Month: June 2021

6 Ways to Find the Price of Your House in the Local Area

Selling a home can be a tiresome process especially for someone who has never done it before. There are a lot of things that you need to consider to avoid getting ripped off. Everything from the real estate agent you hire to the ads that you post online will determine how successful you’ll become at the end of the selling process.

Before you think of posting your property on the real estate market, you need to ensure that you get the ideal listing price. This might sound like an easy thing to do. However, it’s more complicated than what the majority of people think. This is because a lot of factors affect the value of your house in the market. At times, the smallest things such as a faulty garage door can negatively affect the value of your house.

Therefore, finding out the worth of your home is not a process that you should take lightly. To help you avoid getting stressed and overwhelmed, we’ve compiled a few practical tips that will help you find the price of your house in the local area. Let’s get started!

What affects the value of your home?

As we said earlier, there are a lot of things that affect the market value of your home. Knowing these aspects is essential if you want to get the best price for your house. In this section, we are going to talk about these important aspects.

The first is location. The distance from amenities, schools, roads, and your neighborhood can make a huge difference when determining the worth of your house.

The second is the size of your property. You need to measure the square footage and the usable space available. You shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that buyers are willing to pay more for bigger homes. However, don’t get carried away by this fact.

Another important aspect that determines your home’s value is its current state and age. In most cases, older homes tend to be cheaper than newer homes. Keeping your home in shape by improving it consistently can greatly boost its value. Other important things that can affect the value of your home include:

  • The conditions of the real estate market
  • The number of bathrooms and bedrooms
  • Economic aspects such as interest rates
  • Previous sale prices
  • Home upgrades

Estimating the value of your home

Now that you are aware of the factors that determine the value of your home, let’s discuss a few important ways how you can estimate the value of your home before listing it.

1.      Utilize online tools

Most people today use automated valuation models (AVMs) to discover the value of their homes. According to a recent study, 22 percent of homeowners use websites to find out the worth of their homes. These tools analyze records such as location, property taxes, listing prices, and recent sales to predict the value of your home. The use of an online estimator is one of the best ways to discover the worth of your property. However, you should keep in mind that these online tools don’t provide a 100 percent accurate value to your property. Nevertheless, you’ll get a clue of its value.

2.      Hire a professional

Most people hire a professional home appraiser to determine whether they can get and afford to pay the mortgage. However, you can hire one to help you determine the value of your property whenever you want. A recent survey found out that 28 percent of homeowners hire an appraiser to help them find out the value of their property. An appraiser will do much more than help you discover the value of your property. They can:

  • Describe the characteristics of your property
  • Compare properties
  • Help you know more about the real estate market in your area

After looking at all these factors, your appraiser will deliver a report on the value of your home.

3.      Perform a comparative market analysis

You can estimate the value of your house by requesting your real estate agent to conduct a comparative market analysis. While this report won’t be as detailed as that of a professional appraiser, it will still be accurate. Real estate agents usually perform this analysis for a few dollars or at times, for free. However, when you ask your realtor to estimate the value of your home, they will treat it as an invitation to work with you throughout this process. Before asking for comparative market analysis, you need to choose an agent that you can work with comfortably.

4.      The FHFA House Index Price Calculator

Another great way to get a thorough analysis of your property is by using the Federal Housing Financing Agency house price index. This is a scientific method that provides an accurate value. The house price index uses the repeat sales method which involves analyzing the home’s change in value in previous sales using mortgage transactions data that has been gathered since the early 70s. It uses this information to estimate the value of your property given the current market trends. The disadvantages of this method are:

  • It only analyzes conforming home mortgages
  • It doesn’t consider inflation or seasonal changes

5.      Evaluate similar homes

You can discover the value of your home by comparing other similar homes in your area. It’s the most famous and simplest method in the US since most homeowners use it before selling their property. You need to ensure that you are comparing your home with the right ones. You need to look at homes with a similar location, age, size, condition, and upgrades. Think of other houses that your prospective buyer would choose instead of yours. Compare at least three homes to get an accurate price of your home.

6.      Look at expired and withdrawn listings

Look at withdrawn and expired listings to discover the value of your home. Expired listings are all the agreements that ran out without them being bought. On the other hand, withdrawn means that the homeowner doesn’t want to sell the property. Finding out the value of these properties in your neighborhood will help you find out the value of your property.

Conclusion

As you’ve seen, evaluating your property is extremely important. The process can be tiring and time-consuming. However, it’s worth it in the long run. Look at all the available options and try using at least two valuation methods.

Author Bio:

Leon Collier is a blogger and academic writer from the UK who has vast experience working with dissertation writing services and professional essay writing services. He loves to take on every challenge thrown at him and has the ability to deliver outstanding work regularly. When he’s not busy writing, he loves reading books and playing tabletop games with his friends. Follow him on Twitter @LeonCollier12.

Photo by Matt Jones on Unsplash

What’s the deal with bunkers for sale?

For some reasons there have been a huge interest in abandoned bunkers for sale. Always there is an ad of a bunker for sale it gets at least ten times more hits than homes for sale. Surely, many just click on it out of curiosity but many are seriously interested. What is it that makes bunkers so attractive for buyers?

Although it is considered as the ultimate hiding place, the average underground bunker usually has no windows, just air vents and most of the times no electricity, toilet or running water.

Most subterranean shelters would be accessible through a straight up concrete shaft with a steel ladder, accessed by some sort of concrete or steel hatch on the ground.

The perfect historical restoration project

For all buyers who are interested in a historical restoration venture they are just perfect. It is a truly unique project that is sure to seduce. Unfortunately, there are not as many out there as interested buyers. That’s why, despite the bad state they usually are in they are not cheap.

Some people have been very creative and building their own amazing backyard bunkers. In this case don’t forget to get the proper permits before.

We could also see a recent movement of newly built bunkers – many especially for the upper class – that offer all modern comfort you can think of and look like out of a sci fi movie.

Some people decided to built their own panic room in their home or make an extension.

The “bunker for sale scam”

Sadly, whatever triggers a lot of interest in many people also inspires others to come up with a scam. In the bunker story it is no different.

The scam we have seen so far is this:

There is an ad with nice and very cheap bunkers for sale. Once you contact the advertiser, he will explain that he is very sick that is why he priced his bunker for a quick sale. Due to his condition, he is also not able to show the property but someone else can be paid to show it. Therefore, he will ask you for some money to see the bunker before you buy it. Needless to say, that after paying the money you will not hear from him ever again or have any way to get through to him.

Here are some red flags to look out for:

  • Price is cheaper than normal
  • The seller asks money to show you the property

Another good way is to use the Google Reverse Image Search with the images the advertiser has in the ad. You may find that he copied them from another website.

Bio

Our Property under 20k team are the founders of www.propertyunder20k.com and www.listproperty4free.com with the goal to search the cheapest real estate in the world and make it easy for others to find. The team is made up of landlords, real estate investors, architects and builders from several different countries.  We just love to have a good strong cup of coffee while we write our experiences in this blog.

Bild von Martin Bock auf Pixabay