How to Estimate the Worth of Your Home
There are many instances when it's helpful, and even necessary, to estimate the worth of your home. Some require an appraisal, which is the only way to determine market value. If, on the other hand, you're about to list your home for sale, a comparative market analysis will suffice. Finally, if you're merely curious, or think that you might sell your home in the not-too-distant future but really need only to find a casual estimate of your home's worth, consider Internet tools created for that purpose.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Call an appraiser to request an appraisal, which is an opinion of market value based on a very detailed comparison of your home to similar homes in your area that have sold recently. Use an appraisal when you need a highly accurate estimate of its worth, like when dividing assets in a divorce, applying for a home-equity loan or choosing insurance coverage. Find an appraiser through the American Society of Appraisers (see Resources) or your local real estate board, which should be listed in the phone book.
-
2
Request a free comparative market analysis (CMA) from a real estate agent if you're considering selling your home. Consider the CMA recommendation to be an estimate of the likely sale price, not its market value, as the analysis compares your home to similar ones that have sold recently by using only very general criteria.
Use a CMA if you're interested in estimating your home's value primarily to decide for how much to list it for sale.
-
-
3
Use online tools offered by a major consumer real estate site, such as Trulia or Realtor.com, to estimate your home's worth. Type in your physical address on the site's home page. Navigate to the details page if you don't see a value estimate immediately when your home is displayed. View the proceeding page to identify the value estimate or click the link to view the estimate. List comparable homes, if the site has that option, so that you can refine the comparison in order to arrive at a more accurate result.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
When you use online tools to find comparable homes, choose those that are the same style and about the same size. Stick to homes in your own neighborhood, if possible. Stay within the school district if you must expand the search beyond your neighborhood.
Online home-value finders should not be relied upon as decision-making tools. They're not substitutes for the knowledge and judgment of real estate professionals.
