Determining Your Home's Fair Market Value

Determining a realistic selling price is key to selling your home as quickly as possible. To set a selling price, your real estate agent will determine your home's fair market value, explains Maryland realtor John Day in his August newsletter. "Fair market value is the price at which a home would sell to a ready, willing, and able buyer within a reasonable amount of time," John explains (click the post title to read John's informative newsletter).

Several methods can be used to determine the fair market value of your house:

• An instant valuation can be obtained by a seller with tools on the internet at sites such as zillow.com or realestateabc.com. Valuations obtained will be extremely general at best. Even Zillow's founders admit their tool is just a basic starting point.
• A Broker's Price Opinion is prepared by a real estate agent generally for use by other professionals such as mortgage lenders. It contains information in language and format standard to the mortgage industry.
• Most real estate agents will provide a seller with a Competitive Market Analysis that contains the same information as a BPO in a more user-friendly format. Comparable sales information is usually included to help the seller judge his property against others that are for sale or have sold recently in the area.
• Appraisals are more detailed assessments and are prepared by Certified Appraisers for a legal purpose generally for lenders, attorneys or co-owners. Appraisers assign a dollar value to each feature of a home, but the appraised price will not necessarily reflect the market value which is driven by demand and volume.

Each of these valuation methods is important and has a different purpose, but as John Day reminds, "all opinions of fair market value are just that -- opinions." In pricing your home to sell, you need an experienced realtor who has an intimate knowledge of the local market. With numerous years experience buying and selling homes in Maryland, John Day knows what's moving and at what price. John cautions sellers that "overpricing a house will usually get it ignored, extending the time it takes to sell, potentially decreasing your market value." The longer a house sits on the market, the lower its market value.

A top seller with prestigious Long & Foster Real Estate, John Day provides his clients with a free, professional Competitive Market Analysis. With his experience and wide knowledge of Maryland real estate, John is an expert at determining fair market value and will price your home to sell in the shortest time possible at the greatest possible profit. If you want to sell you home today, contact John Day at 410-507-2909 or 301-395-1489 or visit John's website for more information and a look at the newest listings in Maryland.