Best Cost Estimator Apps and Tools for Homebuyers and Sellers in Massachusetts or Connecticut

A home is a person’s most precious possession, and buying one is generally the largest financial transaction they will ever make. So, regardless of whether you’re on the buyer’s or seller’s side of the transaction, you must know how much the home you’re considering is worth. And, thanks to the recent growth of online resources for determining a home’s value, it’s now easier than ever to do so. So, let’s take a look at the finest cost estimator apps and tools for Massachusetts or Connecticut home buyers and sellers.

What Is a Cost Estimator?

First, though, let’s see exactly what the cost estimator apps and tools really are and what they can do.

A cost estimator, in its most basic form, is a tool that can assist you in determining the approximate value of a property. “An automatic appraisal and estimate for the home is provided by an online home value estimator. This could relate to more advanced tools that provide numbers like recent sales records in the region, public records information on comparable homes sold nearby (such as property taxes), and even data from other market-tracking websites like Realtor.com.”

These tools can help purchasers get answers to crucial questions regarding a property, get an estimate of its value, and (in some cases) figure out how much equity they have. “They’re also useful for folks wanting to sell their homes because they might want to know how much it’s worth so they can figure out how much profit they’ll make from the sale or any other costs that come with selling a house.”

Best Cost Estimator Apps and Tools

Now, let’s get into the cost estimator apps and tools themselves . . . 

FORSALEBYOWNER.COM

This is one of the best tools for those who want to go the FSBO route. 

“Those interested in determining the value of their house can do so by entering the address into an online home value estimator. For Sale by Owner has a number of advantages, including a free website and mobile app that allows interested buyers to identify and contact listing owners directly. This website has been around since 2002, when it was founded with the goal of assisting homeowners in marketing their homes without paying any listing fees or commissions. It also connects sellers with local brokers who work on a commission basis rather than being paid out of the revenues of the sale.”

ZILLOW’S ZESTIMATE

This is the most popular online cost estimate site and one of the biggies. It is a free application that allows you to estimate the value of a property by combining real estate data such as recent sales in your area with other characteristics such as local population trends, crime statistics, weather patterns, and school information. The calculations are based on algorithms that take hundreds of variables into consideration for each address, including neighboring schools and current rental rates at comparable residences in the area.”

You may get a range of values with Zestimate based on “criteria such as square footage, age, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, lot size, year built, location (zip code), and whether it’s a condo/coop or single-family home.” The Zestimate is created by integrating data from local real estate listings with data collected about every property in recent years, taking into account characteristics such as comparable sales prices for properties similar to yours.” Users can also compare anticipated pricing to current listing prices.

TRULIA’S LOCAL MARKET VALUES TOOL

People all throughout the country can use this tool to find out how much their homes are worth right now or at any point in the past by simply entering their address. “Trulia’s Local Market Values tool is a helpful tool for house sellers and purchasers, as well as anyone interested in how homes are priced across the United States.”

If a home has recently sold, for example, “you may see how much it sold for and see public information like tax assessor data.” You can also get estimates of how much your house is worth at any time using automated valuation techniques that use publicly available data to assess its value.” Users may “get a greater picture of current market patterns and values than they could by seeing just a few homes in their neighborhood” with this program, which scours millions of listings throughout the country.

U.S.NEWS

U.S.News (in collaboration with HomeLight) provides a detailed cost estimator tool that “considers the amount of work required on the property when you plan to sell, as well as other factors.” Home values are shown as a range, along with how the range may differ depending on whether the home is listed with an agent or sold immediately to an investor.”

CHASE

Chase has a cost estimator tool that will help you come up with a more precise cost estimate. It contains details on recently sold homes as well as neighborhood trends.

But Nothing Beats a Local Agent

These programs and tools are a wonderful place to start when trying to figure out how much a house is worth, but that’s all they are. Nothing surpasses a skilled Massachusetts or Connecticut agent’s experience and expertise, especially when it comes to performing a comparative market analysis (CMA), which is both an art and a science. You can’t rely on your smartphone or computer to tell you how much a house is worth. Contact us today at 413-455-0008 if you’re ready to go beyond cost estimator apps and tools to get the true value of a home in Massachusetts or Connecticut.