# How to find value of my house.



## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

We have 100% redone our house from the last time I posted. We have all new floors in. All walls are done and Modern colors. The children's bedrooms are wonder lively colors. I just have to paint and put up the finish trim. 
I think the price we figured to ask may be way too small. 
After all we have done and the many night I went without sleep to get this done I don't want to cheat us but I want a fast sale. 
Any help an advice is wanted
Thanks


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## Hoopjohn (Mar 8, 2013)

First, figure out what your lot/acreage is worth. Surely you must have some idea of what similar properties in your area actually sell for.

Then, figure the property improvements. A house of ____square feet adds ____ worth of value to the property. See what similarly priced homes of the same square footage have sold for in the area. A drilled well adds to the value of the property. A functioning septic system adds to the value of the property. A garage or outbuildings adds to the value of the property.

How new is the house? This can add or detract from the value of the house. 

What repairs to the house are needed? What extras does the house have? (central air, deluxe Jacuzzi, high end kitchen, etc)
Deduct according if things in your house are dated. 

Most importantly, when checking for comparables in your area, do your research and see what houses actually sold for. Just because something is for sale at $_______ doesn't mean the seller will ever move it. Viewing sold properties is more reflective of price reality. 

Personally, I don't think things like new paint & floor coverings add all that much value to a house. But, I do think it does make the house more appealing and makes for a quicker sale. 

Another way to determine fair market value is to look at your property tax bill. It will generally show the value for land and the value for improvements to the property. The bad thing is.....in some locations....they're spot on with values. Other times....they're ridiculous. The tax man generally errs on over valuing your property, not vice versa. 

I had a piece of property south of Crandon, WI on a small lake that the tax man assessed at $190K. It sold for $95K.....and I was happy to get that. 

Selling real estate at this time certainly is NOT a sellers market in most locations.


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## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

The problem we have is. No one is selling hobby farms near us. No one. We just did an appraisal to refi and they couldn't find comparable close to our house. People with what we have are holding on tight to what they have. Nothing needs repaired. We have done it all. Changed the floor plan. All new appliances in January. Deluxe 2 person jacuzzi tub. It's top notch. The frame of the house is older. But everything but most of the studs, is new. Even the well and septic. An all new heating system 4 years ago. 
I was told the land is going for 7,500 an acre by me. I'm organic. 
This is not going to be easy. Uggg. But what I have will be almost 40,000 over what we are asking.


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

Have you talked to several successful realtors? Or maybe get an independent appraisal? The quality of the house will ad some value, but you may be surprised at how much. 
The value added for money spent on remodeling tables you see include the price of labor, so if you did most of the updates yourself you may come out ahead. If you are looking at a large price spread I would get my own appraisal.


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## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

If we would have highered a contractor we would have spent 60,000- 87,000 ( their quote to us) but we did it our selves. Well except the floors. We highered that job out, to hard with 8 kids under foot. I have a couple realtors I can have come out both are good friends. The houses closest to me with out land are listing 169,000 thoses with land and out buildings are listing for 229,000 to 3.5k. I don't know what things have sold for by me. 
Only part of the frame and one area of the roof is original. Everything else including the foundation is new.
I think I'm going to call in the big guns.


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## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

The best way to know your house's value is to call in an appraiser. I would advise you to go back and repaint rooms. Most people want neutral colors, even in children's rooms. We were advised to repaint in a tan color throughout. I would also suggest that you keep most, if not all, of the house the same color. People don't want to buy a house that looks like a crayon box. You really limit buyers interested in a house when you use other than neutral colors. In a household full of boys, for example, people don't want pink and green rooms. Childless couples don't want children's bedrooms. Children like to pick out their own room colors.

Any buyer is only going to be able to get a mortgage for the appraised value. That does make it difficult for those who live in rural areas. 

Remodels don't usually make a person money. If done correctly, they help sell a house more quickly but they usually do not make you money. For example the return on investment for a kitchen remodel is about 66%; ROI for a bathroom remodel is about 62%.

http://money.usnews.com/money/perso...ions-that-yield-the-best-return-on-investment


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## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

Zillow.com is a place to start.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

If comps were an issue on a refi, it will most likely be an issue if you decide to sell using a residential loan program.

Underwriters will use norm for the area, but you have to have comps.

It might be wise to look for an agent familiar with farm loans.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

Get an appraisal. And make sure the comps they use are not distressed/foreclosures/short sales. If the appraiser can document that your house is worth thousands more than you thought, it will be money well spent. If their findings are that your house is worth less than you thought, you will still save yourself months of aggravation if you list it too high and it won't sell. Money well spent either way, IMHO.


