How Much is My Home Worth? 4 Ways to Estimate Your Home’s Value

There are many reasons you may want to know the value of your home before hiring a realtor or taking the next step to list your home for sale. You may just be curious. Or, perhaps you simply want to educate yourself before making a decision. Whatever the reason, speaking with a licensed and experienced realtor is always going to be your best bet. But, if you’re looking to get a rough estimate of your home’s value before taking the next step, here are four ways you can estimate your home’s value.

Find the Comparables

One of the easiest ways to determine what your home may be worth prior to speaking with a licensed Kansas City realtor is to check the comparables, or comps, in your area. You can use the Zillow mobile app or website to search sold homes using their interactive map or Location Radius search features. Once you’ve found homes in your area that have sold recently, you can shorten the list further by using the app’s filters and set the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, total square footage, lot size, and other settings. To estimate your home’s value using this method, you’ll want to calculate the average price per square foot of the top two or three comps. For instance, if the first comp closed at $201 per square foot, and the second comps sold for $215 per square foot, the average price per square foot is $208. This would be a decent estimate of what you can expect to get from selling your house.

Location, Location, Location

While comps are the best way to estimate your home’s value, sometimes it can be difficult to find comps in your area, especially if inventory is low or your home is located in a high-demand location. In this case, you can get a rough estimate of what your home may be worth by estimating demand. For instance, if you live in the heart of Downtown Kansas City’s coveted W Lofts, you can expect that your estimated home’s value would be on the higher end of other comps a few blocks in any direction. The greater the demand for your home, and the less inventory available around it, means you can likely set your own price. Of course, the only way to truly know your home’s value is to hire a licensed realtor in Kansas City.

Does Your Home Need Renovations?

At the beginning of this article, you learned that one of the best ways to determine what your home may be worth is to compare recently sold homes in your area. However, it’s not always so cut and dry. If your home needs substantial renovations — which usually includes updates that aren’t purely cosmetic such as fixing electrical or plumbing issues — you may need to price your home at less than market value. Simple cosmetic updates such as painting or swapping out fixtures may add appeal to your home for potential buyers, but it’s likely not going to negatively affect your home’s value by a ridiculous amount. However, if your home has foundation issues, roofing issues, or the HVAC system needs to be replaced, these things can definitely bring your home’s resell value below the market average. To avoid unpleasant surprises, make sure you realistically consider the condition of your home and whether the updates your home needs are cosmetic or perhaps more substantial.

Hire an Upsell Realtor

The only way to really know what your home is worth is to speak with a licensed realtor. Our team at Upsell will tell you exactly what your home is worth based on market averages, comps, trends, and its overall condition. We have the tools, knowledge, and expertise to accurately provide you with a home value estimate before you list your home for sale. While market volatility is not something we can predict, this estimate will give you the confidence you need to list your home for sale for the right price! Plus, if certain factors are affecting your home’s value we’ll tell you exactly what you can expect and how to increase your home’s value by selling with Upsell.