{"id":29623,"date":"2026-02-05T02:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T10:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=29623"},"modified":"2026-02-06T00:55:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T08:55:02","slug":"automated-valuation-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) in Real Estate and Should I Use One?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve heard it said before: purchasing real estate is one of the biggest financial decisions you will make in your life. That is more true now than ever. According to a recent report by ICE Mortgage Technology, the average American homeowner has $299,000 in equity<\/a>, $193,000 of which is \u201ctappable\u201d and can be withdrawn.<\/p>\n

Understanding the current value<\/a> of such an impactful asset is incredibly important, whether you are considering selling your home<\/a>, estimating your home\u2019s tax burden, or calculating your net worth and investment portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n \"homelight\n <\/div>\n \n

A quick (and free) way to check your home value<\/h3>\n

Get a preliminary home value estimate in as little as two minutes. Our tool uses information from multiple sources to give you a range of value based on current market trends.<\/p>\n \n

\n Check now<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

But figuring out your home\u2019s value isn\u2019t always easy, and guessing can cost you when so much equity is at stake. That\u2019s where automated valuation models or AVMs come in. They use data and market trends to give you a quick estimate, so you have a better idea before making crucial real estate decisions.<\/p>\n

In this guide, we\u2019ll help you understand the ins and outs of AVMs, including how they are calculated and when they are (or aren\u2019t) appropriate to use when making decisions in real estate.<\/p>\n

To show you how to make the most of AVMs in the current real estate landscape, we spoke with Sandi Bates, a top real estate agent in American Fork, Utah<\/a>, who has over two decades of experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to know your home’s value fast? Learn here how you can use an automated valuation model to get an estimate within seconds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":312,"featured_media":46129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[322,330],"tags":[726],"class_list":["post-29623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-logistics","category-house-value","tag-where-can-i-get-a-free-online-home-value-estimate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Is an Automated Valuation Model (AVM)?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Want to know your home's value fast? Learn here how you can use an automated valuation model to get an estimate within seconds.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) in Real Estate and Should I Use One?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Want to know your home's value fast? Learn here how you can use an automated valuation model to get an estimate within seconds.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-05T10:00:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-06T08:55:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Untitled-design-13.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jacob Burdis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jacob Burdis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Is an Automated Valuation Model (AVM)?","description":"Want to know your home's value fast? Learn here how you can use an automated valuation model to get an estimate within seconds.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Is an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) in Real Estate and Should I Use One?","og_description":"Want to know your home's value fast? Learn here how you can use an automated valuation model to get an estimate within seconds.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/","og_site_name":"HomeLight Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/","article_published_time":"2026-02-05T10:00:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-06T08:55:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":563,"url":"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Untitled-design-13.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Jacob Burdis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gohomelight","twitter_site":"@gohomelight","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jacob Burdis","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/"},"author":{"name":"Jacob Burdis","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/eab37a4364c48e54a380bc3504aff8b9"},"headline":"What Is an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) in Real Estate and Should I Use One?","datePublished":"2026-02-05T10:00:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-06T08:55:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/"},"wordCount":232,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Untitled-design-13.png","keywords":["where can i get a free online home value estimate?"],"articleSection":["Logistics","What's My Home Worth?"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/","name":"What Is an Automated Valuation Model (AVM)?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Untitled-design-13.png","datePublished":"2026-02-05T10:00:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-06T08:55:02+00:00","description":"Want to know your home's value fast? Learn here how you can use an automated valuation model to get an estimate within seconds.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Untitled-design-13.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Untitled-design-13.png","width":1000,"height":563,"caption":"Source: (Roman Samborskyi \/ Shutterstock)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/automated-valuation-model\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Is an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) in Real Estate and Should I Use One?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/","name":"HomeLight Blog","description":"Real Estate Advice from America's Top Agents","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"HomeLight","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/logo-hr-color.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/logo-hr-color.png","width":1348,"height":262,"caption":"HomeLight"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/","https:\/\/x.com\/gohomelight","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/homelight\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCimugR9XF17-OZ7B9fNnxWw","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/HomeLight"],"description":"Everything you need to know to sell your house faster and for more money. Articles, guides, and advice from top agents all over the U.S.","email":"support@homelight.com","telephone":"(888) 688-0350","legalName":"HomeLight","foundingDate":"2012-01-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"201","maxValue":"500"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/eab37a4364c48e54a380bc3504aff8b9","name":"Jacob Burdis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ce7cadf5260ffc177ef26d416505c85536ba6f0d54f57af20de34dd867f9826?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ce7cadf5260ffc177ef26d416505c85536ba6f0d54f57af20de34dd867f9826?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Jacob Burdis"},"description":"Jacob Burdis, PhD is a professional dabbler with experience in entrepreneurship, educational technology, digital language learning, product management, and real estate investing.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jacobburdis"],"url":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/author\/jacob-burdis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/312"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}