Online estimates can't see your upgrades or your home's condition, so here's the two-step process I use instead.
Sellers ask me all the time: how do you determine the value of my home? The answer is pretty simple, but it does take a couple of steps, and neither of them involves typing your address into a website and trusting whatever number pops out.
First, I need to see your home in person. I’ll come visit to see what kind of condition it’s in, because that’s the part no algorithm can do. When people rely on Zestimates or other online estimates, or just take a rough guess, it’s very hard to tell whether that number is accurate. Those online algorithms don’t know whether you’ve done upgrades, added square footage, redone the kitchen, and on and on. So if you’re serious about knowing what your home is worth, it matters that your agent actually comes over and gives you a comprehensive look at the home’s condition and everything you’ve put into it.
Next, I look at comparable sales. These are what we call comps: homes within about a mile that have sold in the last six months or so, similar in age and similar in size to yours. Putting your home up against what those comparable homes actually sold for gives us a real sense of where your value lands. Between the in-person walk-through and the comps, you end up with a number that reflects your specific home, not a broad average of your zip code.
If you have any questions about selling or buying a home here in Phoenix, please feel free to reach out. Call or text me at 602-501-9352, email me at sam@thebrokery.com, or visit samlevyhomes.com. I’d be glad to walk your home with you and put a real number to it.
