Tips to discover how much your house is worth

Determining how much a house is worth is no easy task. Basic home value information is always available, but who are the people to trust when it comes to assessing home value? appraisers? real estate agent? Zillow?

There are many free online tools that can estimate a home’s value, and each site uses different information to determine your best estimate. Why do we trust computers for information like this? Because it is fast and convenient. However, does convenience always lead to accuracy?

Home value estimation websites cannot evaluate – they can simply provide an estimate based on what you tell them. Can a mechanic accurately identify a problem with your car if he doesn’t tell you everything that’s wrong? I do not think so. Home value reductions, like a cracked foundation, can only be assessed with an online calculator if he tells the calculator it exists. Even then, he doesn’t know how bad crack is. Try telling an online tool that your foundation simply has a crack and that the entire foundation is not in bad shape. Computers generally work with yes/no answers, and home value calculators are no different.

As if that wasn’t enough, website estimators usually don’t provide definitive numbers. Instead, they provide a price range. If you can’t get a definitive and immediate answer to your home value question, why order an online calculator?

To determine how much value you have in your home, a real estate agent is the best option. They have local knowledge of your real estate market and can provide quick and reliable answers based on recent sales. On top of that, they can judge the subjective conditions of the home, such as a small crack in a foundation versus a damaged foundation that needs repair.

Would you trust anyone who uses the Internet to manage an Internet marketing campaign? No. Working with a local real estate agent to find out how much your home is worth is essential to getting an accurate estimate.