Discover What Buyers Will Pay for Your Home In Today's Market

Where is the Easy Button for Finding Your Home’s Value?

Don’t you wish it was as easy as clicking a button to see what your home is actually worth?  In any market, but especially in a shifting market, determining the dollar amount to list your home is a little trickier than the click of a button.  That’s why you really should consult with an educated real estate professional prior to listing your home.  Fun fact, even Zillow recommends that you use a real estate agent for coming up with the actual market value of your home. WHAT?!  Seriously, y’all.  Even if you’re not looking to sell right now, as a homeowner, knowing the value of your asset or what we real estate nerds call your EQUITY truly is (not just what an algorithm spits out) can really help when and if the time does come to liquidate that asset through selling or refinancing.  

There's a weird dance that no one talks about when it comes to pricing your home.  I say, LET'S TALK.  Because if we get real, that's when you get the RESULTS you're looking for.  That weird dance is: price too high or price too low...omg, whatever shall we do?  Listen, I get it, if a home is priced too high it may sit on the market for a while.  People then subliminally think there's something wrong with a home that sits too long.  Usually, there's nothing wrong with it except for the seller was told what they WANTED to hear, not what they NEEDED to hear.  And, how about the opposite: if you price it too low, you may be losing out on some serious cash (goodness knows no one wants to do that!). So, how do we stop dancing around and start making POWER MOVES?  

By knowledge.  I promise that this knowledge I'm about to impart upon you after nearly 20 years in this business may be that "easy button" you've been looking for so that when the time comes for you to make a move the only dance you'll be doing is the HAPPY DANCE!  Did you know that there’s actually THREE types of Home Values?  Yes sir-appraised value, assessed value, and true market value.  Let’s talk about the differences and how they can help you when it comes to either using the equity in your home or selling your home for the highest and best offer. 

Here’s a not-so-secret SECRET: YOUR HOME IS WORTH WHAT BUYERS WILL PAY FOR IT, but because a large majority of buyers are depending on financing to actually buy your home, let’s start with what is in most sales the biggest kind of valuation - the valuation from an APPRAISAL. 

Appraised Value

A professional appraiser is in charge of determining the appraised value of a home. These appraisals are typically required by a lender when a buyer is financing the property. Many people (& yes, even some Realtor®s) don’t realize that even though the lender is requiring this appraisal, the appraiser does not work for the lender.¹ Federal regulations require that your appraiser should be an objective, licensed professional who doesn’t have allegiance to the buyer, seller, or lender—no matter who is paying their fee.  An appraiser is to be an un-biased third party.  This protects everyone in the transaction.  It didn’t used to be that way before the crash of 2008…so voila, crisis averted with that non-biased third-party opinion!

The number the appraiser comes up with (the appraised value) assures the lender that the buyer is not overpaying for the property...or, is not getting a loan for more than what they should. Here’s an example: let’s say a home is listed for $400,000, and after careful negotiation, Buyer and Seller reach an agreement to sell the home $375,000. However, during the appraisal period, that appraiser evaluates the property and determines that the appraised value is actually $325,000.  Well, then the lender will not lend for an amount higher than that appraised value of $325,000.² That doesn’t mean the deal is dead, but it does mean in terms of financing, that’s where the financing is capped.  Over the past year we saw tons of home buyers paying well over appraised value or even waiving the appraisal all-together; however, as of the time of this blog (November 2022), the market is starting to level out here in Florida so the days of buyers paying tens of thousands above list/appraised value isn’t happening the way that it was there for a while. 

Assessed Value

Well, how about value of a home that is shown on the county appraiser’s website?  Is that a good assessment of what price you should list your home or offer on a home?  Often times I have buyers tell me that they don't want to offer over X amount because of what the county appraiser site says. Well….here's my answer to them: that assessed value is the taxable value based on when the last time that particular property was last assessed.  It is NOT the fair market value.  Additionally, it may include exemptions that aren't readily available for us to know about without discussing with the seller and/or listng agent.  And, in my opinion, because the county property accessor doesn’t have full access to your home, their information is limited-they don’t know all the upgrades, improvements, or even the real condition of what that home has to offer as it is today.  The county property appraiser’s assessment is used to calculate property taxes to be paid on your home.  And, there are laws in place to protect homeownership in terms of how high taxes can be raised annually, so just because a property has a lower assessed value, doesn't mean that's anywhere near what it is worth.  The good news is, though, the lower your assessed value, the less property tax you’ll pay.³

Friend to friend, I’ve asked a handful of county property accessors through the years if there’s like a “set” valuation they go off of….and hand to God…not a single one of them would give me even a whisper of a hint of a "rule of thumb."  Their bosses would be proud! LOL.  There's too many variables.  I get it. If your assessed value isn’t as high as you envisioned, don’t sweat it. And, on the contrary, if you feel you’ve missed the boat on an exemption, feel free to reach out.  We are always happy to help our clients in any way we can.  If you live here in Central Florida, here’s the direct links to all the property exemption websites:

