What Is My Home Worth? A Guide to Finding the Value of Your House

2. How does HomeLight’s online home value estimator work?

Online calculation tools use information you provide about your home, along with information collected from public records, to calculate an estimated value of the property. Pretty much all online valuation tools have limitations. Although they rely on hard data, they rarely factor in your home’s conditions, upgrades, or additions.

While it’s not an appraisal, HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator has some unique strengths that make it stand out from other online valuation tools. For example, in addition to using information from multiple sources to create a real-time home value estimate based on current market trends, HomeLight’s HVE includes a short questionnaire to gather specific information about your home’s property type and condition to give a more personalized valuation.

We also include a list of top local agents who have a verifiable track record of selling homes for the most amount of money. These agents are knowledgeable in home pricing.

Our valuation also includes the Simple Sale price. With Simple Sale, you can request an all-cash offer to buy your home that, if you accept, lets you pick the move date and get your home sold fast without the hassle of making repairs and buyers coming into your home. We estimate a home’s Simple Sale offer price to be around 90% of market value.

Find out what your home might be worth in two minutes and connect with a top agent with HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator. Whether your journey ends with learning your home’s ballpark value or this information is merely the first step on a path toward refinancing or selling your home, this is a great starting point.

3. Should I pay for a professional appraisal?

“An appraisal provides the most accurate valuation,” Carroll says. The caveat is that it is one person’s opinion at one moment in time. The appraised value can be very different three to six months later since an appraisal is largely based on what has recently sold in the area.

If you’re considering refinancing your home, or are interested in a home equity line of credit (HELOC), your lender will typically require an appraisal performed by an independent third party. Prices for a professional appraisal vary by region, with appraisals in the Pacific Northwest usually commanding higher prices than in the South. Thankfully, however, the Dodd-Frank financial reform from 2010 dictates that a professional appraiser’s fees must be reasonable and customary for the geographic market.

Keep in mind that different loan types, like FHA, VA, and conventional, will have different appraisal requirements.

4. Can I get a home valuation from an agent if I’m not selling my home right now?

Most real estate agents provide you with a comparative market analysis (CMA) as part of their listing services. A thorough CMA – which often exceeds 30 pages of detailed examination – is a tool that should provide a professional valuation of your home and put it in context with comparable properties in the neighborhood (known as comps) as well as the current market.

Some agents charge $100 to $200 for compiling a CMA. Many charge nothing.

“I don’t get paid for a CMA,” Carroll states. She considers it part of relationship building. In an industry based on referrals and client relations, she likes to help past clients in the hope of future business. “Not everything we do is compensated.”

Some states don’t allow real estate agents to get paid for creating a CMA. “You would have to be an appraiser if you’re paid.” Her brokerage (as well as some states) doesn’t even permit their agents to be paid for a Broker Price Opinion (BPO) in which a real estate broker offers a written estimate on a home’s valuation based on expert judgment.

5. What factors impact appraised home value?

Some things boost your home’s value. Some things decrease your home’s value. There are things on both those lists that cannot be changed, but there are also things on both lists that can be.

6. Does a messy house affect an appraisal?

Technically, decor, moveable items, and cleanliness aren’t supposed to impact an appraiser’s assessment of your home. Human nature, however, intervenes. Messy, dirty, or cluttered homes can impart an “I don’t care” attitude and lead an appraiser to wonder if the home has been properly maintained.

Cases of extreme clutter can hinder an appraiser’s access, affecting the appraisal results negatively. 

But it all depends on the market, Carroll says. In a seller’s market, it’s not as important as it is in a buyer’s market.

If I list a home for $300,000 that sells for $320,000, the comp has just gone up, even if the home appraised at only $275,000.

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  Currently accepting new clients

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7. What makes property values go up or down in any given time period?

As mentioned, property values fluctuate over time. There are several reasons for this, including:

