listing pitch attached. If you are two years out from selling, that is a perfectly good reason to want a real number now.