Who is the real Expert in Real Estate? I may have some good news and possibly some bad news for you!

With all of the Real Estate information available online these days, many consumers begin to believe they are armed with all the information they need to determine the market value of their home. Sure, I have met a few folks along the way who really do seem to know their neighborhood markets pretty well. I am personally an Expert Real Estate Consultant, Agent, and very successful Real Estate Investor. Since I’ve watched a lot of TLC and Discovery channel shows, I think I have a pretty basic understanding of how someone’s gall bladder can be removed. Would you be willing to let me remove yours? The same principle applies to Real Estate, doesn’t it?

Take the plunge and hire a real Expert! When interviewing a Real Estate Consultant/Agent, be sure to ask them if they do this full-time. I’ve done Real Estate deals where the agent on the other side of the transaction was a full-time flight attendant! Don’t you want to hire a Real Estate Consultant/Agent that lives and breathes Real Estate full-time? You should! This business is in a constant state of change, especially on the technology side of things. You deserve to have an Agent on the cutting edge. There are new and exciting ways to market homes out there that may change the way we all home shop. I know you don’t want to leave money on the table because you hired the wrong Real Estate Consultant/Agent!

There are loads of websites out there claiming they can nail down the value of a home in a particular market by using a computer-generated Automated Valuation Model, more commonly known as an AVM. Trust me when I say you can not value a home with 100% certainty based on a computer-generated AVM. Even a Real Estate Agent that has access to actual sales data can’t correctly price a home unless they can interpret the sales data correctly and take any external factors into consideration. Every neighborhood and every home is different. You can’t look at the overall Houston market and assume every home is going to fit inside that “box”.

I have seen so many homes with an AVM that I would be more than willing to write a check for on the spot because the AVM was way under market value. On the flip side, sometimes I wonder where in the world they came up with that number. On occasion, I even find one that’s pretty close!

Until an experienced agent walks into your home to assess its condition and any internal/external factors that may affect its value, it is nearly impossible to determine its true value. So, what sort of things can affect the value of the home? This is one of those tough conversations an experienced Real Estate Consultant/Agent must have with a potential home seller.

The following factors are not an exhaustive list by any means, but these are the things I see most.

• Location – Homes located in the same neighborhood that have the same floor plan can have wildly different prices. Why?
  • A home that backs up to power lines, commercial property, or even a busy street may need a substantial discount to entice a buyer. Don’t you wish someone had told you this BEFORE you bought the home? Of course you do! It is pretty tough to tell someone their home is worth considerably less due to its location within the subdivision.
• Condition – What sort of things can cause a decrease in value?
  • The age of the roof
  • The age of the HVAC system
  • If it is an older home, the type of fresh water plumbing and sewer system it has
  • How well has the home been maintained
  • When the home was last updated
• CURB appeal – I can’t stress how important this is!
  • Clean up the flower beds
  • Place some fresh mulch in it and add some color to the flower beds and around the trees. I’ve seen many a home that was gorgeous on the inside but the buyers wouldn’t even get out of the car to go inside because they were turned off when they drove up…NEXT

So, next time you look up your home’s value on the internet, whether it be an AVM, your County’s Appraisal District value or what you heard about one of your neighbor's homes that sold, call in an expert to get a true market value.

Ross McEathron – Real Estate Consultant/Agent

Keller Williams Realty – (832) 338-4099 – Ross@FortBendHomePros.com

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