Do your own homework: There is a free way of getting a decent valuation of your home, but it is risky and time-consuming. You can use the internet to scout other homes for sale in your area, and narrow them down to those that are similar to yours. The prices on these homes can give you a good benchmark for setting your own price.
FINDING COMPARABLES
How do you find accurate, comparable sales and use them to determine your home’s exact value? Search internet sites such as Zillow or Realtor.com. To search for homes like yours, enter criteria such as square footage or number of bedrooms. The key to finding accurate comparable sales is to find the properties that are closest in location, condition, square footage, features, etc. How do you determine which comparable sales you should use and which to ignore? The following comparable sales should not be used. Very few of these properties sell for a fair value. Bank Owned/REO Properties: Banks always sell their homes for less than they are worth. The average bank owned home in today’s market is selling for 5% to 10% less than its fair value. This is true even for homes that are in good shape. Short Sales: Buyers and their agents hate short sales because they are tricky and unreliable. A buyer will often fall in love with a short-sale home, only to find out the banks won’t approve the short sale.
Agents do not like to show them for the same reasons. As a result,
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