What's My Home Worth?

Last week we shared the best mindfulness practices for selling a home in today’s real estate market. One of the points discussed was pricing your home appropriately… but if the state of the market overwhelms you or you don’t have the experience to know what even is appropriate, then what does it all mean? To find out how to determine your home’s worth, read on. 

The best place to start is to look at recent home sales in your immediate area (your actual street or the few blocks surrounding you in all directions). These sales will generally be considered your ‘comparables’, also called ‘comps’ in the industry. Just be sure that if you’re holding your home up against a comp, ensure it’s relatively similar to yours in square footage, age, and number of bathrooms or amenities.

Relatively Similar

Obviously, comparing your 3,000 square foot home that has four bedrooms and two baths to a 1,500 square foot, two bedroom ranch will yield wildly different price points. The goal is to find homes that, while not exact, are similar. The general rule of thumb is comparable size within 150 square feet in either direction. 

Additionally, while one might think that number of bedrooms is important, experts stress that it’s actually the number of bathrooms that will affect comp pricing. Real estate experts from Realtor.com state that, “The number of bedrooms doesn’t really matter because they are all figured into the square footage, but baths—half, three-quarter, or full—give more value. For example, a three-bedroom, two-bath home that is 1,800 square feet would come out the same as a four-bedroom, two-bath home that’s 1,800 square feet; but a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath would be worth more.”

And what about time frame? A true comp will generally have sold in the last 6 months. Anything beyond that will have been affected by the state of the market at that time. 

Of course, the best way to appropriately price your home is to speak with a licensed real estate professional. They have their fingers on the pulse of the local market and will be best equipped to price your home at exactly the right point!