• Zoning regulations – Zoning regulations are municipal laws defining permitted uses for each area. Typical zoning use is divided into residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial, but can also be mixed. In addition, zoning ordinances can limit building height, restrict sound, and impose many other regulations, including home density. Zoning restrictions can impact a buyer’s decision.
• Interest rates – The rates borrowers pay to finance a home loan rise and fall. When interest rates fall, buyers are able to borrow more money, and home prices also tend to rise. When interest rates rise, buying power decreases, and home prices typically slow their growth or fall.
• The economy – The general health of the economy affects real estate value. The economy is measured by economic indicators such as the GDP, employment data, manufacturing activity, and the price of goods. Typically, when the economy is slow, the real estate market is as well and causes home values to drop, whereas economic growth boosts home values.
• Supply chain and material costs – The rising cost and limited supply of lumber, steel, aluminum, and other construction materials have driven up housing costs.
• Politics – Politics can impact the economy, particularly if the government stimulates the consumer climate. This could be in the form of legislative action to lower interest rates or tax incentives. Sometimes, the political leanings of a geographic region can impact the value of real estate.
• Disasters – Whether natural, like a hurricane or tornado, or man-made, like many fires, disasters can impact the value of the unaffected properties as a result of a decrease in supply and an increase in demand from displaced homeowners. Additionally, some sellers make improvements to their home after a disaster, which can increase their home’s value.
• Bidding wars – When demand exceeds supply, buyers may bid higher than list price in order to win the property. “If I list a home for $300,000 that sells for $320,000, the comp has just gone up,” Carroll explains, “even if the home appraised at only $275,000.”

8. Are home appraisals public record?

In general, home appraisals are not public record. However, some portions of an FHA appraisal are released to an FHA website and may be accessed for up to six months.

In many states, public records will reveal limited information, such as recent sales prices, number of beds and baths, and square footage. However, there are a handful of non-disclosure states in which no information is made public. In non-disclosure states, sale prices in a real estate transaction are not disclosed or recorded as public record, whether to protect the homeowner’s privacy or the value of the industry’s multiple listing service (MLS).

However, the National Association of Realtors explains on its website that non-disclosure states “cannot withhold sold data from MLS data feeds.” The restrictions on disclosing this data relate only to the public display of information.

When it’s difficult to assess a home’s value with anything but an appraisal, it usually leads to under-valued homes.

9. What will my house be worth in 5 years?

Carroll likes to say that you never lose in real estate if you hold onto property long-term. Depending on your goals, however, you could lose money if you buy or sell at the wrong time.

Being able to predict your home’s value in five years can help you plan. You can start by consulting the Federal Housing Finance Agency FHFA HPI Calculator to get an idea of what a home previously purchased would sell for today. It takes into consideration the average rate of appreciation of all homes in the area.

The easy-to-use calculator asks you to input your state, the quarter and year you purchased the property, the quarter and year you’re planning to sell, and the original purchase price. It then calculates how your home’s value has increased over the timeframe by referencing appreciation trends for the area.

It’s a ballpark figure. For a truly accurate assessment, ask an experienced agent to provide an opinion that takes into consideration specifics about your property and developments in the neighborhood.

10. What will my house be worth in 10 years?

Historically, median home values have seen a steady price growth increase since the 1960s. Carroll mentions what real estate agents refer to as a “seven-to-ten-year swing” in market fluctuations that see home values rise and fall accordingly. “I’ve talked to economists; the predictions have been accurate.”

Until COVID-19, that is. The U.S. housing market exceeded the ten-year upswing – in part due to the COVID effect and its ripples in the supply chain. “Once the pandemic hit,” Carroll recalls, “we thought it was [the beginning of] the downturn. But it didn’t happen.”

Although the housing market boomed during the pandemic, 2024’s cooler market has been characterized by heightened mortgage rates, limited inventory, and rising inflation. In today’s shifting market, Carroll advises clients to “strategically think of where you want to be” and try to gauge the market’s future.

Looking at the general trend of America’s home price history can help predict potential trends 10 years in the future. However, even this extensive historical data cannot account for unexpected dips and surges in the market.

Bottom line – the best equation to estimate the value of your home

Whether you’re simply curious about your home valuation or you have a more urgent need to know – such as the desire to refinance or apply for a home equity loan; concern about property tax assessment, estate planning, or settlement; or you’re going through a divorce – you can get a rough idea by using an online valuation tool. Remember that AVMs don’t consider upgrades or improvements to your home or neighborhood, which diminishes their accuracy.

HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator can be your convenient starting point for a free valuation. For a better idea of your home’s value, HomeLight’s HVE can direct you to a local top real estate agent, who can provide an even better estimate by preparing a CMA that presents a very accurate snapshot of your home’s value.

You can try to do the legwork yourself by consulting public records, but an experienced agent will have more knowledge about the neighborhood and properties in general, not to mention greater access to other sources of information, such as the MLS.

For the most accurate estimate of your home’s value, order an appraisal. An independent professional appraiser can provide the most precise evaluation of what your home is worth.

Header Image Source: (Jonnelle Yankovich / Unsplash)