How To Evaluate Your Home’s Worth
Do you know how much your home is worth? Have you paid much attention to the recent market activity in your neighborhood? Whether you are interested in selling your home or taking out a second mortgage to help pay for your kid’s college education, it is always wise to be aware of what your home is valued at. Here are several ways to determine what your home is worth.
The Easy Way: There are several websites such as Yahoo Home Evaluator that you can access that will simply “guestimate” your home’s value by entering your address. These figures are generated by recent neighboring home sales.
Do Your Own Research: Gather market information on comparable sales from the past 6 months. Comparable sales are houses that are similar to yours in that they have the same square footage, number of bedrooms & bathrooms, and are located in your neighborhood or in similar such neighborhoods. The best way to gather this information is by working with a Realtor who has access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and has that information automatically fed to you via email. If you don’t have access to a Realtor you can search through real estate ads that post recently sold properties or talk to anyone who has recently sold their house in your area.
Disregard Prices That Don’t Apply: If a similar house is on a busy highway, or on a lake or a beach and your house is on a quiet cul-de-sac or gated community, then those are not good or accurate comparisons. Also, homes that sold very quickly or sat on the market for months should be weeded out as well. Long or short period of times on the market is a strong indicator that the owner did not price realistically and were either priced too high or too low.
Get The Average: Total up the comparable sales prices, then divide by the number of sales and this will give you an average sale price for a house comparable to yours. You should add at least 3 to 5 sales prices.
There are also direct factors that influence why the average sales price is at the point that it is. Here is a list of things to keep in mind when discovering where the market is and why it is:
Community: Efficient city services, amenities, adequate resources, and a thriving business district usually translate into strong property values. So can a community’s history and reputation.
Neighborhood: An attractive and safe neighborhood free of run-down properties usually results to higher property values.
Schools: Good schools and solid property values usually go hand in hand.
Amenities: Parks, bike paths, libraries, restaurants, shopping, convenience, etc. can surely enhance property values.
Transportation: Whether it’s a nearby freeway or public transportation, easy access to transportation can be a major plus when it comes to home prices.
Zoning & Planning: Zoning decisions and community development plans can have both a positive or negative affect on property values.
Indirect Factors
Economic Changes: A rising economy boosts home prices and sales. When the economy goes down it yanks home prices down with it.
Disasters: Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornados, wildfires and other severe disasters can decimate property values. Recurring disasters can cause permanent depression on property values .
Perceptions: Negative or positive buyer perceptions, whether they are realistic or not, can drive property values into the ground or raise them through the roof. It is important for you to know exactly where your neighborhood stands.
Reference: MSN Real Estate, Realtor.com
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If you or someone you know is interested in buying or selling
a Nashville Home please contact:
Emily Lowe
The Lipman Group | Sotheby's International Realty
Office: (615) 463-3333 / Cell: (615) 509-1753
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