What is my Home worth?

03/27/2019Melissa

Putting a price tag on a home you're trying to sell is a tricky thing. For one, it's your home full of memories and dreams. Pricing it too high and your home could languish on the market for months and maybe not sell at all. Pricing it too low and you could bilk yourself out of a whole lot of dough.

How much is your house worth? What you paid doesn't matter

You may have a dollar figure in mind—perhaps based on what you paid originally, plus some extra if you have done some upgrades. While a hefty increase in value is nice in theory, ultimately, it's up to the market.

No matter what you paid for your home, market values fluctuate—both up and down. This can work for you or against you. But all that matters on the open market is what buyers are willing to pay now.

The best way to get a handle on your home's sales price is to have your Real Estate agent to visit your home, so he or she can factor in your home's unique strengths and weaknesses. Your agent can also find the prices of similarly sized homes in your neighborhood. For example, if a house near yours with the same square footage and numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms, and in similar condition, sold for $475,,000 within the past three months, you can bet your own price will be in that ballpark.

Surveys by the National Association of Realtors® show that your return on investment for home improvements depends on what kind of renovation you've pulled off—and how much prospective buyers want it in your area. Refinishing hardwood floors, for instance, will reap a 100% return, paying for itself. Convert a basement to a living area, and you'll recoup only 69% of those costs. The harsh truth: Not everyone is going to fall head over heels with your five-seat built-in hot tub. So do your research and find out what those upgrades will really get you.

Once you find yourself a price you're happy with, it's time to fine-tune it. Keep shoppers' online search parameters firmly in mind—small differences in your price can spell a big difference in your exposure.

Home buyers typically fill out a Web forms that have a minimum price and maximum price on it. For instances, if you price your home at $400,000, you could miss out on a whole lot of people who are searching in the $350,000–$399,000 price range.

While choosing a price can be scary, consider this one small loophole: Some brokerages offer a “soft" rollout plan in which they highlight the house as “coming soon" online, without officially listing the house in a multiple listing service. That buys you time to test the market, see if people will click at that price—then adjust accordingly without having to officially lower or raise your price on the record.

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