How to Find Out How Much Your Property Is Worth

Discover the best methods to determine your property's value, from market analysis to professional appraisals, and make informed real estate decisions.

Understanding your home’s true worth could be vital when making certain important decisions.

For instance, you may need an accurate estimate of value if you are planning to sell your property so you can price it just right without over- or under-pitching it. A valuation can also be useful for negotiating better rates when refinancing your mortgage, getting an insurance policy, or paying property taxes.

The fact is, there is a lot that can impact your home’s value, and how you should go about determining it can vary based on the exact requirement.

Keep reading to learn more about different techniques you can adopt to gain an overall understanding of property value.

Top Methods to Determine Your Property’s Worth

Note that each method discussed here takes a different approach to estimating house value. So, consider using a combination of techniques that best fit the purpose of the assessment.

Reverse Search the Address on Nuwber

Nuwber’s search directory contains over 118 million address records collected from public sources. These are vetted and organized to make it easier to find property info with a reverse address search. All you need to do is enter an accurate address and hit Search.

But what kind of information can Nuwber retrieve? It depends on the address and the availability of public records. But, in general, it can dig up a great deal of details about properties within a one-mile radius of the address you entered. These can include the type of dwellings in the area, when the oldest and newest properties were built, their average age, the highest, lowest, and average home purchase prices, and the average net worth per household.

And if you know that a house in your neighborhood recently exchanged hands, you can learn more about it, too, if you know its address.

Use the FHFA’s House Price Index Calculator

The house price index calculator on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s website is a popular tool homeowners use to estimate the current resale value of properties.

The FHFA uses a repeat-sales statistical technique to analyze single-family house data collected since the mid-1970s. In other words, it measures changes in the average price during repeat sales or refinancings of properties to arrive at its index values.

It is important to note two key limitations of this calculator before using it. Firstly, the index focuses only on single-family houses. It also doesn’t factor in inflation and specific property-related features that could impact a home’s resale value. But it is still an excellent tool to understand the overall market trends.

Check Online Home Value Estimators

Most lenders (e.g., Bank of America and Bankrate) and property marketplaces (e.g., Zillow and Realtor.com) provide free online estimates to gauge property values. These tools are usually super easy to use and only require a house’s address.

They take into account a variety of information for their calculations, like the value of other properties in the neighborhood and tax assessments. Some may even include things like local crime rates and school district ratings.

Naturally, each tool relies on different models to determine a valuation. So, don’t be surprised if the figures they generate for the same property differ from one another.

The best thing to do is to pick a few reliable platforms based on user reviews and compare their estimates to get an overall idea.

Compare Similar Properties

Assessing comparable real estate requires some research and can be a time-consuming exercise. It involves finding the prices of a few recently sold properties similar to your own. For this, an online real estate marketplace can be the perfect source.

But you likely won’t find perfect matches. When this is the case, locate properties that are as close as possible to yours based on location, number of bedrooms, square footage, upgrades, and condition.

Once you select a few, adjust their selling prices for any differences between the relevant house and your own.

What if you find it difficult to identify matching properties under the sold inventory? Then, you can look at currently listed ones and deduct a reasonable amount from their listed prices that the owners may have added to create room for negotiations.

Ask a Real Estate Agent

Real estate agents typically carry out a comparative market analysis (CMA) to help homeowners get an estimate of the price range they could expect to list their properties.

The CMA considers several factors like similarities in houses, location, and the average sale prices to calculate a home’s worth.

While it might not be that detailed or hundred percent accurate, it is still a useful estimate, considering it’s a market-based analysis. So, it can help you get a more realistic perspective on your property’s fair value.

Plus, most real estate agents would offer a comparative market analysis free of charge for their clients, especially when they know a homeowner is likely to list with them.

Hire a Home Appraiser

Many homeowners assume that property appraisers’ services are reserved for lenders. But anyone can hire these professionals to get an expert appraisal of their property.

Appraisers review a number of factors (from a property’s location and characteristics to recent selling prices, depreciation, and inflation) in their assessments, which they provide as detailed reports. These can be particularly useful when you need formal evidence to prove your home’s worth.

But the high cost of appraisals and the longer assessment times are often points of concern for most homeowners. So, you might want to consider how important an appraisal is for your requirement and whether you are prepared to wait a week or two for the final report.

To Recap

Figuring out a property’s value can be a complex process, depending on how you approach it. But now, there are simple techniques to gauge an estimate using reliable resources. Nuwber’s reverse address search, the FHFA’s house price index calculator, and automated home price estimators are some of the top tools you can rely on to access information quickly.

If you have the time to spare, comparing similar properties using past listings on online marketplaces is a good idea, too. Otherwise, you can also ask for a CMA from a real estate agent or hire a property appraiser for a more comprehensive valuation.

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