A simple place to start determining the market value of a house is at your computer. There are any number of free online tools which will provide an estimate of your home’s current value using a comprehensive database of recent comparable home sales in your area. Note that the assessment is based on available data with no guarantee of accuracy and often using an algorithm that simply averages comparable sales in the geographic area. These are quick and easy, but do not answer questions regarding factors like location and current local trends. Be aware that in practice, the prices arrived at might be highly inaccurate and should be treated as a ballpark estimate at best.
PROFESSIONAL APPRAISAL
Nothing determines the sale price of a piece of real estate but the price at which it sells. Houses are not same-price identical tins of tuna on the grocery store shelf, nor shares of stock valued and traded every day on the stock exchange. Real estate appraisal (aka “property valuation”) is the process of developing an opinion of value for real property. This is the “market value,” i.e., what a willing and reasonable buyer would pay to purchase the property from a willing and reasonable seller. Real estate transactions almost always require appraisals because they occur infrequently on a given property and every property is in some way unique in its features and characteristics. An appraisal helps with various decision-points. The seller can use the appraisal as a basis for pricing; the buyer can use it on which to base an offer. Lenders use appraisals to know how much money to credit to their borrowers.
The principal factors in a house appraisal are:
• dwelling type (e.g., one-story, two-story, split-level,
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