"Free 'Over-The-Net' Home Evaluation: What are they worth?

Over the past few years, advertisements for "Free "Over-The-Internet" home evaluations have increased in frequency.  Some ads even offer to do the evaluation based on only your postal code.  Recently, a home-owner made such a request of me, wanting an evaluation without my actually attending the home in question.  This has caused me to consider this issue and write about it.  Let's take a look at how value is determined in the first place:

The Owner sets the "Asking Price",....the Buyer determines "Value":  This adage is very true.  Quite frankly, the buyer does not care what the owner (or his agent) want for the house....buyers still shop the same way they always have, by comparison.  No one is likely to buy your home off the Internet, they have to come out and see it.  Makes sense, doesn't it?  So how could an evaluation, over the Internet and without physical examination of the home, be of ANY value? 

To make matters worse, there are now companies which have nothing whatsoever to do with Real Estate, but have been advertising these 'free evaluations'.  Once the home-owner contacts them, these companies then sell your information to a real estate agent who still has to come out and see your home to provide any useful appraisal or opinion.

So, best-case scenario is that the would-be seller (who asks for an over-the-net evaluation) ends up being contacted by a real estate agent who still needs to come out to the house anyway.

Worst-case scenario is that the home-owner ends up communicating with an "Internet Lead-Generating" company, who simply run an advertisement business and then sell your info back to an agent who is willing to pay for it.

Bottom Line?:  If you're thinking of selling your home, call a qualified Realtor directly.  Perhaps choose the one who sold you the home in the first place (if you can remember who that is), or pick one off a bus-bench, out of a Real Estate publication, or any other method you choose.  At least that way, YOU choose the Realtor.