Before you sell your home, it’s critical to know its value. Without knowing the value of your home, you risk selling it for less than it’s worth. That’s money out of your pocket!
The home valuation process helps determine the value of your home. With that information in-hand, you can set the right sale price for your house. You’ll also be able to negotiate with buyers when you know that an offer is too low.
How do you find out how much your home is worth? Check out our guide to learn how to value a property.
What Determines a Home’s Value?
There are a few main factors that go into your home’s value. It’s not all about the latest paint colors or if you’ve recently renovated the interior.
A combination of these factors goes into how to determine home value:
- Location: Is your home close to restaurants, highways, shopping, and excellent schools? Areas with easy access to lifestyle amenities can boost your home’s value.
- School District: Speaking of “good” schools, what’s the rating for schools in your area? Higher-rated schools improve your home’s value.
- Curb appeal: Renovations aren’t the main factor in determining your home’s value. But, you do want your home to look beautiful to help it sell! Curb appeal is a buyer’s first impression. Make sure your home has excellent curb appeal to improve the value.
- Safety First: A home in a neighborhood with good sidewalks, low crime, and underground power lines helps improve the value.
- Size Matters: How big is your home? What’s the square footage? A standard layout and the size of your home helps influence your home’s value.
- Room to Bathroom Ratio: Many people don’t think of this as a factor for home value. The ratio of bedrooms to bathrooms should make sense to accommodate the number of potential people living in the house.
- Appliances: How old are your appliances? Again, brand new appliances in a newly renovated kitchen won’t make or break your home’s value. But, new appliances help a potential buyer justify the value of your house.
You don’t have a lot of control over some of these factors, like your school district or the state of your sidewalks. Work with what you can change if you want to improve the value of your home to compete with other houses for sale in your neighborhood.
Spruce up the front of your home and swap some appliances to give your house an edge above the rest.
With these factors in mind, it’s time to look at your home valuation.
- Check Online
One of the easiest ways to find the value of a home is to use an online resource. Use websites to give you a rough estimate of your home’s value.
Use these tools with the understanding that a website can’t provide a thorough assessment of your home’s value. They don’t know your home inside and out. But, it’s a good starting point for a ballpark value.
You’ll also see the estimated values of nearby homes to get an idea of average home values in your neighborhood. You can search for other homes similar to your square footage and number of rooms to see how your house compares.
- Hire an Appraiser
Chances are, anyone who puts an offer on your house is going to hire their own appraiser. They’ll want to make sure that the price on your home is accurate.
It’s critical to know the value of your home through the eyes of an appraiser—before a potential buyer gets their own appraisal. If they know more than you do, you could lose money on your home.
You can help the appraised value of your home when your appraiser comes by for the inspection. Make sure you’ve done any necessary repairs to your home. Clean it thoroughly. Send your kids and pets for a play date while the appraiser walks through your home.
What Does an Appraiser Look For During an Inspection?
The appraiser will provide a more accurate value for your home than what you’ll find online. They look for:
- The condition of your home, inside and out.
- They measure everything to confirm the square footage.
- The functionality of your home, including the layout and any additions or upgrades you’ve made.
- Anything that’s wrong or broken.
Your appraiser’s job is to provide an unbiased value of your home, flaws and all. They might recommend a few things you can do to improve the value before putting it on the market.
Making repairs or upgrades can be worth it if they aren’t expensive. Decide how much time and money you want to put into improving your home based on the potential return. Don’t overspend on an upgrade that will make you lose money on the sale of your home.
- Use Comparative Market Analysis
Use a realtor to help you understand the Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) for your property.
We mentioned online tools as a starting place to learn the value of your home. Never rely on an online tool as the most accurate value for your house.
A CMA is not as detailed as your appraiser’s analysis and value for your home. However, a CMA gives you a realtor’s perspective on your home’s value when considering putting it up for sale.
A realtor’s point of view can help you determine if upgrades are necessary. Discover more here about how realtors have valuable insight into what buyers are looking for in your market.
Know How to Value a Property Before Selling Your Home!
You’d never sell your car or put something on eBay without knowing an estimated value to set the price. Before you put your house on the market, know how to value a property. It can make the difference between losing money on your home or selling it at the best price!
If you found this article helpful, be sure to check out our blog articles about buying and selling homes!