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## wharton (Oct 9, 2011)

shanzone2001 said:


> Zillow.com is a place to start.


 If you want a computer generated figure that may be dead on, or so far off it would give a realtor a case of the giggles. I just looked my place up. It is under contract roughly $100K below replacement value at $167K. Zillow gives it a value of $137.7K , or 30% lower than a current appraisal.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

> All walls are done and Modern colors. The children's bedrooms are wonder lively colors.


Oh dear. If you're painting to sell, neutral colors usually are best.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

willow_girl said:


> Oh dear. If you're painting to sell, neutral colors usually are best.


Yeppers, any color choices a person makes are not going to suit the prospective buyers anyway. They are going to repaint as soon as they can. Neutrals provide a clean slate. As to determining property values....

You can always find comps, even in remote rural areas. Some will require more adjustments but comps are indeed out there. The best appraisal as far as accuracy goes is an auction. This gets you a quick sale, and the price will always be what the top bidder is willing to pay on that day, for that property. It may or may not reflect what you want, but its all the property is worth that day. Appraisals are interesting at best. They are one fellers opinion of what a property might be worth. I have had properties appraised by several different appraisers, and got numbers back that were wildly different. One property I remember was appraised by three different appraisers, one put it at 500 per acre, another at 1000 per acre, and the third at 1750 per acre. On sale day it proved out to be worth a bit over 2000 per acre.


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## SteveD(TX) (May 14, 2002)

MO_cows said:


> Get an appraisal. And make sure the comps they use are not distressed/foreclosures/short sales. If the appraiser can document that your house is worth thousands more than you thought, it will be money well spent. If their findings are that your house is worth less than you thought, you will still save yourself months of aggravation if you list it too high and it won't sell. Money well spent either way, IMHO.


"make sure the comps they use are not distressed/foreclosures/short sales"???

The borrower does not determine the appropriate comps to use. The appraiser does. And if you try to influence the outcome of an appraisal by "making sure" that they do it the way YOU want it, you might just end up being a party to fraud.

BAD advice, and illegal.


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## Dutchie (Mar 14, 2003)

You have received some good advise in this thread and some really bad.

If you live in a cookie cutter in a subdivision, you MAY be able to see what your house may be worth. With a small acreage you are going to need an appraiser. It may cost you a few hundred dollars but it may save you thousands.


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## Dutchie (Mar 14, 2003)

MO_cows said:


> Get an appraisal. And make sure the comps they use are not distressed/foreclosures/short sales. If the appraiser can document that your house is worth thousands more than you thought, it will be money well spent. If their findings are that your house is worth less than you thought, you will still save yourself months of aggravation if you list it too high and it won't sell. Money well spent either way, IMHO.


Except that is the majority of the sales in your area are distress sales, THAT is your market.


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## Dutchie (Mar 14, 2003)

shanzone2001 said:


> Zillow.com is a place to start.


Zillow is a terrible place to start. It is pretty useless in urban and suburban areas and completely useless in rural areas.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

myheaven said:


> ...All walls are done and Modern colors. The children's bedrooms are wonder lively colors...


That may explain the odd color schemes I've seen in foreclosures lately. Wondered if the people were mad at losing their houses and painted them accordingly before they were kicked out. Interesting.

Mon


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## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

Well according to my agent, I should start 40,000 more then I thought. Thank Goodness I called her in before I sold on my own! 
The colors of the season an in most demand are neutral. I have warm Carmel, creamed coffee, natural cotton, and pebble grey. 
But I don't need to convince anyone here that my modern choice of color are correct. And my floors made a huge difference in my home and was very much needed.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Zillow is horribly inaccurate. I wouldn't depend on that website alone for comparisons. It also will not tell you when the house has been sold, etc.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

SteveD(TX) said:


> "make sure the comps they use are not distressed/foreclosures/short sales"???
> 
> The borrower does not determine the appropriate comps to use. The appraiser does. And if you try to influence the outcome of an appraisal by "making sure" that they do it the way YOU want it, you might just end up being a party to fraud.
> 
> BAD advice, and illegal.


I think you misunderstood. Who said anything about the borrower?? I suggested the SELLER get an appraisal to determine the fair market value of their property to help them set their asking price.

I don't believe an appraiser should use foreclosures/short sales as "comps" for determining fair market value. Because those distressed properties don't ever sell for fair market value, they sell for much less. If I am paying the appraiser hundreds of dollars, I want them to find "comps" that are truly comparable and not any old distressed properties that happened to sell in the area.


