How Much Is Your Home Worth? Pricing Your Home in a Changing Market

The news is everywhere, and no one seems to know what is going on. Are house prices declining, or going up? With foreclosures piling up, mortgage delinquencies rising and mortgage banks closing up shop faster than the carnival leaving town, is it possible to know what your house is worth?

No matter where you live in the country, you’ve probably enjoyed significant price increases in your home over the last 5 years. The answer then was easy; “my home is worth more than it was yesterday.” Today it’s more complicated and calculating your value is more difficult than ever.

And do you even want the news? You should. The value of your home is an important aspect of your overall financial picture. It determines how much equity you have, which in turn, determines your options for refinancing, selling and buying a new home.

ALMOST the easiest way to determine your home value:

The internet. Zillow.com and others let you look up price information of homes in your area (including yours). It also gives you price-trend information and other valuable data. While not 100% accurate it’s an easy resource to get a ballpark estimate of your home's value. Others include: Trulia.com and Yahoo Real Estate.

An easy way:

Your real estate agent can send you updated listings in your neighborhood. They can put you on their automated distribution list to receive emails with home prices in your zip code and price range. Warning: they’ll constantly ask you about moving, but hey, their supposed to.

A hard, more traditional way:

Keep an eye out for home sales in your neighborhood, grab flyers to see the price offerings; talk to your neighbors about the reasons people are moving. Listen to gossip. If you like neighborhood dirt you’ll quickly have your finger on the pulse of your neighborhood.

The EASIEST way & an offer from me:

Call me at (949) 859-3045 or send me an email at mbrown@newdaytrust.com. With your home address I can send you a detailed report on the recent home sales in your area that are comparable to your home. The report includes a map and addresses of recent sales. I’ll send the report to you within an hour. PRESTO.

5 Things to do right now with your new knowledge

 

 

1. Determine how much equity you have based on your current home value (value – mortgage balance = equity)
2. Calculate your down payment options if you chose to move
3. Determine if your property value is rising or falling
4. Use the market conditions to your advantage if you refi or buy/sell
5. Be a neighborhood smarty-pants and life of any function

If you need help with any of these five things email me and I'll be more than happy to help you out, no charge!

Are you a mortgage professional?

Be sure to subscribe to my OriginatorSUCCESS newsletter for more insight from the industry side.  Heck, even if you're not, sign up to learn what the pros know!

Read More about home values with these articles:

http://www.dqnews.com/ZIPLAT.shtm
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homes13apr13,1,922028.story?coll=la-utilities-business