If you’re a homeowner, chances are you’ve wondered at some point: What is my home worth?
Today, getting an answer seems easier than ever. Type your address into an online real estate website and within seconds, an estimated value appears. Automated Valuation Models—commonly called AVMs—can be interesting and even helpful as a starting point.
But there’s an important distinction between an online estimate and understanding what your home could actually sell for in today’s market.
What an Online Home Value Can—and Can’t—See
AVMs use available data and algorithms to estimate a property’s value. They may consider public records, previous sales, nearby property sales and, in some cases, improvements that appear in building permits.
What they can’t do is walk through your front door.
An online valuation doesn’t truly see the condition of your home, the quality of your improvements, how your property compares to others nearby, or the characteristics that can make one home more desirable to buyers than another.
And perhaps most importantly, an algorithm doesn’t have the same firsthand knowledge of your neighborhood and current local market conditions that an experienced real estate professional brings to the table.
That’s Where a Comparative Market Analysis Comes In
A Comparative Market Analysis, or CMA, is prepared by a real estate professional to help determine a realistic range of value for your home in the current market.
Rather than simply generating a number from available data, a CMA looks closely at how your property compares with other homes in your market area.
Some of the factors we consider include:
❖ Location and neighborhood
❖ Style and size of the home
❖ Overall condition
❖ Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
❖ Garages, outbuildings and other amenities
❖ Finished living space, including lower-level areas
❖ Updates and improvements
❖ Comparable properties that have recently sold
Generally, we concentrate on comparable sales from the past six months to a year because the market changes, and older sales may no longer accurately reflect today’s conditions.
If You’re Thinking About Selling, We Go One Step Further
Recent sales tell us where the market has been—but when preparing to sell your home, we also want to understand where the market is right now.
That means looking beyond the sold properties.
We also look at pending sales and properties currently under agreement because they can give us insight into what buyers are responding to today and what will soon become part of the sold data.
Then we look at your current competition.
If a buyer were shopping for a home like yours today, what other properties would they be considering? How does your home compare? What choices does that buyer have in your price range?
That matters because ultimately, your home isn’t selling in isolation. It’s competing with the other homes buyers can choose from at that moment.
Local Market Knowledge Matters
Technology has given homeowners access to more real estate information than ever before, and that’s a good thing. An online home value can be a useful starting point and may satisfy your curiosity when you simply want a general idea of what your property might be worth.
But if you’re making a decision based on that value—particularly if you’re considering selling—there is much more to the equation.
An algorithm can analyze data. A CMA evaluates your home in the context of the market in which it will actually be sold.
That combination of comparable sales, current competition, property condition and local market knowledge can provide a much clearer picture of where your home fits in today’s market.
Curious What Your Home Is Worth?
If you’re simply curious about your home’s current value, considering making improvements, or beginning to think about selling sometime in the future, I’m always happy to take a look and give you a realistic perspective on where your property stands in today’s market.
Corinne Fitzgerald
FITZGERALD Real Estate
Serving Franklin County and Beyond
Call or Text: 413-320-9509
Corinne@FITZGERALD-RealEstate.com
