What Is Ownerly? Should You Use its Home Value Estimator?

Editor’s note: Information in this article is current as its publication date. Processes, rates, and services from real estate companies can change based on market conditions, housing trends, changes in technology, and customer needs.

Thinking about selling or remodeling? You’re probably curious about your home’s current market value. Most sellers want to get top dollar for their home, and people choosing to remodel don’t want to put money into their homes they won’t recoup when they sell. Enter: Ownerly.com, the home value and data website.

When you search online for your home’s value, Ownerly might pop up in the results. It’s tagline — “Home Value, See What Your Home is REALLY Worth” — targets homeowners who want a current market estimate of their home’s value.

Here’s what you need to know about Ownerly before signing up for their (paid) service.

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What is Ownerly?

Ownerly is a website designed to help homeowners determine their home’s value and view other real estate data. Their focus is on the investment aspect of homeownership, and they tout that their service will unlock professional-grade real estate data.

While home valuation is their core business, they also provide information on mortgage and refinancing rates, estimated home improvement costs, and local sales data. You can see what your neighbor sold their home for, or if they have any liens against their property. Their tagline under their logo on their website says, “Ownerly.com helps you search homes and learn more about them.”

The website features a blog with a content library that covers buying and selling a home, home improvements, mortgage and loans, and real estate basics. Their name indicates the brand’s focus on homeowners.

How does Ownerly work for home sellers?

If you’re a home seller, Ownerly could be useful as a data point.

If you have doubts about the price range an agent selected after preparing a comparative market analysis (CMA), Ownerly can possibly provide some confirmation.

Home sellers considering selling “for sale by owner” (FSBO) might find Ownerly helpful when setting a list price, although industry experts warn against relying too heavily on automated valuation models (AVM) to set your own price. It can also save FSBO sellers time researching recent comparable sales in their neighborhood.

It’s important to note that AVMs like Ownerly’s typically only provide a ballpark home value estimate and are not as reliable or accurate as a CMA or an appraisal.

On Ownerly’s site homepage, you’ll find a tool called “Browse Properties by State” that drills down on a street. You can see the average lot size, property taxes, and the age of homes where you live, as well as recent sales data. These informational listings are useful if you’re initially pricing your home or trying to see how much you might get for selling.

What if you’re a homeowner a few years out from selling? Ownerly’s data could help you weigh the value of home improvements. The typical renovations on homes in your area, plus cost data and home values, could help you estimate the potential cost of a remodel and if you’d recoup that cost when selling.

How does Ownerly work for homebuyers?

Homebuyers want to get a great house at a fair price, but with the market so hot in some areas it’s hard to know what’s fair. Ownerly’s reports and home valuation tracking tools could be helpful in writing a fair offer and in negotiations with sellers. Here again, industry experts recommend partnering with an experienced real estate agent to manage offers and negotiations.

Does Ownerly serve your area?

According to their website, Ownerly serves the entire United States. They appear to offer reports on a variety of addresses for various states that we tested.

Is there a cost to use Ownerly?

Ownerly charges a $1 fee for a trial membership which gives you up to 25 reports only viewable online. Or, you can pay $5 for the trial membership that gives you up to 25 reports that you can download. Both trials convert to a $35-a-month membership within seven days if you don’t cancel your subscription in time.

What’s the incentive for Ownerly?

Ownerly seems to generate its revenue from membership fees (i.e., by charging businesses to join their network) and by selling data it’s collected.

Ownerly offers businesses the chance to join their network by filling out a google form on their website. Ownerly receives referral fees if you use a business referred through their website. While their terms and conditions address certain fees, it’s unclear how much businesses pay to advertise and/or receive referrals.

Although unclear by perusing their site, some online reviews indicate Ownerly generates revenue by selling its users’ data to real estate agents, banks, lenders, and other professionals and companies who sign up to join their partner network. If you wish to keep your data private, you have the option to click on a link at the bottom of their website called, “Do Not Sell My Personal Information.”

The link takes you to beenverified.com. By selecting to opt-out, you ensure that Ownerly does sell your personal information, such as an email address.

Ownerly Reviews

One of the best ways to evaluate a business is by reading online reviews. While most businesses have a significant mix of positive and negative feedback, Ownerly has a slim online review presence. Here’s a snapshot of what users are saying about Ownerly online.

Trustpilot — Ownerly has 2.3 out of 5 stars, with seven reviews. All seven reviews are 1-star ratings.

Ownerly has a small set of reviews and a poor rating on Trustpilot. Three of the reviews say that, even though they canceled their subscription in time, they were still charged after the free trial expired. Five of the reviews said that the data they received was inaccurate. They have no positive reviews on Trustpilot. Neither the owner or customer service responded to these reviews.

The brand doesn’t seem to maintain a Google business page with reviews, though it appears as if they had an app on the Google Play store one at some point. The archived app search results page shows 2.6 stars and 45 votes. But when you click through to the Google Play site the app page says “the requested URL was not found.” They also don’t have a Better Business Bureau listing.

Ownerly is a newer business, which could explain their scant presence on review sites. However, as a business done entirely online it’s noteworthy that they don’t have a Google Business presence which would allow Google reviews.

Pros and cons of using Ownerly

Why sign up for Ownerly’s service?

Easy and quick

You could pull together all of the data in Ownerly’s reports by combing through a county assessor’s website, googling, and researching recent home sales. Or, you could sign up for their service and receive it in minutes.

