With one of the hottest real estate markets in recent decades, you might be wondering what the market value of your home is and if now is the right time to sell. But before you make the decision to call a realtor or list your home on the market, it’s important to be realistic about the price you can count on getting when you sell your home.
While there are many tools out there for determining the market value of your home, it can be confusing on where to get started. That’s why we’ve narrowed down the top 3 things you can do to determine your property’s market value today.
1. Research comparable properties in your area
You may have heard people involved in real estate talk about “comps”. But what is a comp and what are they referring to? How does it relate to determining your property’s market value?
In the context of real estate, comp stands for “comparable”, usually referring to a comparable property similar to the one you are looking at.
But what makes a property a comp? For a property to be considered a comp, it usually must meet certain criteria such as similar location, square footage of home, lot size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and more.
The reason that comparable properties are the first thing you should look at before determining your property’s market value is simple: the selling price of your property will most likely be similar to the selling price of properties in your area like yours that have sold recently.
Using free websites like Zillow or Realtor.com can be helpful in finding comparable properties that you can use to get an idea of the market value of your home.
2. Try online valuation tools
Online valuation tools can be especially helpful in determining the market value of your home because they take a lot of the guesswork out that other methods of home valuation have, such as comps.
These tools will take into account most of the things that comps do, but don’t require any of the research that’s needed to evaluate comps.
Online valuation tools are typically free and very straightforward to use. We recommend reputable online valuation tools like PennyMac’s value estimator for a fast estimate of what you may be looking at for the market value of your home.
3. Getting an appraisal
Getting an appraisal is a great way to determine the market value of your home because a trained professional will provide you with a value using all the professional tools at their disposal.
Before deciding to get an appraisal done on your home, you want to be certain that you are working with an appraiser who is familiar with your area and who has the necessary credentials and licenses to appraise homes where you live.
While appraisals can be great tools to price your home right from the start, you will have to pay out of pocket for the appraisal, which can be up to several hundred dollars.
It’s important to know that getting an appraisal may be most helpful if you have a very unique type of property or aren’t able to find very many comparable properties in your area.
If this doesn’t apply to you, you may want to think about the other options we’ve mentioned.
The Bottomline
The prospect of selling your home can be an exciting one for you and your family.
That’s why knowing what your property is worth from the start is imperative to ensure that you price your home accurately and get top dollar for your property when it comes time to sell.
Trying these methods to determine the market value of your home will get you started in the right direction.
Please also check out all the resources we have and be sure to inquire about how The Selling Table can help save you your hard-earned equity!
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