New PropTech Firm Aims to Fix Home Valuation 'Accuracy Gap'

NAPERVILLE, IL – February 02, 2026 – A new entrant in the property technology space is taking direct aim at the often-criticized world of automated home value estimates. Naperville-based buyrego™ launched today, unveiling a new service, bestimation™, designed to provide a more accurate, human-audited alternative to the algorithmic valuations that dominate the online real estate landscape.

Founded by Jeff Knize, a veteran Certified Real Estate Appraiser and Designated Managing Broker, the company seeks to bridge what it calls the "Accuracy Gap"—the significant and often costly difference between a computer-generated estimate and a property's true market value.

The Problem with Algorithmic Guesses

For years, homeowners and real estate professionals have voiced concerns about the reliability of Automated Valuation Models (AVMs), the "black-box" algorithms used by major portals to generate instant home value estimates. While convenient, these models have known limitations that can leave homeowners financially exposed.

AVMs typically rely on public records and historical sales data, but they cannot "see" inside a home. They fail to account for crucial factors like a recent high-end kitchen renovation, deferred maintenance, unique architectural features, or the specific condition of a property. This often leads to a homogenization of value within a neighborhood, where a pristine, updated home might be valued similarly to a neglected one next door. Research has also shown these models can struggle with unique properties or in markets with few comparable sales, and some studies suggest they can even perpetuate existing racial biases in home valuation.

buyrego™ claims these discrepancies can be substantial. The company points to 2026 case studies in high-volume Illinois corridors like Cook and DuPage Counties, where variances between AVMs and audited values reached as high as 33%.

"The industry has hit a wall with black-box algorithms that leave homeowners financially vulnerable," said Jeff Knize in the launch announcement. "Our architecture protects the homeowner's position by providing the verified precision required to manage equity."

A New Category: Expert-Led 'Truth Data'

At the heart of the company's launch is bestimation™, a new category of valuation logic that introduces expert human oversight into the process. Rather than replacing human expertise, the model leverages it to correct algorithmic errors. The service offers a four-tier audit system, ranging from a remote expert review of data (r-CMA) to a comprehensive interior audit (i-CMA).

This approach places bestimation™ in a unique market position. It is crucial to note that the company provides a clear legal disclosure: a bestimation™ is intended for informational purposes and does not constitute a formal appraisal for lending or litigation. This distinguishes it from traditional appraisals, which are legally required for most mortgage transactions and involve a licensed appraiser's in-person inspection.

It also differs from "hybrid appraisals," a growing category where a third party collects property data for a remote appraiser to finalize a legally binding report for certain loan types. The bestimation™ is designed as a powerful informational tool for homeowners considering selling, challenging a tax assessment, or simply understanding their equity with greater precision than a free online tool can provide. By operating in this niche, buyrego™ avoids the strict regulatory framework of formal appraisals while offering a product that promises more reliability than a standard AVM.

The 'Quintuple Moat' and Real Estate's Marketing Problem

Beyond its valuation technology, buyrego™ is also tackling a persistent industry challenge: the high cost of customer acquisition (CAC). Real estate brokerages and mortgage lenders often spend heavily on digital advertising and lead generation, competing for clicks in a crowded online space—a cost often referred to as the "search engine tax."

To counter this, the company has engineered a "Quintuple Moat," a five-part branding and marketing architecture designed to achieve permanent consumer recall and drive direct traffic. The strategy includes:

• A Mnemonic Domain: The short, memorable buyrego.com domain is engineered for easy recall.
• National Vanity Numbers: Dual toll-free numbers, 877-BUY-REGO for consumers and 833-BUY-REGO for agents, are designed to be easily remembered and dialed.
• A Direct-Command Tagline: The phrase "buy real estate, go!" acts as a simple, action-oriented instruction.
• The bestimation™ Logic: The valuation product itself is positioned as a core asset that draws users to the platform.
• Founder Credentials: The dual expertise of founder Jeff Knize as both a Certified Appraiser and Managing Broker lends "Ground Truth" credibility to the entire operation.

This multi-layered approach combines classic direct-response marketing techniques with a strong brand identity, aiming to build a user base that comes directly to the source rather than through costly third-party search engines.

Scaling from Illinois to a National Footprint

While launching from its base in Naperville, buyrego™ has national ambitions. The company's roadmap includes a planned rollout to 3,000 towns across the country, a significant undertaking in the fragmented U.S. real estate market.

Scaling a property technology solution nationally presents numerous hurdles, including navigating a complex patchwork of state and local regulations, integrating vast and varied data sets, and adapting to hyper-local market conditions. To meet this challenge, the company states its platform is built on infrastructure vetted for the Google Cloud Scale AI Tier, suggesting a heavy investment in scalable technology.

The company claims it is already gaining traction, appearing in top 10 organic search rankings alongside legacy portals for high-intent search terms in premier Chicago suburbs like Naperville, Hinsdale, and Oak Brook. As it moves forward, the success of buyrego™ will depend on its ability to deliver on its dual promise: providing homeowners with more reliable equity data while offering the real estate industry a more efficient model for connecting with those clients.