Almost free

If you remember to cancel in time, you shouldn’t pay more than a dollar for the information. And if you’re looking for general homebuying and ownership information, you can read their blog without signing up.

Could get connected with local professionals

If it is time to remodel that 1970s bathroom, Ownerly connects you with local professionals. However, this is only available after joining their services.

Why avoid using Ownerly?

Data may not be accurate

Several reviews noted that the Ownerly’s data appeared inaccurate. Relying upon it could be risky, and you’ll want to confirm key data with outside sources before making binding decisions (such as accepting a buyer’s offer).

Expensive if you forget to cancel

Most homeowners won’t have an ongoing need for this data, and may only want to know their home’s worth or local home values at certain times — like when planning to sell or remodel. It usually doesn’t make much sense to pay $35 a month to have continued access to this information.

Professionals may not be properly vetted

While Ownerly does request licenses and other information on the application to join their network, it’s unclear if they check references or dig into professional qualifications beyond that point.

Alternatives to Ownerly

There are a number of other companies out there who will help you determine your home’s value, put you in touch with contractors, or find a discount real estate agent. A few examples include:

• HomeLight
• Clever Real Estate
• Angi (formerly Angi’s List)

HomeLight has a home value estimator tool, agent matching, and more. Clever Real Estate will help you estimate your home’s value and put you in touch with an agent willing to accept a lower commission or flat rate.

Angi’s List connects homeowners with local contractors and also provides verified reviews to calculate their ratings, giving you more confidence they’ll do the job well, something not featured in Ownerly’s network.

HomeLight and Clever’s home value estimator services are entirely free. Angi is free, but charges a small monthly fee of $3.25 or annual membership of $29.99 if you want discounts on services. There are also dozens other free home valuation tools available from real estate companies, lenders and other financial institutions.

Other services offered by Ownerly

Ownerly offers additional services, but other than their blog content you must be registered with the site to access them. You can accomplish most of these tasks with a quick Internet search or on another, free website. These include:

• Mortgage rates and information on refinancing
• Homeowner’s insurance policies and average premiums
• Typical renovations and their average costs for comparable properties
• Home security packages and referrals to other home service providers in your area.
• Energy saving packages and utility changeover offers

How does HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator work?

Other online tools give you an estimate of your home’s value without requiring that you give them a credit card. HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator asks seven simple questions, then analyzes millions of data points to return a home value estimate. In less than two minutes, we’ll provide a ballpark estimate telling you what your home might be worth right now.

Other services and tools offered by HomeLight

HomeLight offers other valuable tools for homebuyers and sellers.

• Agent Match – In less than two minutes, we match you with top agents in your area, agents who sell homes faster and in a shorter timeframe than average agents as measured by analyzing over 27 million real estate transactions.
• HomeLight Simple Sale – HomeLight provides a cash offer to buy your home, which allows you to skip repair costs, showings, and agent commissions.
• HomeLight Home Loans – Offers home loans managed by a dedicated loan officer who guides you through the process from start to finish. We don’t charge any lender or origination fees and we’re proud of our transparency. We give you the option of viewing estimated closing costs up front so you aren’t hit with surprises.
• HomeLight Trade-In – Reduce the stress of buying and selling at the same time. We’ll work with you and your agent to make an offer on your current home, so you can make a strong offer on your new home and close and move on your schedule.
• HomeLight Cash Offer – HomeLight buys your dream home for cash, helping you win the home, then sells it back to you. Cash offers are three times more likely to prevail and can earn you a 5% savings, on average, compared to traditional offers with a loan.

* Some services like Trade-In, Home Loans, and Cash Offer are not available in all states

Additional tools & resources HomeLight offers

• Agent Commissions Calculator – If you’re curious how much you’ll pay an agent in your home sale, this calculator can estimate what to expect.
• Home Affordability Calculator – Home shopping and need to set a budget? After answering a few questions about your income and expenses, this calculator estimates how much home you can afford.
• Best Time to Sell Calculator – Want to maximize your profit? The best time to sell calculator analyzes sales data in your neighborhood and tells you when you’re more likely to make the most money.

Frequently Asked Questions about Ownerly

Here’s a quick rundown of frequently asked questions about Ownerly.

Does Ownerly charge fees?

Yes, there is no way to access home valuation data on Ownerly without paying at least a dollar and giving them your credit card information. Another tier is a seven-day free trial for $5, after which both trials convert to a paid subscription of $35 a month.

Is Ownerly legit?

They are a registered business that uses third-party Automated Valuation Model services to provide home value estimates — similar to Zestimate and other websites.

Can you cancel Ownerly?

Yes, to cancel you must email their customer service team.

Is Ownerly safe?

The company’s policies and terms and conditions make it clear that they can sell your data unless you opt out. However, they are a legitimate business and not a scam.

Weigh the benefits and drawbacks of Ownerly: know your options

Ownerly provides a way for homeowners to track their home’s value, determine the potential return on investment of a remodel, and find local service providers. While all of this data and these services can be found elsewhere, for free or cheaper, some homeowners might find value in having it all in one place.

Homeowners today are fortunate to have excellent online options to check the value of their home and research real estate data. Get a free real-world home value estimate in less than two minutes right now with HomeLight ‘s Home Value Estimator. Or, if you’re a home seller, get matched with a top real estate agent in your area with Agent Match and request a comparative market analysis.

Header Image Source: (Vitalii Vodolazskyi / Shutterstock)