How Can I Tell What My Home Is Worth?

So you are selling your house and you want to know what the comps (comparable sales) are so that you can get an idea of what your home is worth? Or maybe you are looking to buy and a comp would help you better know about the price range of the house or houses in a certain neighborhood. Well, there are certain internet sites (that will not be named here) where people do their own research on comps...and they are very inaccurate sources. I personally, do not recommend my clients use these internet sites because for the most part, they get their information by using property tax records of recently sold homes near by. But let me tell you about the things that matter when looking for a comp and why these sites don't work in the real world. In most of Los Angeles most of the time, we will look for recently sold homes, typically these days ones that sold in the past 2 months. And then we will look within a mile radius of the house. Looking for a home that is similar in square footage, about 20% more and less than the subject home. But here are some factors to consider once you find these recent sales:
Upgrades and improvements: Has this house recently been remodeled? If so, what type of materials did they use? Maybe laminate floors or hard wood? Tile counters or stone? New double pane windows or a new roof?
Number of rooms: Sometimes this matters, and other times not. Here is when it may matter. If you have one house that is a 3 bedroom at 1,500 Sqft that is just fine. But what if the house you are looking at is 1,500sqft and has 5 bedrooms? Well, that might make some of the rooms about the size of closets and, for most people, unusable. This would leave someone needing to probably knock out a wall or two in order to make the bedrooms usable.
Lot Size: So you are thinking that you have a large lot on the house your are interested in huh? I mean 10,000 sgft is a good deal of land in LA. So you are looking at another similar house that also had a large lot too. BUT, here in LA, we also have hills. And the house you are looking at, while it may have 10,000 sqft, most of it is on a steep slope and completely unusable.
Location, Location, Location: All other things being equal about a house, if your home is on the corner of a busy street, it will not be comparable to another that is in a quiet cul-da-sac. Just as if your home is on a street with other nice homes, it will not be comparable to one that is next to apartment complexes. If you are looking at a house on the boarder of a city, you may not want to use the home sales from the other city, even if it is just a few blocks away. Some cities have higher rated school systems than others and that can make a home's value change.
Amenities: A home with a pool will have more value than one without. If you are looking at condos, a private attached garage will help the value over a condo that has a community parking area. Having a fenced in yard may increase your value over no fence at all.

So, when looking at what a comparable property is to one you may currently own or are looking to buy, I can assure you that the online sites will not be your best source of information for that. Ask your Realtor for a better idea since they have the experience and knowledge to inform you about this very thing.  And feel free to call me if you are curious about your home's current value and we can go over this together.