Real Estate News

Are you planning to sell your house but have no idea how to set the right price? Don’t worry - a lot of homeowners have faced the same issue.

Basically, you need to look at different factors in order to accurately calculate the value of the property. This will save you from being swayed by savvy buyers who come prepared to take advantage of your mistakes.

To help determine your home value and equity, follow these three simple steps.

How to define home equity

Home equity refers to the current value of the home you actually own. In other words, it’s calculated against your current mortgage. Whatever mortgage you still owe gets subtracted from your home for sale in Kissimme's current market value.

That’s is why it is possible to have negative equity, especially if the balance owed increases or when the current market conditions cause home equity to fluctuate. Fortunately, there are a few ways you can increase your home equity. Contact a realtor for more tips and insights into increasing your home’s appraisal value.

In the meantime, you can try these steps to calculate home equity.

Step 1: Know the present market value of your home

As a homeowner, it’s important that you know much equity your home has at present. This is what buyers are willing to pay.

The value of your home does not necessarily depend on its square footage. It’s not even equivalent to the price you’ve already paid for it. To know the right amount, you need the most recent valuation of your home’s worth.  

In a realty marketplace website, for instance, you can just enter the following information on their calculators to get a rough estimate of your home’s worth:

• Your house’s type
• When it was built
• Its square footage
• Information about the lot
• Total number of rooms
• How much you (or the past owner) paid for it

Step 2: Get the value of your home equity

Now that you’ve determined the current market value of your home, your next step is to get the value of your remaining loans. This is comprised of the payments for your house mortgage and other related loans. After getting that amount, subtract it from the appraised value to get your home equity’s value.

Here is an example of how to do this:

Your house is presently appraised at $500,000, and you still owe $150,000 on your mortgage. This means you’ll get $350,000. This is the value of your home equity.

Obviously, your home equity can increase over time as you pay off your balance or make certain improvements on your property.

Step 3: Find out how much you can gain from selling your home

Knowing your home equity would help a lot in your decision making. It can either push you or hold you back from selling your house depending on the amount you get. However, sometimes the information you gather from your research may not be dependable enough.

Keep in mind that other factors such as market changes that can affect your home equity. Therefore, the value can fluctuate anytime. So before you get too excited, keep researching.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Is my home equity increasing or decreasing?
• What if my home equity is too low, or worse, negative in value?
• How does my home equity compare with other homes in my area?

Regardless of the value, it’s advisable to contact a reliable and licensed real estate agent near you. They can provide you with the full details you need and give sound advice on selling your property.

The most accurate way of knowing your home’s present market value is by getting in touch with any of the real estate agents at Florida Realty Marketplace. With their Home Evaluation service for buyers, you can ask more questions and get more insightful answers about your home.