Best Ways to Determine Home Value
by Sandy Dodge
Of all the questions that arise during the selling process, “What’s my home worth?” is the first for most sellers. By using home valuation tools and understanding local market conditions, sellers can educate themselves on how much their home could potentially fetch on the market, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Best Ways to Determine Home Value
Windermere’s home value estimator is a great starting point for sellers. Free to use, it will provide you with an instant home value and an expected price range, a heat map of buyer interest near you, and recent home sales in your area. Click the link below to get started.
What Is My Home Worth?
Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)
Though tools like home value estimators provide some data on what sellers can expect when pricing their home, nothing compares to the expertise a professional real estate agent offers. Various factors influence home prices including seasonality, market conditions, and location, and agents have the means to account for these factors to accurately price your home by conducting a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA).
A CMA compares your home to others in your area that have either recently sold, are currently on the market, or had previously listed but have since expired. Depending on the conditions of the market, an agent will gather data for the past three to six months. When conducting a CMA, they’ll take into account recent market trends, competing properties, your home’s amenities, and its overall marketability. The analysis also considers aspects of the home such as lot size, condition, age, square footage, bedrooms and bathrooms, and the terms of financing. A thorough CMA will provide information on what homes in your area are selling for, how long they were on the market, and the difference between their listed and sold price.
So why is a CMA important? A CMA helps price the home more accurately, keeping the property competitive in the current market. For example, in a seller’s market where demand is driving up home values, an agent will work with their seller to account for the elevated prices before listing their home. Doing so allows you to avoid overpricing which usually results in a longer sale period. CMAs can also help buyers negotiate their asking price by having a data-backed analysis of the home’s value based on current market trends.
*About Windermere Homes & Estates*
Windermere Homes & Estates was founded by Rich Johnson in 2013 and has been setting the standard ever since. The forward-thinking company has opened offices across Southern California and is now home to over 600 active and referral agents. The brokerage has received accolades from the San Diego Association of Realtors® (SDAR) such as the Brokerage Achievement of Excellence and Fastest Growing Real Estate Brokerage in 2015. The creation of a place for agents to collaborate and connect on a daily basis both virtually and in person has been a key factor in Windermere Homes & Estates’ success.
For more information on Windermere Homes & Estates, visit https://whesd.com/.
*About Windermere Real Estate*
Windermere Real Estate is the largest regional real estate company in the Western U.S. with over 300 offices and 6,500 agents serving communities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Mexico. Last year, Windermere closed over 74,000 home sales for more than $40.6 billion in dollar volume. The Windermere family has a proud heritage of serving our neighbors via the Windermere Foundation which funds services for low-income and homeless families. Since 1989, the Windermere Foundation has contributed more than $43 million towards improving lives in the communities where we live and work. For more information, visit windermere.com.