What is the difference between an online valuation and an on-site valuation?

An online valuation is an instant statistical estimate from public data and averages, useful as a rough range. An on-site valuation is a physical inspection by an IPI-licensed agent who weighs your finishes, layout, light and PEB against real local sales. On-site is far more accurate, and at Easyhome it is free.

The two look similar but do very different jobs. An online tool works from a postcode, a surface area and market averages. It returns a number in seconds, which is genuinely handy for a first ballpark, but it is blind to everything that actually distinguishes your home from the one next door: the renovated kitchen, the north-facing garden, the road noise, the energy rating.

An on-site valuation closes that gap. An IPI-licensed agent stands in the property, measures the real usable space, judges condition and light, notes the PEB certificate and then benchmarks it against genuinely comparable sales in your street or neighbourhood. This is the comparison method applied with human judgement rather than a raw average.

The gap between the two widens in a fast market. Walloon prices moved hard in 2025, with the median house up 15.4% to 240,000 euros (source: Notaire.be / Fednot, February 2026); an online model trained on older transactions can lag exactly when you most need an accurate figure. In Wallonia the PEB is mandatory to sell, rent or advertise, and a poor F or G rating can visibly depress both price and demand, something an on-site agent flags immediately and a generic estimator often ignores.

The counter-intuitive takeaway: the free on-site visit usually beats a paid online report on accuracy, because presence beats data density. Use the online figure to get oriented, then book the visit that gives you a price you can actually list on.

At a glance