By far, the most important determinant of price is what buyers are paying right now for similar homes in your neighborhood.
Sources of recent selling prices:
The Comparable Market Analysis (CMA) you received in interviews with neighborhood real estate agents. See a sample CMA
Find recent neighborhood prices on the Internet.
Ditech.com, provides a freeon-line appraiser that estimates your home's current value and your equity.
Domania.comFor $29.95 Domania provides sales prices for recently sold homes in your neighborhood or on your street.
HomePrice.Net
For $29.95, the people at HomePrice provide a CMA type price analysis, plus a report on school quality and other neighborhood information that can help sell your house.
Zillow.comFree, Zillow provides the tax assessed values of homes on your street. This is great for comparing neighborhood home values, but the tax assessed value is seldom as large as the selling price. In some states the tax assessed value is typically 40% of the market value.
New York Residents: NewYork-Data.com provides a free database of recently sold homes organized by zip codes.
House Value.com will forward your information to a local real estate agent who will provide a price analysis (and ask you to let him sell your house).
Steps to setting price (when you have a list of recently sold homes)
Check off the homes most similar to your own in terms of size and number of rooms.
Walk by and view the selected homes. Decide if the lots are bigger or smaller than your own. Is the general condition better or poorer than your house ?
Set you asking price higher or lower than the selected homes based on your observations.
Other sources of Pricing help:
Home appraisal: - For a fee ($250 - $350 in the Atlanta area), you can hire a real estate appraiser to put a value on your home, based on its condition, plus past sales of comparable homes. This appraisal can be used to help justify your price when negotiating with buyers.
The Appraisal Network will help you find a local real estate appraiser. (If that fails you can find appraisers in your local phone book.)
Engineer's Inspection: If you suspect problems with the roof or other major components such as the plumbing or heating system, you can hire a professional home inspector (for $200 - $300) to assess the condition of your home. The engineer's written report will arm you against similar reports prepared by inspectors hired by prospective buyer's.
Making repairs: You can avoid repair costs by selling your home "as is," but an "as is" property will sell for less than top dollar and may take longer to sell. We suggest making the repairs and putting the cost into the selling price.
Next Step: Consider the financing terms you might offer a buyer
Contract Package $14.20
Real estate forms and contracts to sell or buy a home in your state. All forms are available in Microsoft Word format for Windows. Most state forms are also available for the Apple Mac, and in PDF format for the free Acrobat Reader.
Price includes Photo Tour package described below. Order now.
