When you’re looking to sell your home, you have a vested interest in its value. What you really need to know is how much similar homes in your area are selling for. The same information is also useful if you are in the market to buy a home.
Trusting a neighbor for information on home prices may have once been the norm, but in the current market, it might lead to misinformation. Sellers or buyers can get inaccurate information on a sale because a neighbor may be embarrassed to admit it was a short-sell or they lost their house.
Because real estate sales are a matter of public record, home sale prices are easy to find. However, the days of searching town or county records have been replaced with Web searches that exchange privacy for free information.
- Visit a residential real estate website such as com, Realtor.com or Homes.com. Navigate to the “homes sold” page, and type in the address of the home you’re looking for.
- Contact a realtor. Even though everyone has access to online websites or neighborhood gossip for details on homes prices, local experts are still recommended for the most accurate information. Find out which realtor closed the sale, then phone or email them to get the price.
Double-checking both the online info and the realtor’s for the sake of accuracy is good practice.
Myers Barnes is America’s favorite new home sales trainer, author, speaker and consultant. For more information, please visit www.myersbarnes.com.