So... what is my home worth?

The answer is, "It Depends." If you are want to know how much you can sell your home for, then the Comparative Market Analysis is the most dependable method for determining your home's value. With this method, Brett Adams Team will review three categories of homes in your legal subdivision:

First, for what amounts have comparable homes in your neighborhood sold recently? The answers may probably surprise you, but getting the facts out on the table will help you make decisions when it comes to setting a list price for your home. In addition to the actual sales price, we will also evaluate how the list price affected the "Days on Market" or "DOM" for these homes. Often, Days on Market is a direct reflection of the sales price. If you are not in a rush, you can generally wait for a higher price. If you've got some pressure to move, then adjusting the price is usually the most reliable way to speed up the process. Depending on the time of year, and overall market trends in your neighborhood, these sold prices represent the "floor" of what you can expect to net from the sale of your home. After all, home prices go up over time, right?

Next, we look at all of the comparable homes in your neighborhood whose listings have expired (that's what happens when a home doesn't sell), or have been withdrawn from the marketplace after an inordinately long period of time. We investigate the reasons why these homes did not sell, and try to understand how it relates to the sale of your home. Was it priced too high? Was it in poor condition? Is it a slow selling season? Does the property conform to the neighborhood? We get to the bottom of these, because we don't want this to happen to your home. Generally speaking, these home prices will represent the "ceiling" of what you can expect to receive for your home... for one reason or another, the market has already looked at these homes and has decided they were not worth the respective asking prices.

Finally, we look at the homes that are currently on the market. The "competition". We identify key competitive advantages that your home has over those other homes. Sometimes there are distinguishing charateristics that make your home more valuable. Often times, it is a fact of price and the length of time you have to sell.

These three categories of homes will help you make a wise decision when setting the list price for your home.

Please use our Contact Request Form to:

• Request a free Analysis of your home's value.
  
  
• Discuss the best way to market your home.
  
  
• Arrange for a free in-home consultation to discuss the best way to stage your home for sale.

...and what other methods of home valuation are there? And why would you need them?

If you are interested in refinancing your home, the mortgage lender will order an independent appraisal to understand your "equity position" in the property. Simply put, this is how much they own, and how much you own. They want to make sure that there is enough value ("equity") in the property to cover their interest should you lose you ability to make mortgage payments in the future. While an independent appraiser will also use the comparative technique, they will also estimate how much it would cost to re-build the home from the ground up using current construction techniques and supplies, and adjust for wear and tear due to the age of your property.

One more!

One other reason to get an appraisal is to determine the value to be used for Cost Recovery on your income taxes. This is one of the key advantages of purchasing investment property and leasing it out. The government allows you to deduct "depreciation" of the property's value against some forms of income that you may have from the rental property and other sources. I would be happy to discuss this concept with you, but you need to contact your tax advisor to understand this could reduce your specific taxes. In other words, they can help you hold on to more of your money if you own rental property. Your tax advisor is qualifed to recommend the best method to get an appraisal of the property that will stand up to the government's requirements for this purpose.