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How can I find out how much is my home worth?

There are many ways to find out what your home is worth. I know many of you are reading here because you are hoping for an "answer", but you may have slightly different questions. Let's look at some of the reasons that someone may be asking themselves this question.

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• Reason One: I would like to know the approximate value of my home for town tax purposes.
• Reason Two: I would like to know the approximate value of my home because I am curious about how much it has appreciated or depreciated.
• Reason Three: I am contemplating a sale of my home, and I am trying to run some preliminary numbers
• Reason Four: I am going to sell my home and want numbers that are as accurate as possible.

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Real Estate Taxes: Can I change my assessed value? Should I change my assessed value?

Reason One

Let's start with this one. Everyone should read my town assessments versus valuation prices article, but here I'll just restate that they can be very, very different. In 2013, it was very common in Metrowest for some houses to be selling 75-100K higher than the assessed value. The main reason that is the case is the LAG time between the towns data set and the real market. Most people don't think much about how the town assesses their house, but it is a number that they should look at more often, and they should validate it from time to time. It's important to remember that towns use a very small number of facts to calculate an "approximate" valuation, RELATIVE to other houses in town. They are NOT INTERESTED in market

value - in fact, they often aim low, to avoid people coming to the town hall and asking for tax abatements. Most towns in this area send tax bills to your house quarterly. Right on that bill, most towns will put not just what you owe in taxes but also at what valuation the town is currently assessing your house. You can also call the town hall, ask for the assessors, and ask them. These valuations are public record - so you can call and ask about any house in town. It's not a secret. Zillow.com also pulls the public records and each home has a section called "Tax History" where you will see the historical valuations. If you think it's too high, you should call a real estate agent and see if they can help you establish a lower valuation. Be careful though, since this information is public, when you go to sell your house some buyers may be wary of paying too much (whatever that is) over the assessed value - so you could hurt your marketability. While this isn't a huge issue, I generally recommend that people make sure their house is assessed FAIRLY, in order to not pay too much taxes, but not hurt the sale of their house either.

How much has my house appreciated (gone up in value) or depreciated (gone down in value)?

Reason Two

Let's say you bought a house 2 years ago. You feel like you have a pretty good idea of what it was worth then, but how about now? Well, if you're in the area covered by this blog, you are in luck. My regular postings will help you figure out how much a town has gone up or gone down since you've owned your home. (If you need help with this, just ask). Please remember, this isn't an exact science, as certain houses move up faster than others, only to then move slower than others later on. Over time, it all comes out in the wash, but be aware that this method will get you very close, but can't account for improvements you have made, local variations in pricing, or items that have worn out and need to be fixed. And remember also that even my data is old - 3-6 months old - and although reliable isn't up to the minute. Also, this assumes that you paid the right value when you bought (a big assumption).

Now, if you are reading this and you don't live in a town I track for the blog, you can still get pretty close by looking at Zillow's price tracker tool. I don't mean the 'z-estimate', but actually looking at the change in direction (on a percentage basis) since you purchased, and then adding that change to whatever you paid. Here comes the big question, "Why can't I just use the 'Z-estimate'? Well, because it's wrong - a lot - and fundamentally is only a little different from the town's assessor program. Zillow can be fairly accurate in large (100+ house) subdivisions where the houses are fairly young, the same style and roughly the same size. So, in Massachusetts, it's not so good, as we really don't have that. I did a preliminary estimate of Zillow some years ago and found that it made an AVERAGE error of 14% - in either direction - which is really not good enough for reasons 2, 3, and 4. That's just not close enough. Why is Zillow not so accurate? Well, among other reasons, Zillow doesn't know anything about lots, other than size, so a big lot that is totally useless counts for a lot, when it shouldn't. Houses with steep driveways and no backyards often sell at lower prices, but Zillow can't see that either. Nor does it see highways, train tracks, or neighborhoods. Zillow also can't "see" floorplans, which make a big difference to buyers. And Zillow doesn't have any taste - styling that is unpopular and styling that is popular don't get counted in Zillow, there's no adjustment for that.  Location, Lots, floor plan, and styling can make up 15-30% of a houses value, so there you go. Don't use the z-estimate, or at least be very careful with it.

Thinking about selling or definitely selling my house

Reason Three and Four

To get the most accurate numbers, and discuss how they can be changed, you should probably call in a real estate agent (or three). An experienced agents valuation is the only way you will make sure that you can discuss not only the house, but the current market. Are prices rising for your type of home? Is your section of the market crowded? Are they selling fast or slow? Are there things that you could maximize that you are not maximizing? A good conversation about the value of your house is not a number, but a number in the context of the overall market and most of the time is more accurately expressed as a range. Hopefully a tight range, but a range nonetheless. This will get you the most accurate answer, and at this stage, accuracy is important!

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