How can I determine my home’s value?
I know you want to talk about homes but for a minute, lets talk about cars. Have you ever sold a car? If so, you’re likely familiar with the Kelley Blue Book. Millions of car owners go to the Kelley Blue Book to determine how much their car is worth so they know what they can sell it for. Determining a car’s worth is pretty simple. A car has a manufacturer name, model name, year built, paint color, and options such as air conditioning, power windows, leather seats, and all the other priced options available along with the current condition of the car. You plug in the specifics of your car and you get a Kelley Blue Book value. Simple. Done. You got your price.
Unfortunately, there is no Kelley Blue Book for homes. Many will repeatedly call out that Real Estate sites, such as Zillow, is where you go to get a home’s value. Zillow is not the Kelley Blue Book of homes and its values are not accurate. There are not just a few home manufacturers/model home names/floor plans, nor just a few home options/features. In fact, I couldn’t even try to list the number of different features that a home might have, much less everything else that must be taken into consideration when determining a home’s worth.
Determining what a home is worth is a lot more complicated than determining a car’s worth. When you want to know what your home is worth you’ll want to hire a Real Estate Agent professional who is skilled at pricing homes. Did you notice that I said “skilled” ? It is indeed a skill if you want to sell a home and not simply have a home listed for sale to lagger on the market for months on end only to have homeowners question why their home has not yet sold. A skilled Real Estate Agent will look closely at nearby comparable homes that have recently sold in your area, those pending under contract and those homes currently active for sale. They will look at how those homes compare to your home by reviewing the similarities and differences. They will look at your home’s location: Is your home on a waterfront, golf course or other premium lot or does it back up to a busy street or an overhead power line, for example, where that would decrease a home’s value? What about the effects of functional or economic obsolescence that may be inherent in the home where you have to walk through the Master Bedroom to get to the backyard patio or what about that nearby traffic construction mess that will affect traffic for the year to come, for example.
What about your home’s active competition? You need to know what homes in the area of your home are currently on the market for sale and will likely draw the same prospective Buyers who will also be looking at your home in their list of homes to consider buying. These homes are your direct competition and how they are priced determines how your home will be priced to sell.
We’ll look at the price points of the active homes for sale, those homes that are currently under contract or pending and have not yet closed and those homes that have sold to determine a “best” price point placement for your home. Price point placement is critical to attract the most prospective Buyers in hopes of the possibility of driving up the selling price due to multiple offers by Buyer’s demanding homes in a particular price range. Price points involve knowing what price range shows where the largest percentage of Buyers are buying a home. For example, if you’re considering selling your home for $400,000 where it shows that just last month only 4 homes sold in that price range and if you decided to drop your selling price to the price points just below $400,000 where 15 homes sold last month then you would be reaching a much larger pool of Buyers who could see your home for sale, which could end up driving your selling price above $400,000 from multiple interested Buyers. Your home’s selling price needs to be nestled in there just right.
A Real Estate Agent can tell you “what you want to hear” is your home’s worth and many will, just to secure the Real Estate Listing. Then after no Buyer’s offers at the inflated price, they’ll recommend a price reduction, as you chase the market trying to play “catch up” to the correct selling price. This pricing strategy routinely results in you selling your home for less money than had you set the right price to begin. Also, keep in mind that a home that has been listed for sale for quite some time gets attached with the stigma of Buyers wondering why hasn’t your home sold already particularly when we’re in a Seller’s market where home inventory is low and Buyer demand is high. They assume that something must be wrong with such a home that has been on the market for months.
A home that is priced correctly will bring Buyers, likely many, due to your home being priced just right for the type of home that they are looking for and for the price that they are willing to pay for that type of home. Your home will be in higher demand which can drive up the selling price due to many Buyer’s now competing to buy your home.
So if you want to know what your home is worth in order to determine if you want to sell a home, than pick up the phone and call me if you’re here in Southeast Florida. I service Home Sellers in Broward county and Palm Beach county south from Miramar up north to Coral Springs and further north to Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach. I’ve helped many home sellers get their homes sold at the right price. Call me at 954-464-1100 or email me at LynnP@ImagineYourHouse.com.
