How to Determine Your House Value for Refinancing

The value of a home will directly effect how much money the homeowner can borrow. Every mortgage lender has regulations defining which loan-to-value ratios are acceptable, so knowing how much your home is worth can help speed the process considerably.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Call a local Realtor. Most Realtors can quickly estimate a home's value based on the sale of comparable properties in and around the area. To qualify as "comparable," the home must have a similar amount of square footage, bedrooms as well as other features.

2. Obtain a county tax assessment. Some lenders accept this assessment as sufficient proof of a home's value, although many lenders assume that this number is lower than the actual value.

3. Use one of the home value websites available online. Many of these websites are fairly accurate. In fact, most use the same information local real estate agents use to estimate home values. Keep in mind that even some of the best sites for this purpose are completely free, so don't spend money for this information.

4. Ask your lender. Some lenders have methods to determine a home's value and will reveal this information even if you have not yet applied for refinancing. Be sure to request this information before you apply as it will determine how much money you are eligible to refinance.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have less than 20 percent equity in your home, you will probably not be eligible for the best mortgage refinance interest rates.
• Do not provide credit card information to a website that purports to give home value estimates for free. Don't try to get the County Tax Assessor to increase the home value set for tax purposes because this may result in higher real estate taxes later on.

Resources

• Zillow.com provides free and accurate home value estimates.