When you begin to consider placing your home for sale, there are going to many things that you must consider with honesty and clarity. One of the most important things for most people will be what price they are going to list their home for sale at. Determining the value of your home is not quite the same thing as determining the true value of your home, however. Because our homes are so very personal to us and we work so hard to make them pleasant and comfortable for ourselves and our families, we place that work and love into the value that we perceive. When a potential buyer comes in, though, none of that matters in the least to him or her. What will matter is the true value of the home and that is where your pricing must be in order to get a sale.
To determine the true value of your home, you are going to need to have a comparable market analysis done, either by a real estate agent or you may be able to do one yourself. Most real estate agents will do this as a complementary service, especially if you are going to be using his or her services to assist you in selling your home. Even if you are going to attempt to sell your home unrepresented, you may be able to get a real estate agent to assist you for a small fee or with the agreement that if you do not sell within a certain amount of time, you will allow him or her to help you at that point.
A comparable market analysis, also referred to as a CMA, is typically performed using the multiple listing service for your area. This is a website that real estate agents have access to. In most areas, this is not a site that can be accessed by the average person. When a CMA is going to be performed on your home, the agent will come in and assess your home and your neighborhood. They will likely do things such as measure room dimensions, take notes on the features of your home as well as the general condition that it’s in, look over the yard, and may even offer you some helpful suggestions on ways that you can bring up your value to the eye of potential buyers.
The real estate agent will then go back to the office and pull up the multiple listing service, entering your home’s basic information to find comparable homes. They will type in a time frame, typically between the last six months to a year. They will pull up homes that have sold, are listed, and have been listed, but have not sold. This will give an idea of what is selling and at what prices in your neighborhood. They will also be able to see how long the home was on the market before a sale was made. Taking this information, they will be able to ascertain a fairly good idea about what the true value of your home is. If your home has certain amenities, such as a fireplace or a hot tub, that distinguishes it from the other homes that come up in the multiple listing service, the professional and experienced real estate agent will be knowledgable in how to adjust pricing accordingly.
Determining the true value of your own home is exceedingly difficult for most homeowners. It isn’t that you’re trying to be unreasonable or that you just want to be greedy. The problem is that what you are seeing with a heart full of memories and life, the potential buyer is only seeing as four walls and a roof. This is where having the comparable market analysis is very important for you to gain an understanding of what the market is dictating as your home’s true value.