Believe it or not, even in today’s down economy, the housing market is flourishing. As a matter of fact, some experts think that we may run out of housing inventory if home buying rates keep their current pace.
While that’s not great news for buyers, it’s certainly good news for sellers. Before you get excited and take your house to market though, there’s one big question you’ll need to answer… How much is your house worth?
The question of home value is a complicated one in that there’s no perfect valuation predictor given that different homes are worth different amounts to different people. You do have some options to get a beat on home value though, seven which we share with you below!
1. Talk to a Real Estate Agent
Most people choose to get an idea of their home’s value by talking to real estate professionals. When you bring on a real estate agent to assist you with the sale of your home, the first thing they’ll do when they arrive at your property is give you an idea of what they think they can sell your house for. That sale price, assuming it’s realized, is your home’s value.
Know that several real estate agents make promises regarding a home’s value and aren’t able to get the promised amount. Some may exceed their promises if they get multiple offers.
All of that to say, like most value estimation avenues, what an agent tells you your house is worth is just an educated guess.
2. Look at Comps
If you want to get a quick idea of what your house may be worth without bringing in an agent, take a look in your community.
Are there any houses for sale nearby? If there are, do those houses seem comparable to yours? What are they selling for?
This process of analyzing “comps” (comparable properties) is something that every estimation technique leverages to arrive at a reasonable number. If a nearby similar house sells at a certain price, chances are, yours will sell for something similar.
3. Check Out Zillow
If you were to type “how much is your house worth” into Google, Zillow would be one of the first results that pop up. That’s because Zillow offers a sophisticated home value estimation tool that assesses several factors to give you a solid estimate on valuation.
What’s better is that Zillow’s home value tools are free to use!
4. Get a Quick Cash Offer
As you’ll learn by going through the home sale process, the worth of your house is only truly what you can get an actual buyer to pay for it. Everything else is just an estimate.
So, if you want to get a quick, real sense of your home’s value from an actual buyer, request a cash offer for your house from a local investment group. There are several “sell house for fast cash” companies out there that make offers on properties for a living.
Granted, most investment groups will pitch you an offer that’s slightly lower than what you may be able to get from a non-investment buyer. That, of course, assumes you can get a non-investment buyer.
If nothing else, getting a quick cash offer is a no-strings-attached way to see where the more modest range of your house’s value sits.
5. Hire an Appraiser
One of the key advantages of getting a house appraisal when deducing the value of your home versus getting an estimate from an online tool is that house appraisals consider your home’s unique condition.
Appraisals will take into account things like old pipes, bad foundations, and everything else that makes your home uniquely yours to give you what will likely be the best value estimate you can get.
Note that the appraisal process does cost money. That cost may be worth it though if you’d like to get a solid beat on where to price your home before putting it on the market.
6. Talk to Your Bank
Banks give out loans for homes all the time. Before they do, they need to have a good idea of the value of homes they’re loaning on to ensure they’re not overpaying. Consequently, banks have great valuation tools/workflows they may be willing to lend to you to help you get an idea of your property’s worth.
Bank’s willingness to help you will come down to how good of a relationship you with with your branch. It never hurts to ask though!
7. Start Accepting Offers
As we mentioned previously, real offers are what dictate the actual value of your house, not estimates. With that in mind, if you’re dying to truly know what your house is worth on the open market, put it out there and see what comes in. If offers are too low for your taste, you can always pull your house back and wait for conditions to improve.
You may find that your house’s value far exceeds estimates!
How Much Is Your House Worth?
Armed with all of the great tools and insights we’ve shared, you should be able to confidently answer your how much is your house worth questions. Our team certainly hopes that the answers you find are ones that motivate you to sell!
We upload new real estate content on our blog regularly that empowers home sellers and buyers to get the most out of their deals. If you’d like more insight on property topics, check out more of our content today!