Realtor.com introduces My Home to compete with Zillow's Zestimate

My Home is Realtor.com's attempt to compete with Zillow's Zestimate home valuation product, as it seeks to help homeowners manage their property as an investment. Like Zestimate, the My Home tool leads with an estimated home value.

The new feature also allows homeowners to access tools and information on their home equity, financing options and neighborhood activity and trends.

"At realtor.com, we help people with one of the most basic and most important needs, their homes, which is often the biggest investment most people will ever make," said Ryan O'Hara, chief executive officer of Move, in a press release.

"Yet, the time they spend managing this asset once they are in the home is really limited. We're changing that with My Home. Now with personalized data at their fingertips, homeowners have more insight into their investment and are better equipped to make decisions such as when to sell or when to invest in upgrading their home to their dream home."

The My Home dashboard presents homeowners with an estimate of mortgage payments and equity, assuming a 20% down payment at the time of purchase. Homeowners can update the feature with current mortgage information to track payments and outstanding principal. They can also view financial saving options based on current mortgage rates and equity options.

My Home taps into a growing generational trend of homeowners staying put longer.

The median length that homeowners owned their homes grew to 8.7 years in 2016, more than double the length it was 10 years before, according to First American Financial.

As owners stay in their homes longer, they will have more equity in their properties, which serves as one of the catalysts for introducing a home investment management tool like My Home, according to realtor.com.

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Purchase Appraisals Real estate Mortgage technology Zillow First American Financial Corp.
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