What's my house worth?

How do you determine the value of your home? The easiest answer is comparable properties (comps) that have recently sold in your neighborhood. Seems easy enough, but the three most important words in that answer are COMPARABLE, NEIGHBORHOOD, and RECENTLY.

These are the three key elements in an appraisal, a professional valuation of your home. An appraiser will look at COMPARABLE houses (similar in square footage, quality, and number of bedro unoms and bathrooms) in your NEIGHBORHOOD (the closer the comp is to your house, like next door or on the same street, the better) and RECENTLY (in the last 90 days is the first thing the appraiser looks at).

MOST IMPORTANTLY!!!

While furniture, art, clutter, dirty laundry, pets and other things are NOT included in the value of your house, they can all HURT or HELP you. 

Impressions mean a lot to an appraiser just as they mean a lot to a customer. Staging a house with nice, new furniture is well worth the time and energy unless you already have very nice furniture, colors, and decor. 

Thoughts on which "house" is worth more?

 

Same living room, same house, same value?