The appraised value of a property is a professional estimate of a property’s market value. It’s based on the recent sales of similar properties, square footage, location, construction quality, and more. An appraisal varies in cost depending on the price and size of the home. Most lenders require appraisals as part of the loan application process. But...

From the way consumers acquire information about properties and neighborhoods to the way agents market themselves and their listings, real estate, like so many other industries, has been fundamentally altered by the Internet. There are tens of thousands of real estate Web sites, with more popping up every day. This abundance of information and data analysis...