I’ve been talking to a lot of sellers recently that have asked me if I think their home is worth a “certain number”, because they are thinking about taking advantage of the Current Homeowners Tax Credit, and either downsizing or buying a newer home.  It’s not impossible to predict how much your home should sell for, and there are a few determining factors that Realtor’s use to determine a homes worth.

First of all, you need to realize that a home’s value is determined by 2 main factors, and supported by some supplemental factors.  The 2 main factors in determining a homes value are:

1.)  What have other comparable homes, within a 1/2 radius, sold for within the last 6 months? 

• Okay, sometimes you might not be able to find a lot of homes within a 1/2 radius, and might need to venture out a bit further than that.  Or sometimes there might not be very many (or any) sales in a 6-month period, and you may need to go back a full year.  But if you look at how many similar homes have sold for in that criteria, you will get a very good idea of what your home is worth.  By comparable, I obviously mean homes with similar square footage, number of bedrooms, number of baths, style/type (2 story, ranch, etc), and so on.  You cannot compare a 5 Bedroom 3-story with a 2-bedroom ranch that are in different school districts.  This is the main criteria followed when Realtors and Appraisers determine a homes worth.

2.)  How much is a buyer willing to pay?

• You can get an appraisal from your appraiser, or a C.M.A. from your Realtor, that both say your home is worth $100,000.  But if there’s not a buyer out there willing to pay that amount, your home is no longer worth that much.  Basically, a home is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay.  You might be dead-stuck on that $100,000 number, and if that’s what you really want, you might have to hang on to the house for 12 months, or even more, before someone offers you that much.  It may never happen, who knows.  This is certainly NOT an exact science.

There are other supplemental factors that determine value of a home.  Some homes have granite counter tops, Brazilian cherry wood flooring, travertine tile, marble bathrooms, etc.  And other homes might have lower-end cosmetic features. If your home has lower-end finishes, it might not compare to the same exact home with higher-end finishes. 

If you are wondering what your home’s value is, email me for a free Comparable Market Analysis.  I’ll need certain information, and should be able to give you a pretty close value in todays market! Please email me with any further questions.  Hope this helped!

Tags: CMA, Home Sellers, Home Value, Selling your Home

Posted on Saturday, January 9th, 2010 at 7:39 pm and is filed under Appraisal, Homes, Housing Market, Questions and Answers, Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.