Home Valuation Services
In theory, a home’s market value is the amount a buyer is willing to pay for it and that a seller is willing to accept for it. While that should be obvious, the question most people have is: how is a home’s value determined when there isn’t an accepted contract between a buyer and seller yet?
Many people use automated valuation models from free websites to determine the value of their homes. We believe an agent’s objective analysis delivers a more reliable fair market value. The algorithms within the automated valuation models do not reconcile the differences between one home vs another home. For instance, an algorithm does not know if a home was recently remodeled with the finest materials that no other home has. This can lead to the algorithm producing a much lower value than expected. Likewise, an algorithm does not know if a home has foundation issues or is in desperate need of repair when every other home on the block is just fine. This can lead to the algorithm producing a much higher value than expected.
In many cases, a home’s value is determined by a licensed appraiser. An appraiser will physically inspect the property and use one of three accepted methods to determine its value. Oftentimes, an appraisal is the best indicator of value since many lenders rely on appraisal reports. A typical appraisal will cost anywhere between $400 and $650; and can even exceed $1,000 depending upon the property being appraised. That can be pretty steep just to know what the market value of a home is.
If a full appraisal is not necessary, we offer Broker Price Opinion (BPO) services which employ methods used by licensed appraisers at nearly half the cost. And if you decide to list your home with us, we’ll waive it. The process begins with becoming familiar with your home. From there, we perform hours of research to determine the appropriate comparables that will be used to estimate the market value of your home. Because we use similar methods used by licensed appraisers, our BPOs are consistently within a 3% tolerance of an appraisal performed by a licensed appraiser.
