What is My Home Worth? Five Factors to Figure!
Maybe you’re thinking about selling your home; maybe you’ve heard that interest rates are low and you think that now might be a good time to refinance; maybe you’re simply curious about your home’s worth. All of these are great reasons to take a closer look at your home’s value. But, how can you do that? Actually, there are a number of ways to estimate your home’s worth. To be frank, they’re all a bit easier if you enlist the help of a professional real estate agent, but here are a few tips for determining your home’s value in a hurry: 1. Consider the Current Market What is the state of the real estate market around you? Are available homes selling in a hurry or are they lingering on the market for months on end? Though you may or may not be considering selling your own home right now, real estate market activity around your home still affects what your home is actually worth. So, if you want to know how much your home may be worth, start familiarizing yourself with your local real estate market conditions. And, by all means, contact a trusted real estate agent to help you do this! 2. Look at Homes that Have Recently Sold Around You As you’re getting a feel for what’s going on in the real estate market, start to pay specific attention to homes that have recently sold around you. Look at everything from those that seem to be going for the highest prices and those that fall on the low end of the spectrum, too. Doing this will give you a realistic range of where your own home’s value may fall. 3. Compare Your Home to Similar Ones, But Don’t Forget About Upgrades Since you’ll probably be getting pretty familiar with the home sales that surround you, you’ll probably also start to notice certain homes that seem similar to your own. Whether they’ve got a similar layout, are in the same neighborhood or were constructed by the same builder, these comparable homes can sometimes be the best indicators of what your home is worth. However, it is still important to note specific differences between similar homes and your own. Does your home have upgrades that other homes do not? Things like high-end flooring, granite countertops or finished basements may add more value to your home. 4. Be Realistic About Your Home’s Condition Just as home upgrades can add positive value to a home, a home’s condition may add to or subtract from that value. It is only natural to take pride in your own home, but when you’re trying to determine what your home may be worth, you’ve got to be realistic about your home’s condition and certainly as compared to other homes that either are on the market currently or have recently sold. How can you get an accurate grasp on that comparison? Enlist the help of a professional real estate agent that is sure to be honest with you. 5. Get a Professional Estimate By this point, you’re probably beginning to see a trend here. Sure, you can gather local real estate market knowledge and compare your home to others around you to speculate on what your home may be worth. But, at the end of that day, that’s all you’re really doing… speculating! Instead of being satisfied with what you “think” your home may be worth, contact a local real estate agent for some professional help in determining your home’s value. Get a jump start on that process today by using our online home value estimator!
