Online search tools for car deals, home value

by Center for Personal Finance editors

NEW YORK (7/20/06)--Online shopping tools are gaining in popularity, and a host of new websites help to reduce the frustration of finding a good car deal or figuring out what your home is worth (Wall Street Journal July 13).

If you're looking to score a good deal on a new set of wheels, stay tuned. Several proposed sites will help car buyers negotiate the best price in the showroom. Over the next six months, Automotive Invitational Services, the largest provider of auto-buying sites for AAA clubs, plans to roll out an online service with ceiling prices--the highest price you'll be asked to pay, used as a starting point in showrooms--for AAA clubs in the Midwest and Northeast.

Amazon.com may roll out a new feature on its site for buying and selling new and used vehicles, and other sites are testing services that let you define the car you want, get a certificate to take to the local dealer guaranteeing a specific no-hassle upfront price, and take advantage of rebates for both new and used vehicles.

Look for more dealers and car makers to provide information on their sites with advanced vehicle-selector tools, video demos explaining new technology, and inventory detail.

Recent launches include myautotrader.com, which lets you create a personal space on the website to save vehicle information and searches; carspace.com, a social networking site created by Edmunds.com; and cars.com, which contains consumer reviews of cars.

According to J.D. Power & Associates, about 67% of new-car shoppers last year--up from 60% in 2002--used the Internet to help them in the shopping process.

On the home front, many owners wish to keep track of the estimated value of their house. Estimates are based on a number of factors: neighborhood, condition of the home, local or regional housing market, and subjective valuation by the homebuyer or agent.

The Wall Street Journal notes that two websites its reporters looked at--zillow.com and realestateabc.com--offer price estimates for any address and don't require identifying information.

Others--including instanthomevaluations.com and housevalues.com--provided only broad price ranges and recommended the services of an agent for a more specific valuation.

Still others require that you agree to meet with an agent. Some agents pay sites for your information, and from that lead they give you an estimate--a carrot just to get your business. You may be required to pay a fee of, say, $9.95 for a quote, and the service may use the same data available to financial institutions and lending organizations yet only give you a useless, broad valuation.

While these estimates don't take the place of professional appraisals, you can use them periodically to follow changes in the value of your home, particularly if you want to take out a home-equity loan.

For more information, read "Home Value Search Engines Show Home's Equity" in the Home & Family Finance Resource Center housing section.