Knowing Your Home's Value - 4 Different Ways to Assess

Your home’s value may change over time, depending on the status of the housing market and the condition of your house. Whether you plan to stay or sell your home in the future, there are many benefits of knowing your home’s actual value.

For one thing, it allows you to assess what you can afford and determine whether the house you are eyeing is appropriately priced. It also helps you decide how to rate your home when you sell it later on.

Understanding your home’s value is also essential when applying for refinances and calculating insurance premiums and annual property taxes. With knowledge of your home’s cost, you have better control of all these processes. For example, if you can prove that property taxes’ assessment is too high, you may get rewarded with a lower tax bill. If you’ve ever wondered “what’s the value of my home,” then you’ll appreciate this resource in helping you assess your home’s value!

Four Ways to Find Your Home Value

1. By Online Assessment

Try to search the phrase “how much is my house worth” online, and you will see different online estimators from real estate sites. These are called AVM or automated valuation models. These tools help determine your home’s value by analyzing public records such as property transfers, deeds of ownership, and tax assessments, based on recent listing and sales prices.

The result here is usually used for marketing and lead generation purposes. However, know that these online tools are required to produce a rate for every property despite the lack of data, which can water down its computation accuracy.

2. By Using the House Price Index Calculator of FHFA

If you need a fast estimate like AVMs, but you want a more scientific approach to it, the Federal Housing Financial Agency’s HPI (House Price Index) Calculator is the perfect tool for you. They use the repeat sales method in identifying your home’s value. In this process, they track all houses’ change in value from one sale to another. This information gathered over time allows for more accurate estimates.

It is a great way to see how your home appreciates. However, note that this calculator does not adjust based on the inflation or season. Also, it only looks at conforming home mortgages.

3. By Comparative Market Analysis

You can get this by asking a local real estate agent to do a CMA for you. The CMA you will get shows you the agent’s evaluation considering your home and the current market. The estimated value is not as detailed as a professional appraisal. The amount you get from here is typically for listing purposes.

Some real estate agents will provide you with a CMA for little to no cost at all in the hopes that you will hire them for future house selling or buying purposes. Contact us at Smith Street Homes for a free CMA!

4. By Assessment from a Professional Appraiser

Anyone can hire a professional appraiser to estimate a home price at any time they want, not just during mortgage approval. The value depends on what the client wants. Some homeowners want to assess their home’s value in a specific year in the past. Most want to learn about their current home value for purchase or refinancing purposes.

In this process, the appraiser evaluates your home’s value based on three categories: the market location of your home, the characteristics of your house, and all comparable properties, such as the sales, listings, vacancies, depreciation, and other factors.

Conclusion

There are different methods you can use to find the worth of your home. Keep in mind that any valuation of your house is purely an estimate and opinion, even those coming from a professional one. Choose what method you trust best and get an assessment before you make any future decisions for your home.  

Are you looking for real estate agents to help you assess your home’s value? Whether you plan to sell your home or are looking for homes for sale in Davison, we at Smith Street Homes are ready to turn your dreams into reality. Contact us, and we will help you find your dream home today.