such as a vacation home or investment properties, those will also have to be assessed and assigned a monetary value. In order to divide equitably, or equally, as the case may be, you will need to know the precise value of your property. When it comes to the marital home, there are several common valuation methods available to determine the value. These are used in property settlements and may differ from what you perceive as your home’s worth. There is always an emotional element to a homeowner's feelings about their home's worth. After all, they have been the ones building sweat equity and have helped shape the property into what it is today. Unfortunately, the market isn't interested in feelings, rather, it is interested in objective facts supported by data, and for this reason the following methods of price evaluation have been developed:
COMPARATIVE MARKE TIVE MARKET ANALYSIS
Your real estate agent will provide you with a comparative market analysis, or CMA. This is an in-depth review of your home’s worth in the current market, based on the recent sale prices of comparable homes. Any differences, such as the size of the lot or value-added items like a swimming pool, are taken into consideration and the value adjusted accordingly.
BROKER PRICE OPINION
The broker price opinion (BPO) is another type of estimate, produced by a real estate agent in response to a request from a mortgage lender. A few years ago, when real estate sales around the country were at their peak, lenders found it difficult to handle the staggering number of transactions. The BPO concept was born. It is less elaborate, and thus less costly, than an appraisal, but more involved than a CMA. There are two kinds of BPOs: drive-by and
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