How to Value Your Home
Getting a fair and accurate evaluation of your home
So, you’ve decided to sell your home — one of the first things you may want to do is get a valuation. A reliable home valuation will help you decide how much to sell for, as well as how much you can afford to pay for your next home. Where do you start? How do you value your home?
Real estate agent valuations
Real estate agents often value your home for free or for a nominal charge. They evaluate your home by looking around your property, pulling comparisons and giving ranges based on properties of similar sizes in your area.
Shop around for the best estate agent — it’s good practice to get recommendations or see which agents are selling similar homes. Agents set their own criteria, rating your home on factors like curb appeal, state of repair, size, architectural style, layout etc. as well as using Competitive Market Analysis (CMA).
Always get more than one real estate agent valuation and take an average. Though agents use CMA to value your property, there can be a large variation between agents. Taking an average of three valuations will give a better indication of how much your home is worth.
Do your own research
Use agents’ valuations in conjunction with your own research.
You set the asking price when selling your home, so it is always worthwhile looking at other houses in the neighborhood to see how much they sell for. Refer to asking prices on current listings, as well as recently sold prices.
Use online estimate tools
Bank-ordered valuations often under-value your home, sometimes by as much as 10%!
Here at iLENDi, we have a tool which gives an estimate of your home value, based on location, check it out:
Easy ways to increase the value of your home
Sometimes you have to invest a small amount in your home to boost the valuation.
You can:
- Hire a professional cleaning service
- Put your items in storage
- Carry out repairs or home improvements
- Redecorate
- Enlist a professional home stager
We cover these steps in more detail in our ‘How Much Does It Cost to Sell A House?’ blog, but here are a few FREE ideas to set the ball rolling.
De-clutter
Cluttered homes don’t sell well. As gorgeous as you think your kids/pets/collection of D&D figurines are, chances are prospective buyers won’t feel the same! They want to imagine themselves living in your home — so help them visualise it! Get rid of things you don’t want or need in your new home by sorting your items into trash/donate/sell/ keep boxes.
Clean!
The vacuum is your friend! Give each room a thorough top-to-bottom clean.
Tidy your garden
Don’t neglect your outdoor space! Mow the lawn, pull up the weeds, clean your trash cans.
Stage your home
Change the bedclothes, make the beds, put out freshly-laundered towels, open your windows.
Key takeaways
- Combine methods to value your home.
- Do your own research, as well as using real estate agent valuations.
- Utilise iLENDi’s online valuation tool.
- Remember: the more information you get, the more accurate your valuation will be.
- Invest a bit of time and money in preparing your home for sale.
Join the iLENDi community for more advice on selling your home. Visit: https://ilendi.com/