How Much is My House Worth?
Do you know how much your house is worth? An accurate understanding of your home's value is always important when you are trying to sell, however with the current sluggishness of the residential real estate market, an the accuracy of your asking price can make the difference between selling fast and not selling at all.
So how do you figure this out? First you can look in your local newspaper's real estate for sale section and try and compare the homes listed there to your own. This is not the best way to go especially if selling fast is what you need to do. More often than not you will be unable to accurately compare the size, area and amenities of the properties listed in the paper to your own home.
Second, you could call a real estate agent and ask that they give you what is called a CMA (comparative market analysis) of your home's value. A CMA compares your home to similar homes that have recently sold in order to give you an idea of the price your home will command in the market. It is important to note that real estate agents are more than willing to provide this service to you for free with the hope that you will list your house for sale with them.
Remember -- agents work on commissions - the higher the price your house sells for, the more money they receive. An over-priced house will not sell quickly in this market.
There are some good online tools that you can use including Zillow. Zillow allows you to enter a property address and see what other homes in the area are selling or have sold for. While some people swear by Zillow and the information it provides, I have not had the same results. I find that for the Middlesex, Monmouth and Mercer County New Jersey areas, the information provided by Zillow is not very helpful.
