Determine Home Value

Are you buying a new house? Looking to sell your existing house? Maybe you need to refinance your housing payments?

Whatever the case may be, your first step in any of these projects is to determine your home value.

Many things can effect the price of a house – additions, renovations, landscaping, a fresh coat of paint, some brickwork. Home values are directly affected by sales in your local housing market. Just because the guy down the street is asking half a million for his house does not mean that is what the place is worth. When you determine home value, be realistic. Stay away from over inflating your houses worth. Find out the actual selling price of a house comparable to your own.

Other things to consider:

• Don’t use what you paid for you house as a point of reference. What you paid then has little to do with what you will get now. Markets tend to grow (despite the home value dips of recent memory). You may have paid $70,000 ten years ago. Today, your house may be worth $120,000.
• Stay away from what you want. Focus on what you need. Buyers are not interested in your personal finances (or lack of). Your house is worth only what you can actually get someone to buy it from you for.
• Research, research, research. Buyers are researching. They will have a real estate agent look into your property and your neighbor’s homes. Often times, the buyer knows more than the seller. Don’t let this happen to you!

If your home price is too inflated, your house won’t sell. It will sit until you are forced to lower the asking price.

Consult with a local real estate agent before establishing your home’s market value. In today’s market, it is even tougher to go the “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO) route. Working with a real estate agent who knows your local market will make it easier to sell your house at a fair market value.