Discover What Buyers Will Pay in Today’s Market When You Sell A House

It’s easy to look up how much money you have in your savings account or the real-time value of your stock investments. But determining the dollar value when you sell a house is trickier.

When you are selling a home, knowing your home’s worth helps you price it correctly when you put it up for sale. If you price it too high, it may sit on the market. But price it too low and you may be losing out on a good chunk of money (nobody wants that!). For buyers, it’s important to know a home’s worth before you make an offer. You want your offer to be competitive, but you don’t want to overpay for the property.

In the video below, you will discover…”What’s My Home Really Worth?”, and how to place a value on your house as we prepare for the listing process. I encourage you to take time to review, then read on, and finally book a meeting where we can strategize together so that you can sell your family home quickly and for the most money that the market will give you.

Talk To An Expert

Even if you’re not a buyer or seller right now, as a current homeowner you might just be curious about the value of your home. Keeping track of your home’s worth year over year helps you understand the trends in your market. So, when you are ready to sell, you can take advantage of a good window of opportunity.

The good news is, a trained real estate agent—who understands the nuances of your neighborhood—can determine the true market value of your property … and at no cost to you!

THE THREE TYPES OF HOME VALUES

If you are in the market to sell my home, there are three components of the sale price that are very common – the appraised value, assessed value, and true market value. Once you know the difference between these three, it will not be difficult to make decisions that will get your home top dollar when you need to sell my house fast in Colorado.

We will now go through each of these three in some detail.

Appraised Value

The appraised value is the price determined by a professional appraiser. Typically, this value is required by the lender when a buyer is taking a loan to finance the purchase. The appraiser is a neutral individual who works neither for the borrower nor the lender. His estimate of the property is therefore not biased toward any one side regardless of who is paying the fees. His judgment can be depended upon as he has a professional license and is authorized to carry on this work.

Since the lender is not knowledgeable about putting a value estimate on a property, the appraiser plays a key role here. Let us understand the role of all the stakeholders in a real estate deal through an example.

Suppose a seller lists a home for $400,000. They reach a deal with the buyer to sell the home for $375,000. However, if an appraiser evaluates the property and determines that the appraised value is $325,000, the lender will not go beyond the appraiser’s estimate.

The appraiser considers several parameters before arriving at a value when you are selling a home. These include the value of similar properties in the neighborhood, location, square footage, appliances, upgrades, improvements, and the condition of the interior and exterior of the home.

Assessed Value

Have you ever thought that if I want to sell my house, what is the value as per a government agency? It is here that the second component, that is, the assessed value, comes into the picture.

The local municipality property assessor determines the value of your home. Based on it, the county will fix the property tax payable by you which will be proportionate to the assessed value of your home. The valuation method followed by assessors is the same as that of the appraisers. Assessors consider the size, age, improvements, upgrades made, and location before putting a value on the property.

Assessments are done annually to determine how much property tax you owe. Many counties use a multiplier (typically between 60%-80%) to calculate the final assessed value. So, if the assessor determines that the value of the home is $300,000, but the county uses a 70% multiplier, the assessed value of the home would be $210,000 for tax purposes.⁴

If your assessed value isn’t as high as you envisioned, don’t sweat it. Many homeowners appeal their assessment in favor of a lower valuation so that they can save money on property taxes. If you’re interested in appealing your property tax assessment, let us know. We offer complimentary assistance and would be happy to help you build your case.

Get Expert Advice

True Market Value

When you want to “sell my home”, you should hire a real estate agent to handhold you through the intricate process of a real estate transaction. There are several benefits to it.

A real estate agent will help you to arrive at the true market value of your property which is the price a buyer will be willing to pay. An experienced agent is trained to assess the value based on several metrics such as the state of the market, the trends, and the prices of similar homes in the neighborhood. Their hands-on expertise in constantly closing real estate deals comes in handy when assessing the true market value when you want to sell a house.

When you “need to sell my house fast”, knowing the true market value is critical. Without it, you might price your property too high and watch it sitting on the market for months. Or you might price it too low and watch your profit slipping away. A top real estate firm like Just Livin Realty will advise you on how to get the best price through strategic upgrades and improvements. We will guide you on the improvements that will increase the true market value to your advantage.

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH ONLINE CALCULATORS?

When figuring out your home’s value, you might be tempted to see what popular real estate sites like Zillow, Redfin, and Trulia have to say. When you use an online calculator to determine your home’s value on these sites, it is just an estimate. It’s not an actual appraisal or the “true market value.” These sites all have their own algorithms for coming up with their estimates. For example, Zillow comes up with their “Zestimates” by calculating “public and user-submitted data, taking into account special features, location, and market conditions.” ⁵

These online estimates can be a great starting point for opening up the conversation with your real estate agent about your home’s worth. But even Zillow recommends that you use a real estate agent for coming up with the actual market value of your home. The site says that once you get your “Zestimate,” you should still get “a comparative market analysis from a real estate agent.”

Having an agent involved in this process is essential because they understand the market better than a computer ever could. They’re showing property in your city every single day, and they know the particular preferences of buyers and sellers in the area. Young professionals, large families, empty nesters, and other groups are all looking for different things in a home. A local agent has most likely worked with all of them, so they understand what every segment in your market is specifically looking for.

HOW AN AGENT FINDS YOUR HOME’S TRUE MARKET VALUE

So, how does an actual real estate agent determine true market value? They’ll start by doing a comparative market analysis (CMA). This means they’ll compare your home’s features to similar properties in your area. For the CMA, the agent looks at the below factors to influence their assessment of your home’s worth:⁶

Neighborhood sales – Your agent will research the homes recently sold in your neighborhood like yours and the price they sold for. This will help to arrive at the true market value you can expect when you are selling a home.
The exterior – First impressions matter a lot and your agent will ensure this when you sell my home. While sprucing up your home, the real estate agent will consider all factors that will enhance the curb appeal like the exterior paint, the front and the backyard, and a well-maintained lawn, for example. Your property should instantly appeal to anyone walking or driving past.
The interior – The agent will also look at the interiors, the square footage, appliances, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and anything else that can influence the overall market value of the property.
Age and style of the home – Older homes fetch lower prices because of the possibility of high maintenance. The style of the house plays a big role too. In a rural market, buyers prefer ranch-type houses while in the cities, it is condos, or townhouses, or apartments. If you think I want to sell my house and you have a 3-bed apartment, you will get a good price for your house.
Market trends – Because a local agent has so much experience in your market, they have their finger on the pulse of your area’s trends and know what buyers are willing to pay for a property like yours.
Location, location, location – This one’s probably the most obvious. Your agent will think about how popular the area is, how safe it is, and what schools are like.

A computer algorithm simply can’t take all of these factors into account when calculating the value of your home. The reality is, nothing beats the accuracy of a real estate agent or professional appraiser when it comes to determining a home’s true market value.

YOUR AGENT IS THERE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

Determining a home’s true market value is a real estate agent’s forte. If you’re a seller, your agent will help you find your home’s market value so you can list it at the right price.

For buyers, your agent will help you determine the value so you can come up with a fair offer. Your agent can also set up a personalized home search on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for you so you’ll receive emails of listings that meet your criteria. This will help you see what’s out there in your city and how properties are being priced.

Get a Complimentary Report With Your Home’s True Market Value Curious about your home’s true market value? Call us to request a free, no-obligation Comparative Market Analysis to find out exactly how much your home is worth!

Sources: