What's the trick to determining your offer price on a home you want? Find out right here.
Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report
Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale
When you’re in the market to buy a home, there will be a lot of information for you to sift through, both online and offline, that will help you decide on your purchase price.
Once you’re interested in a property, you can find its estimated value on a home search site like Zillow or Redfin, and you’ll also find that property’s tax base on the county assessor’s page. Having this information at your disposal will help you decide on your purchase price.
Let’s take a look at a specific home that’s on the market right now, which is located at 2088 McKenzie Place. As you’ll see at 1:08 in the video, Redfin estimates its value at $1.402 million and it's listed at $1.39 million. Zillow’s estimate is quite different: $1.224 million.
Next, you’ll want to check out the property’s record on the Santa Clara County Assessor’s website—as seen at 1:32. According to the county assessor, 2088 McKenzie Place’s value is $989,000 once you factor in property taxes.
“When you’ve found a home you’re fond of, it’s important to analyze similar, recently sold homes in the same neighborhood.”
Of all three estimates, which one reflects the home’s true value the most?
The fact is all these estimates serve some purpose, but none are going to help you arrive at an exact purchase price. Zillow and Redfin use computer algorithms to generate home values, and they often exclude relevant information like hyperlocal market trends and competition.
When you’ve found a home you’re fond of, it’s important to analyze similar, recently sold homes in the same neighborhood. The ideal comparable will have sold within the last few weeks or a month. Market conditions can change so rapidly that a home that sold just two months ago may sell for an entirely different price today.
Once you’ve got a list of comparables to work with, determine how the home you’d like to purchase differs from those on your list. Pay particular attention to its natural lighting, layout, location, and upgrades.
What is the interest level for that particular house? Think about how many buyers are competing for the home. The higher the level of activity, the higher its sales price will be. If it’s been on the market for quite some time, that leaves room for negotiation with the seller.
If you have any questions or you’d like help coming up with the best offer price possible, please give us a call at 408-799-2558 or email me at Sophie@SophieRealEstate.com. We’d be happy to sit down and go over this detailed analysis with you!
