How to Check the Price of a Home
A home is the single largest purchase most of us will ever make. According to the real estate website Trulia, the average home price in the United States ranges from $96,000 to $223,000. If a home with a "for sale" sign has caught your interest, find out how much the house costs before getting too interested in the property. That will save you disappointment if the house is beyond your budget.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
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1
Log onto a national or local real estate website to see if they have a listing for the home you are interested in. Websites such as Realtor.com and HomeGain.com gather listings from various real estate agents or multiple listing services and compile them by region. Most real estate websites have a place where you can enter the address of the for-sale property you have spotted, then see the listing showing the home's price and other details.
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2
Drive by the house to look for real estate fliers. They're usually posted in a box on the home's for-sale sign. Many homeowners hire an agent to market their home, and the agent often prints fliers that provide details about the house. Most fliers will include information such as listing price, square footage, and number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
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3
Contact the agent listed on the flier, or listed on the sign in the yard if there are no fliers. Tell the agent you're interested in the home and would like to know the asking price. The agent can tell you the home's price and answer other questions, such as the amount of any homeowner’s association dues that have to be paid.
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4
Call the local county assessor’s office if there's a for-sale sign at the house, but no indications that a real estate agent is involved. It costs money to hire an agent, so some homeowners prefer to sell their homes themselves to save money. According to the Boulder County, Colorado, Assessor's Office, the assessor's office can tell you the home's appraised value, which is an amount used for tax assessment purposes. It may not match the home's current market value, but it will give you a ballpark idea of where the home will be priced. The assessor's office can also provide the name of the home's legal owner and current mailing address so you can try contacting him by mail. Some assessor's offices have websites where you can search for the information.
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Tips & Warnings
Don’t be afraid to make a few phone calls when looking for a house. Many people are reluctant to ask sellers questions, but most sellers are eager to make a deal and will gladly answer any questions you may have.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Sold Home For Sale Sign on Burst image by Andy Dean from Fotolia.com
