As a Homeowner, it's Natural to be Curious About Your Home's Value
Online sources, and even some bank appraisers don't always get your home value right! The truth is... your home is really worth whatever a buyer in your market is willing to pay for it, and that's usually not evident until you put it on the market and start considering offers.
There are still ways you can assess your home's value without actually putting it on the market. Here are a few things to think about when you're trying to figure out how much your house is worth.
1. Check Out Your Property Tax Bill
Your tax bill isn't an actual estimate of your home's value, but it's a place to start. Homes are assessed for property taxes at different times, depending on which state, county, or city you live in. In most states, homes are assessed for taxes every five to seven years. Depending on how recently your own home was assessed, you may could use the assessed amount as a consideration.
That said, always beware of using an assessment as the final word on your property's value. Typically, an assessment is done by taking the assessment rate of your locale, looking at the appraised value of your house, and multiplying the assessment rate by your home's appraised value. If the last time your house was appraised was when you bought it - and that was years ago - then the assessment of your home could be significantly higher or lower than its actual fair-market value. (But you won't know that unless you call in a professional appraiser and ask their opinion.)
2. Look at Recently Sold Homes in Your Neighborhood
To pinpoint a home's value, most real estate professionals use "comps" ; this is just a term for homes that are comparable to yours that have recently sold, preferably within the past six months. At least three comps should be identified and used to find your home's value, but you can use as many as you like; five or six might generate a number that more accurately reflects your home's fair-market value.
If you're wondering what makes a house comparable to yours, keep in mind that it depends on what comps are available in your area. They should definitely be as close to your house physically as possible, and preferably should "look" a lot like your house in terms of the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, and total lot size. Preferably, the comps will also align in details like the number of parking spaces and even the material used to build the house. Of course the best way to find this information, is to contact me at 760-880-3577
3. Consider Nearby Inventory
In some markets where there isn't many homes for sale, it might not even matter that much if your house is comparable to others that have recently sold.
Those markets are few and far between, but it's still a smart idea to look at how many homes are for sale in terms of total inventory and then use that information to determine how much your own house might be worth. In areas where there are a lot of homes for sale, you might not be able to capture a price at the very top of your price range - but in areas where there are very few homes for sale, it's likely that you'll be able to get a lot closer to top dollar for your own house.
4. Use an Online Tool
Although online tools for calculating your home's value are all over the internet, they are not always accurate.
- Many of them use the same process as a human would to assess value - namely, comps - and a robot or algorithm isn't always as good at picking the best comparable homes as a human would be. (This is why valuation tools such as Zillow usually don't capture the actual sales price of a house.)
- A robot or algorithm hasn't actually seen your house; they haven't walked through it to determine whether the flooring, finishes, appliances, and other details are above the market average or below market average, so it's really not possible for them to give you a totally accurate value for your house.
- It's a lot easier to get an accurate online valuation for a cookie-cutter house in a recent development with lots of current sales than it is for a one-of-a-kind property.
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