What Every Seller Should Know About Their Home Value
If you are preparing to sell your house, one of the biggest questions you are most likely asking is, “what is my home value?” Not only do you want to make sure you can sell for what you owe on it, but every seller wants to be able to make money when they sell as well.
When the housing crisis happened, many homeowners found themselves upside down on their mortgages. And it has taken years to finally gain the home value back in their house that they had at one time.
So even if you aren’t interested in selling your house right now, you may be interested in knowing how much it is worth.
Check online
There are different websites that will provide you with a rough estimate of what your house is valued at. This is not an exact number, but more of a ballpark figure based on the size of your house and the comps that have recently sold in your neighborhood.
Dig into the comps
If you are serious about knowing what your home value is and what you would be able to sell it for, you need to be ready to work. This process starts by finding out the details of your house – size, number of rooms, neighborhood, etc.
From here you will start digging into the details and closing sale price of houses that have recently sold in your area. The best comps are those that have sold within the last 90 days, but could go back as far as six months if there has not been a lot of activity in your area. From these numbers, you will begin to get a feel for the home value as well as how the local market is currently performing.
Apples to apples
For the numbers to be accurate, it’s important that the comps be as similar as possible to your house. This means that you should make adjustments to your calculations that make up for the differences.
For example, if a 3 bedroom house with 1 bathroom right next door to your house recently sold for $200,000 with the same lot size that you have and they were built the same year, then you know your 4 bedroom/2 bathroom house is going to be worth more than that.
Keep your emotions out of it
Homeowners have a tendency to think that their house is worth far more than it actually is. However, this thinking tends to be based solely on their emotions.
When you have lived in a house for years and created wonderful memories with your family in the house, it’s hard to be objective and look only at the house when pricing it. But you need to remember that buyers are not paying for your memories and experiences, they are paying for the house.
Knowing your home value can help you make decisions about whether or not you want to hold onto it. It can also help you price your house right when you put it on the market so you can find a buyer quickly. Make sure that you are considering the house through the eyes of the buyer to establish a price that will appeal to them.