Redfin Launches Owner Estimate to Give Homeowners More Control in Assessing Their Home's Value

Estimate is Calculated Using Both Machine-Learning Technology and Homeowner Input

SEATTLE, Sept. 26, 2018 -- Redfin, the next-generation real estate brokerage, today announced the launch of the Redfin Owner Estimate. The Owner Estimate is a tool for homeowners to create an estimate for their home's value that is based on their own knowledge about their property. The Owner Estimate uses the same core machine-learning engine that powers the Redfin Estimate and invites homeowners to provide input, resulting in an even more accurate estimate of a home's value.

"The Redfin Estimate is the most accurate online estimate for on-market homes, but no amount of cloud-computing power can replace a homeowner's firsthand knowledge about their own home and neighborhood," said Matt Lerner, Redfin's senior vice president of product and design. "By combining the best of both human insight and machine learning, the Redfin Owner Estimate gives homeowners more say in determining their home's estimated value."

An Owner Estimate can be created by the homeowner of any off-market or recently sold home. To create an Owner Estimate, the homeowner goes through a step-by-step process to update home facts and provide input on completed renovations, such as whether the homeowner has added any bedrooms or bathrooms. The homeowner then selects at least five comparable homes from a list of 25 recently sold homes in the area. Redfin uses these selections to calculate the Owner Estimate. Once created, the homeowner can keep the Owner Estimate private or choose to post it publicly above the Redfin Estimate on their home's details page on Redfin.com.

"One of the most frequent requests we get from homeowners is to be able to provide their own input and additional information that could impact the estimated market value of their home," said Karen Krupsaw, senior vice president of real estate operations who oversees the home-selling business at Redfin. "The Redfin Owner Estimate puts the power of our proven machine-learning algorithm into the hands of consumers, so they can have a more accurate picture of their home's value whether they are preparing to sell or simply want a better understanding of their equity."

A comprehensive, independent study by SSRS found that the Redfin Estimate was the most accurate online estimate for on-market homes among estimates from leading providers of public home-value estimates.

To read more about the Redfin Owner Estimate, visit: https://www.redfin.com/how-owner-estimate-works

About Redfin

Redfin is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer's favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country's #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry's lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $60 billion in home sales.