Three different things get called a valuation. They are not the same, they do not carry the same weight, and on this site each one says which it is on its first line. Here is the difference.
| Where | What the number is | Who stands behind it |
|---|---|---|
| A home’s record page | No value at all. Recorded sales, facts from the county record, and counts and medians with the sample behind them. | Sonoma County records and the MLS |
| An automated valuation page | A range worked out from recorded sales the engine picked. Prepared on request, kept on its own private page, and labelled “Automated valuation” in its first line and its footer. | The engine. Not reviewed by an agent. |
| A Comp Report | A broker’s opinion of value: comparables chosen by hand, adjusted, signed. Prepared for the owner or buyer who asked; also the signed opinion of value on every Investor Exchange listing. | Jake Taylor, CA DRE #02070119 |
| The AI property review, the net sheet, a comparison | The member’s own picks and arithmetic: recorded sales they chose, costs they entered. The pages say so, and none of them states what the home is worth. | The member who built it |
| Ask the market (the assistant) | Facts, arithmetic and navigation. Asked what a specific home is worth, it says that is Jake’s call and shows the way to ask. | — |
| A developer model | Arithmetic on recorded sales of new builds, with every input shown and changeable. | The engine, from inputs the reader sets |
We do not publish an estimated value on any home’s record page. The only numbers attached to a specific home live on their own private pages, and each one says, in the first line, which of the three it is. The full sourcing is on the methodology page.
Portal estimates are everywhere and they are free because nobody is accountable for them. A broker’s opinion of value is signed, and the person who signed it will stand in a negotiation behind it. We keep the two apart so that you always know which one you are reading, and so that the free arithmetic on this site is never mistaken for the licensed judgement it is not.
The Comp Report is free and needs no listing. Real Broker, CA DRE #02022092.
Realtor, CA DRE #02070119. One licensed agent runs The Penngrove Market: publishes the record, answers the questions and takes the calls. No listing required, no obligation.