How to Find the Value of a Home: 5 Tips for Finding Home Value

Home value is the estimated or precise price stating what a home is worth. Determining a home’s value is essential to home sales and purchases. Several factors go into determining an estimate of your home value, including the number of bedrooms, current interest rates, renovations, upgrades, square footage, and plenty of other elements, too. Different people might use different combinations of home value metrics before a final transaction, but the fair market value is ultimately whatever the seller and buyer agree to at the end of a home-buying process.

Whether you’re a buyer or seller or simply want to know the current value of your home, you only stand to gain by determining a home’s value. As a home buyer, you’ll have a better understanding of how the housing market works; you can negotiate from a position of strength if you know a potential home’s estimated or precise value. As a seller, you’ll have a concrete starting point when it comes time to list your house with the help of a real estate professional. As a current homeowner, you’ll have a better idea of opportunities to refinance or cash out on a home equity loan.

There are multiple ways to find the value of a home. Here are five methods to procuring a reliable home value estimate:

1. 1. Consult a government agency. Local tax assessors and federal regulators can help you determine the assessed value of both old and new homes. These government officials have access to an array of public records that can help ascertain the likely price of a home. They use these records for property tax assessments and other public business.
2. 2. Hire a professional appraiser. Work with a professional who devotes their career specifically to home appraisal; they can help you determine a reliable estimated property value. These appraised values are so dependable mortgage lenders often use them to prepare loans for underwriting.
3. 3. Look at comparable properties. Survey local market conditions for homes similar to the one in which you’re interested. Recent sales prices will give you a ballpark idea of how much a house with the same square footage, home improvements, and so on would sell for given similar conditions. However, keep in mind that other methods will likely be more precise.
4. 4. Talk to a realtor. To get a reliable estimated value for a home, talk to a real estate agent. Their entire career focuses on keeping track of housing market trends so they can help people sell their homes at the highest possible listing price to earn a commission of their own. They use comparative market analysis (CMA) or comps to determine current market value.
5. 5. Try an online home value estimator. Now more than ever, there are seemingly limitless online tools to determine home worth or value. These home valuation tools—also known as automated valuation models (AVMs)—use algorithms to comb through property tax assessments, local market trends, and other similar data to give you a look into a home’s value. Enter an address and any other data you might have and receive the results with the click of a button.

All investments, including real estate investments, come with inherent risks which may involve the depreciation of assets, financial losses, or legal ramifications. The information presented in this article is for educational, informational, and referential purposes only. Consult a licensed real estate or financial professional before making any legal or financial commitments.

All you need is a MasterClass Annual Membership and our exclusive video lessons from prolific entrepreneur Robert Reffkin, the founder and CEO of the real estate technology company Compass. With Robert’s help, you’ll learn all about the intricacies of buying a home, from securing a mortgage to hiring an agent to tips for putting your own place on the market.