Almost every day, someone asks me how the real estate market is doing and it is not an easy question to answer since it is constantly changing in every price range. It really is a moving target and with respect to a specific home, the best way that a home owner can find out what their home is worth is through a Market Analysis or CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).
This is a snapshot of your home as compared to homes that are currently for sale AND homes that have sold within a given period of time, let’s say during the past 6 months or past year. Realtors provide this service, it is usually free and it usually does not take a lot of time. In fact, some of our clients call us just to get an updated value on their home even if they aren’t thinking of selling. That way, they know if their home is appreciating and how the market is affecting the value on their home.
For instance, if you have a home in a neighborhood where there are no for sale signs and you decide that you are going to sell, you will probably get more than if every other home is for sale on the block. Or if your home is priced at $150,000 and there are not a lot of homes for sale in that price range on the market, your value would go up as well.
But remember that this can change overnight and it usually does change as spring and summer approach because that is the time that normally everyone wants to sell their home.
My advice to you would be to get a CMA on your home sometime within the next year just to see where you stand. It certainly can’t hurt and you could even update it periodically just so you can protect one of your most valuable assets!