Determining Your Home’s Value
Finding the value of your car or jewelry is a lot easier than finding out your home’s value. The real estate market makes determining your home’s value difficult because things like the value of homes nearby and how well you take care of your home are considered. Below are four ways which can make determining your home’s value easier.
Automatic Valuation Models
The easiest and fastest way to find your home’s value is to use an automatic valuation model or AVM. AVMs are online calculators by companies like Fannie Mae who have created a database to do the calculations. These calculators look at prices and inventory of the homes around you. They do not however consider any renovations or improvements you have done to the home. You will get different values from the companies so consider taking the average of these numbers to help make your decision.
Having Your Real Estate Agent Analyze Your Home
In order to get a more realistic number for the value of your home you should ask your real estate agent to run a competitive market analysis, or CMA on your home. Not only will the agent use the real estate data base for what homes in the area have sold for but she will also be able to factor in home improvements.
Doing it on Your Own
If you want to you can find the value of your home on your own. You will want to keep an eye on the homes being listed and selling in your area to help you find the value of your home. Good MLS data can be hard to find but you can also ask your realtor for these numbers and she should be able to help you.
Getting a Professional
Having an appraiser come into your home can be the most reliable way to find out your home’s value. She will not only look at the homes that have sold over the past 6 months in your area but will also use home improvements and when these projects were done to calculate the value of your home. If you are selling your home you will need to get your home appraised.
There are a few ways that you can find the value of your home depending on the reason this number is needed. Doing any or all of the options above can give you a great sense of the value without being an overly stressful process.