Are You In Tune With Your Home’s Value?
If you’ve been living in the same home for five years, you’ve likely built up significant equity as home prices in South Florida have more than doubled during the period.
But how do you know what your home is really “worth”? How do you measure value?
What the neighbor down the street just sold, or is asking, can be helpful. There are new real estate websites (such as Zillow.com) that will supply the raw data and an estimate. They can be useful tools, but a bit of local knowledge is also important.
The true value of your property is what another informed person, ready and able, is willing to pay for it. And given the recent changes in the market, that can be quite different than the same person might have paid just six months ago.
It’s a good idea to keep tabs on what is happening. If you live in Central Palm Beach County, I have a free neighborhood alerts service that will email you when a property in your neighborhood goes on the market, goes under contract, or is sold. That’s handy in understanding the selling and asking price ranges.
But for a true picture, I offer a comparative analysis that will compare your home to others in the neighborhood, and provide you with some insight into how area buyers and sellers are currently thinking and behaving.
It looks at recent sales, the current inventory levels, the competition, price levels, days on market, and property differences. There’s a lot to look at. You can’t just throw everything into a computer and have it crunch away and give you a magic number (maybe one day, but we’re a long way off). It requires local knowledge, experience, and some thought.
Nothing is perfect. You’ll only really know what a good price is when a buyer agrees to pay it. But a comprehensive analysis of the market is very helpful in reducing total time on market and attracting the most qualified buyers. If you’re curious about your home’s value, this type of analysis will help you get a better feel for the market.