How to Figure Out a Home’s Worth

Unfortunately, there is no accurate way you can determine the value of your specific home without standing in front of it with a professional realtor who will assess the property both inside and out. However, you can also determine the current market price of your house, the value of the house based on those that are around you, what you can realistically expect to earn if you decide to sell it and the improvements you can make to your property to up the sales price. Here are these and more ways to tell the worth of a home you want to sell or buy.

Online Tools

Using an online home evaluation tool is the simplest way to determine your home’s value. You are bound to get a rough estimate since the tools use algorithms to compare your home with those that are in your neighborhood.

These tools can easily be found for free online at the various real estate sites. However, it is important to understand that the accuracy of the information can also vary based on the underlying database of the properties in use. This is the reason why homeowners can see different value of their houses when they check out in different sites. If you are looking for the most accurate site for online tools then you should consider visiting sites used by professionals that interface with the Realtor Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

Comparative Market Analysis

(CMA)CMA is created by real estate professionals so that home owners or buyers can have a more accurate estimate of the value of a home. In this case, CMA is used to determine the asking price, when listing properties, and offering price, when submitting a contract to buy a property. You get a free CMA for your home if you consult a good real estate professional.

Appraisals

A home appraisal calculator can be beneficial since it allows you to enter information into it that coincides with sales in the area you live in. You can also add more details like the amount you paid for the home to start working on the value.

Banks also use an appraisal that has been conducted by a licensed appraiser to determine the value of a property. Although this number may vary ever so slightly from one appraiser to the other, their detailed approach to physically view a property in addition to using property records is what is consistent. Today, you may spend from $250 to $350 or even more for an appraisal.

Home Inspections

If you are looking for a more accurate estimate of the worth of a house then home inspection is just the way out. If conducted by a licensed home inspector, there will always be an increased level of scrutiny into the current condition of the property. If the inspector is up to the task, he/she will search every nook and cranny of the home to uncover the details that can increase the value of the house and also the anomalies that are bound to decrease the home’s value. The price of home inspection can range tremendously. Some inspectors charge by the square foot while others charge a flat rate. You can also find those who change by the price of the property and some by the amount of the time spent.

Tax Bills

You can also know the value of your house by simply looking at your most recent property tax bill. This document contains a tax assessed value for the property. The assessment rate is what you should look for. In most areas it will be somewhere between 80% and 90%. Property taxes are just the percentage of the property’s tax assessed value. The property’s tax assessed value is the exact percentage of its fair market value (FMV). You can therefore easily calculate the FMV if you have the property’s tax assessed value and the assessment rate. Let’s take a look at how this works:

If you have a property’s tax assessed at a value of $80,000 and let’s say your assessment rate is 80%, your home’s FMV will be $100,000 since $80,000 is 80% of 100,000.

Compare Neighborhood Sells

You can make a note of the properties that have recently sold in your neighborhood. This can be within the past 12 months. Consider if they are in any way similar to yours. You can then write down their addresses and then call your local county recorder’s office. Determine what each property sold for and this information can only be gotten from the recorder’s office. There are no legal procedures to follow since this information is a matter of public record and you have a right to know.

It is much easier to go online to the recorder’s website and get a more detailed information. However, some of the information may be outdated since some municipalities are several months behind in making sure their database is up to date. When checking the selling price, make sure it is current and not the property’s previous selling price. You should also confirm the date of sale to ascertain it’s current.

You can then do a quick comparison of your property with this information in hand and come up with an estimate of your property’s value. Subtract or add value to your home as appropriate. As much as your house may have similar features as the one sold, the value may not always be the same. For instance, if the property sold is of the same size as yours, but the parking lot size is much smaller the value of your property will be less.

When determining the value of a house, there are several things you need to give focus to. They include:• Any financial issues like loans and mortgages running on the house• The pending repairs• The geographic location of your house• Presence of some special attributes or characteristics• The distance of your house from the nearby prime areas etc.

It is important to understand that if your intentions are to sell your house, the better you carry out the valuation process of the property the better will be the chances of getting the most justified price of the house.

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