When its time to sell your Raytown home, there can be some confusion when determining the value. If you REALLY want to know what it is worth, you can pay to have an appraisal done. Or a real estate agent could provide you with a detailed Comparative Market Analysis or CMA, letting you know what is going on in your neighborhood. Knowing the differences in these home values can set you set your ideal asking price!
What is Market Value vs Assessed Value in Raytown
Market Value by Definition:
According to Fannie Mae, “Market value is the most probable price that a property should bring in a competitive and open market under all conditions requisite to a fair sale, the buyer and seller, each acting prudently, knowledgeably and assuming the price is not affected by undue stimulus.”
Basically, this is the amount you can expect to get if you keep your house on the market for a few months provided everything goes smoothly and you have potential buyers coming to see your home on a regular basis.
Assessed Value by Definition:
According to Investopedia, “An assessed value is the dollar value assigned to a property to measure applicable taxes. Assessed valuation determines the value of a residence for tax purposes and takes comparable home sales and inspections into consideration.”
Understanding assessed value can be a bit confusing. County property accessors give values to homes for tax purposes, however, these values are not reflective of changes in market value. The difference between the assessed value and the market value is known as the equalization rate. This rate is used by the county to figure your actual property value.
Appraised Value:
But wait, there’s more. Your appraised value can differ from both of these. An appraisal is done by a licensed professional who rigorously checks all aspects of the home. While they might be 100% correct, this is still the opinion of one. Whereas other methods are mathematically calculated based on your home’s history and market conditions. This is the value that the mortgage lenders look at when approving loans and the value that you as a seller should review closely.
It is important to note here that if you were to pay for an appraisal or request a CMA from a real estate agent, that they will be using values that are in the local Multiple Listing Service or MLS. We spoke to an owner a few weeks ago that was afraid to sell their house that needed quite a bit in updates, as a direct cash sale, with no Realtor involved because his sale would affect the value of other homes in his area. If this person sold his house for cash to us, it would not have been recorded in MLS and would have very little effect to other values in the neighborhood and once we had the home renovated and resold through the MLS, we would actually be boosting home values.
What The Internet Has To Say About It:
The large real estate sites have their own formulas for determining property values. These values are broad, and based on market conditions and information entered by users on the site directly. They do not always accurately reflect YOUR home personally. Think of it as Kelly Blue Book for cars. It is a close guess but determining what the ACTUAL market value can be much different. People report seeing these numbers off by $20k, $50k and even more!
What it Means For You As A Seller:
Do your homework! Make sure you have all the numbers listed above and understand terms such as the equalization ratio and fair market value. Make sure you are working with a true professional who can help you to accurately determine the market value of your home.
Setting a great asking price is critical. You do not want to set it too high and have to repeatedly lower it to get buyers in the door. Your pricing history is public information, and repeatedly lowering your price can make buyers think there is something wrong with it. And for obvious reasons, you don’t want to set your asking price too low. To get the price you want you must exercise patience and make sure you are working with a true professional in Raytown.
If you want to learn more about the best ways to sell your Raytown home, send us a message here or give our office a call now! (816) 408-3600
It was great not having to go in and clean up that unholy mess and worry about disposing of everything. I hope you guys make a good sale on the property, I’ll be only too happy to refer you to others.
Thank you, Scott, that house has been a stone around my neck for the past ten months. I’m so glad that your mom friended me on FB and got things rolling, I’ve had a lot of deaths in my family in the past seventeen months,(my father, my estranged husband, and my only sibling–my brother. I have been swamped trying to deal with it all simultaneously. You guys took me by the hand and drug me through what needed to be done, and I appreciate that.