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## SteveD(TX) (May 14, 2002)

MO_cows said:


> I think you misunderstood. Who said anything about the borrower?? I suggested the SELLER get an appraisal to determine the fair market value of their property to help them set their asking price.
> 
> I don't believe an appraiser should use foreclosures/short sales as "comps" for determining fair market value. Because those distressed properties don't ever sell for fair market value, they sell for much less. If I am paying the appraiser hundreds of dollars, I want them to find "comps" that are truly comparable and not any old distressed properties that happened to sell in the area.


Neither the seller or borrower determine what sales to use. If distressed sales are having an impact on the market, the appraiser may determine those are the best comps. If an adjustment is necessary to the price for it being a "distressed sale", then the appraiser will do so. Telling the appraiser he/she cannot use certain sales is a violation of appraiser independence regulations. And yes this is LAW and you could be found to be a party to fraud. Doesn't matter if it is a seller, borrower, lender, or anyone else who hires the appraiser. Any appraiser who lets a seller or borrower or anyone else dictate which comps they can or cannot use is at risk of losing his/her license, fines, or worse.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

SteveD(TX) said:


> Neither the seller or borrower determine what sales to use. If distressed sales are having an impact on the market, the appraiser may determine those are the best comps. If an adjustment is necessary to the price for it being a "distressed sale", then the appraiser will do so. Telling the appraiser he/she cannot use certain sales is a violation of appraiser independence regulations. And yes this is LAW and you could be found to be a party to fraud. Doesn't matter if it is a seller, borrower, lender, or anyone else who hires the appraiser. Any appraiser who lets a seller or borrower or anyone else dictate which comps they can or cannot use is at risk of losing his/her license, fines, or worse.


I would never want to do anything illegal in a real estate transaction. However, when you pay someone several hundred dollars for their service, they darn sure better be delivering the full service. There have been soooooo many foreclosure sales that when they hit the computer looking for comps they will likely see more foreclosure sales than "normal" sales. I don't want them to get lazy and take the first ones they find, I want them to do their due diligence and look for the *most comparable* "comps".


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## SteveD(TX) (May 14, 2002)

MO_cows said:


> I would never want to do anything illegal in a real estate transaction. However, when you pay someone several hundred dollars for their service, they darn sure better be delivering the full service. There have been soooooo many foreclosure sales that when they hit the computer looking for comps they will likely see more foreclosure sales than "normal" sales. I don't want them to get lazy and take the first ones they find, I want them to do their due diligence and look for the *most comparable* "comps".


Finding the "most comparable" sales is what appraisers do. To be a certified appraiser it typically takes a college degree and hundreds of hours of experience and appraisal courses. Analysis and scrutiny of each sale is key to the entire process. But again if foreclosures are impacting sales prices of other properties, they MUST be considered as that is also a part of their due diligence.


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## NorthCountryWd (Oct 17, 2008)

MO_cows said:


> I think you misunderstood. Who said anything about the borrower?? I suggested the SELLER get an appraisal to determine the fair market value of their property to help them set their asking price.
> 
> I don't believe an appraiser should use foreclosures/short sales as "comps" for determining fair market value. Because those distressed properties don't ever sell for fair market value, they sell for much less. If I am paying the appraiser hundreds of dollars, I want them to find "comps" that are truly comparable and not any old distressed properties that happened to sell in the area.


Once the comparable sales are _*properly*_ adjusted, it doesn't really matter if they are distressed sales or not. Once a discount factor is extracted from the market (difference between fair market and distressed sales) a positive adjustment would be made to the comparable sale, if necessary.

The problem is, in some market it's not always necessary.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

SteveD(TX) said:


> Finding the "most comparable" sales is what appraisers do. To be a certified appraiser it typically takes a college degree and hundreds of hours of experience and appraisal courses. Analysis and scrutiny of each sale is key to the entire process. But again if foreclosures are impacting sales prices of other properties, they MUST be considered as that is also a part of their due diligence.


Appraisers are just like any other group of human beings. You got the good, the bad and the ugly. Crooked ones, incompetent ones, slackers as well as the hard working and well qualified. You seem to hold the position that they are ALL superior and achieving excellence in their field every single time; sorry but I don't see it that way. Have a nice day.


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## SteveD(TX) (May 14, 2002)

MO_cows said:


> Appraisers are just like any other group of human beings. You got the good, the bad and the ugly. Crooked ones, incompetent ones, slackers as well as the hard working and well qualified. You seem to hold the position that they are ALL superior and achieving excellence in their field every single time; sorry but I don't see it that way. Have a nice day.


Not at all. I've seen plenty of bad ones. But you seem to hold the position that they are all idiots and you know more about how to appraise a house than they do. Sorry, but I don't see it THAT way. And I surely would never go around advocating that people commit fraud or try to influence an appraiser so that he could lose his license.


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