Portland Home Value Estimate – 2019 Update

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Curious about your Portland home value estimate? The Portland real estate market has been up and down for the last few years with some housing segments increasing in value and others decreasing. So it is important to know what your best sources of information are for finding your home value.

3 Ways to Find your Home Value

Sure you can read the titles and get the basic idea, but the real tips are in the paragraphs themselves, so don’t skim read this one!

1. Free Online Home Value Estimates

The Zestimate, a home value estimate from Zillow, gets a lot of press. As a top Portland real estate agent with over 1,000 sales, I’m often comparing my pricing research with whatever the Zestimate happens to be. First off, Zillow has a ton of bad data, so sometimes the Zestimate is completely off simply because the sq. ft. is wrong or another basic data figure. The Zestimate, last few years, tends to be higher than market value. Since the Zestimate is blind and cannot see the inside of the home, they tend to give values for full remodels. I also think they may be giving bloated Zestimates in general to avoid an onslaught of customer complaints and lawsuits (which has occured). This doesn’t mean that a sales price higher than a Zestimate is wrong, simply because the Zestimate gets things wrong often enough, but as a general rule the Zestimate is higher than the actual market value of the home.

Redfin and Realtor.com both have their own free online value estimates now and are worth looking at if you’re going for the free and easy route, just to get a general idea on your home value.

2. Real Estate Agent Value Estimates

I know that I’m biased, but I truly believe an experienced, busy, real estate agent is your number one source for an accurate home value opinion. Real estate agents provide what is called a CMA or comparative market analysis to determine your home’s value. Real estate agents are not (typically) also licensed appraisers, but have the same access to data that appraisers have. As an experienced real estate agent, I’m overly familiar with the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report. A number of times in my career I have had to challenge low appraisals and in a number of cases won the argument. I’m confident licensed appraisers would suggest they are the number one resource for home values and real estate agents are second. I’m okay with that. There are, in my experience, good and bad appraisers and good and bad real estate agents. The important thing to check when having a real estate agent give you a home value is their experience level and looking over their research together with them, to see that they’ve done a good job in pricing your home. Please note, as a general rule homeowners tend to believe their property is worth more than market value. They are the ones that choose to buy their property above all others, and now having lived in it, often have emotional attachments. Try to get beyond the emotion and listen to licensed, experienced professionals (please). Research shows that homes that sit on the market for a long time sell for much less than they would have, if they had started with a reasonable price at actual market value to begin with.

If you’re considering selling your home in the greater Portland metro area (check our service area button at the top) in the next 12 months, we’d love to come out and give tips on preparing the home for market and give you an accurate home value. Last year my top 1% selling agents sold more than 200 homes and we averaged 100% of our starting price to sold price. (Of course some sold for a little more than asking and some a little less, but not by too much, we were always very close to the mark!) Fill out the form on this page or give us a call today!

3. Portland Area Appraisers

Licensed appraisers are best known as parties that work on behalf of banks or lending institutions to check on a home’s value before agreeing to give the home buyer the loan they want for the property. Appraisers are also often used to give home values for re-financing purposes. It has been my experience that re-financing appraisals often come in higher than market value and my belief there is that the banks are looking at the home owners finances and seeing how far they are willing to let them go into debt, and it is less about the actual homes value. In the case of appraisers checking value on behalf of the bank for a home buyer purchase, I find they are often must closer to market value, wanting to protect the bank’s investment.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that appraisers are often hired for reasons other than purchasing or refinancing a home. They can be great resources to get an accurate home value when there are probate or estate issues, divorce situations, in-family home sales, and more.

Home Values Change Monthly

Don’t rely on old or bad information! The Portland real estate market is constantly changing and so is your home’s value. Online home value estimates are fun and free, but rely on the professional’s advice. If you need further assistance, contact us today!

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