What is your motivation? Are you thinking of selling? You could have a REA come in a prepare some comps for you (of sold homes); or if you think you can do that yourself by looking at solds, go to redfin or any number of other RE sites and checks the "solds" box when you do your search (instead of listed houses, it will show you recently sold houses and for what price). You can also check county records for sales prices if you know a home address that sold recently and is comparable to yours.

Our county has an online search you can do for sold comps. That's the raw material and you have to do some number crunching to come up with your own value. I've done that for our current home plus a couple rentals.

Most RE agents will be happy to do a quick CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) for you for free, in the hopes that eventually you will list with them. Where in Oregon are you? I am in Jackson County and work with Realtors.

You can look at the actual parcel data on your home on the public records search. As a buyer, I'd start there. As a seller I'd be sure to know these details.

"You can look at the actual parcel data on your home on the public records search."

Usually has nothing to do with current market value, especially if you purchased a while ago.

Look on zillow, they show sold prices.

You can also check out recently sold properties on Realtor.com. There is a drop down menu where it says Homes For Sale, and you can choose Recently Sold.

Zillow, Trulia and other sites have property values based on their own formulas for such things. Combined, they give you a good starting point. Recent comparables in your area are probably the best gauge. If your home is unique in some way, then you will have to estimate that compared to the comparables. Good luck.

Just let the pros do it and call a couple of real estate agents for CMAs. Feed 'em lunch or give them a grocery gift certificate if you don't have any intention of ever selling, but if you are interested in your current value, then you are most likely thinking about selling. Or refinancing. If it's the latter, that will involve an actual appraisal, and that's not a bad idea for you to consider if you're thinking about selling as well.

"Look on zillow, they show sold prices."

And without additional information cannot be easily adjusted for differences in the properties values.

Unless you fined an identical house (age & condition included) within a very short distance it is likely to be (at best0 a crude estimate.

Even an appraisal may always tell you what you are asking.

Appraisals are for lenders looking to sell the place after a default, not always what you may get with a willing buyer.

ry a friendly RE agent for competitive market analysis, and some thoughts about the possible trend in your area.

They are likely to perpetually send you free calenders hoping for a listing at some point.

Claim your house on Zillow and add in your updates.
They already have put a value on your house, and all your neighbors.
But they can change it if you give them new info.

Zillow is absolutely laughable in our area. It's almost always off by at least 30%, one way or the other.

The zillow estimates may be way off, but the sold price they show is accurate. It's a matter of public record, not an opinion of zillow's.

"It's a matter of public record, not an opinion of zillow's."

But without further sale information it may not have been an 'arms length' sale, had special terms or conditions, and does not take into account property conditions.

And I'm sorry to say that zillow isn't error free with sold prices, either. I just yesterday noticed a unit a friend was following that zillow listed as having sold for around 90K when it was listed at 75K, which seems like an odd bidding war, given that there are plenty of identical units on the market and nothing special about this one. Looked it up at the county website and the actual sale price was 72K.

I sold 2 houses last year and zillow had both sold prices correct. But brickeye is right that it doesn't include info about how that price is derived. I still say it can be a useful site.

Thanks for all of the great ideas. I did look at some Recently Sold listings and I thing they are a reasonable place to start. I am not ready to sell yet but I wanted to see how much the house had fallen from it's peak value. I am not happy about it but it has time to come back a little before I want to sell.

I try to avoid Real Estate agents. The woman I bought the house from brought her little kids to the inspection and let them tear through my newly updated house shrieking and running into the walls and windows. They left marks on the walls and dirt on the floor. Then she has the nerve to keep sending me calendars for 13 years. At least the kids are all grown up now.