VOLUSIA https://vcpa.vcgov.org/exemption

LAKE https://www.lakecopropappr.com/exemptions.aspx

ORANGE https://exemption.ocpafl.org/

SEMINOLE https://scpafl.org/ExemptionsInformation

FLAGLER https://www.flaglertax.com/Content/Homestead

BREVARD https://www.bcpao.us/exemptions.aspx

POLK https://exemptions.polkpa.org/content/help/ExemptionsAvailable.html

MARION https://www.pa.marion.fl.us/HXeFile.aspx

OSCEOLA https://www.property-appraiser.org/all-exemptions/exemptions-homestead-exemption/

APPRAISED VALUE VS TRUE MARKET VALUE?

An appraiser figures out their valuation by comparing the property to similar homes in your neighborhood, and they’ll evaluate factors such as location, square footage, appliances, upgrades, improvements, and the interior and exterior of the home.  Prior to listing your home, a good Realtor® will do something similar, called a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA), and while most Realtor®s aren’t appraisers, they can utilize tools and training to provide a good range for your home’s valuation.  An educated Realtor® typically provides a home valuation right in line with what the appraiser’s valuation comes in at.  Do NOT list your home with an agent who does not provide you with a CMA.  That is a recipe for disaster and heartache.

True market value basically refers to the value that a buyer is willing to pay for the property and friends, a good Realtor® is an expert in determining true market value because we have hands-on experience buying and selling properties. Here within The Home Team Group, because we have also a mortgage and a title division, we actually see far more transactions than most lone agents and we pride ourselves on educating our team weekly on the market trends and scenarios that come up in the wild, wonderful world of real estate.  We literally EAT, BREATHE, & SLEEP this stuff!  And, when you hire one person from my team, you get the collective knowledge and experience of all of us.  Because we work with so many buyers, sellers, and other real estate professionals, we understand the mindsets of buyers in our market and know what they’ll pay for a desirable property.

As a seller, knowing your true market value is important because it helps you choose how much to list your property for, but it can also help us decide together as a team what, if anything, can or should be done to your home before putting it on the market make the biggest impact on your net proceeds. 

Alright, before I sign off on this blog, I do have to address the big FAT elephant in the room when it comes to market values….

WHY ONLINE CALCULATORS/ESTIMATES ARE A PAIN IN EVERYONE’S BUTT:

Ok, I’m biased, clearly, but just like Credit Karma is just a GUIDE for monitoring your credit, so are sites like….Zillow, Redfin, and Trulia should be...just guides.  And, if you want to know what I mean about Credit Karma, click here for a quick BUT VERY ACCURATE blurb I posted on TikTok, as understanding the difference in credit scores and how it impacts your ability to obtain a mortgage is a regular class I teach to my Realtor partners.  I digress.....

.....for the love of all that is holy, there’s no possible way that an online computer who has never been to your home or neighborhood could possibly be the end all be all of your home’s value!  It’s just an estimate. It’s not an actual appraisal or the “true market value.” And, if you read the fine print, these sites all have their own algorithms for coming up with their estimates. For example, Zillow comes up with their “Zestimates” by calculating “public and user-submitted data, taking into account special features, location, and market conditions.” ⁵

They even say on their site that the accuracy depends on location and availability of data in that area.  Y’all?!  You want accuracy, just text or #CallYourMama 855.4YO.MAMA.  Remember my FUN FACT from above: even Zillow recommends that you use a real estate agent for coming up with the actual market value of your home. WHAT?!  Seriously, y’all.  The site says that once you get your “Zestimate,” you should still get “a comparative market analysis from a real estate agent.” 

Which brings me to my final point: over the past 20 years in this amazing Real Estate business, it has been my true honor to be a go-to guru for my clients for #AllThingsRealEstate.  And, even though our team has expanded and yes, gotten bigger to provide even more care and service to many more families, just know that we pour our heart and soul into what we do and that’s why we are so grateful and proud to be YOUR Home Team.  We would LOVE to assist you with any and all of your real estate needs and are never too busy for your referrals or questions.   

Get a Complimentary Report With Your Home’s True Market Value

Curious about your home’s true market value? Simply text or #CallYourMama 855.4YO.MAMA to request a free, no-obligation Comparative Market Analysis to find out exactly how much your home is worth!

Much love, 

Amanda aka The Marketing Mama

Sources:

1. Chicago Tribune -

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/chi-ugc-article-what-is-the-difference-between-market-value-a-2013-09-30-story.html

2. SFGATE -

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/market-value-vs-appraised-value-1206.html

3. ValuePenguin -

https://www.valuepenguin.com/mortgages/what-is-the-assessed-value-of-a-house

4. Zillow -

https://www.zillow.com/how-much-is-my-home-worth/

5. Realtor.com -

https://www.realtor.com/advice/sell/assessed-value-vs-market-value-difference/