What Is My Home Worth?

Knowing what your home is worth is an absolute necessity when you're thinking of selling your home.  It can also be helpful to assure you're home value is being assessed properly for property taxes, but for this article we'll concentrate on the valuation of your home for selling purposes.

Whether you are selling by owner, or hiring a Realtor, pricing your home properly is the most important component.  Of course, condition, location and the economy are also factors, but proper pricing that accounts for these other aspects will sell your home.  If you take away nothing else from this article, remember this:

"Any home that is properly priced and marketed will sell in ANY real estate market."


So, that leads us to the main topic...what is my home worth?  How do I determine my home value to get my home sold quickly?


The easiest way is to have your home appraised.  Appraisals cost around $300 to $400, but may be worth the investment, if it'll help you price your home properly.  This is a great option for someone selling by owner. If you're planning on hiring a real estate agent, the agent will provide you with a market analysis to determine the right price to list your home.

When you're interviewing for real estate representation, I advise that you speak to at least 2 Realtors before deciding to hire an agent.  You want to make sure you're hiring someone that won't just tell you a price that you want to hear, to get the listing.  So, having more than one pricing opinion can prove helpful.  The best way to determine this is to ask questions, such as:

1. How many listings do you sell per year?
2. What is the average days on market for your home listings?
3. What percentage of the list price vs. sales price do your listings sell for?
4. How do these statistics compare to the statistics in my community?

These questions will help you piece together how well the agent prices their listings, and most importantly, how well they do in closing the deal.  Be sure to have the agent show you how they arrive at their pricing opinion and show you a side-by-side comparison of your home with the most recent sales near your home. 

If you have any questions about property valuation and you want to find out what your home is worth, please feel free to contact me anytime.