How much is your home worth?

April 18, 2022

When property markets go crazy, people start to get very curious about how much their home is actually worth, especially if the house next door just sold for double its expected value.

Even in a strong seller's market though, there is just no easy way to tell exactly what your property's worth will be. There are so many factors that come into play and things can tilt and change month to month too.

What you can do is estimate the value of your residential property and if the price sounds good, put it out there and see how accurate the prediction is. 

Property estimates can happen in a number of ways:

  • Real estate agent appraisal,
  • Bank valuation
  • Online calculator

It will take into account a huge number of factors including:

  • Current and historical market trends
  • Location
  • Property type (house/townhouse/unit)
  • Land size 
  • Number of beds
  • Number of bathrooms
  • Parking options
  • Recent sales of similar properties
  • Proximity to areas of interest/public transport/shops

If you are not keen on letting your property go for less than a certain amount, make sure you discuss this with your real estate agent first so you have a clear path of retreat and know what the costs are, well before you commit to putting your property on the market.

Are online property price calculators any good?

Online property calculators are a great way to get an estimate without having to show anyone through your home, that means that you can do your initial research in your pyjamas, with yesterday's unwashed dishes in the sink and your underwear drawer open.

The reason these work so well is they have access to so much data and can gather, sort and deliver thousands of datasets in the blink of an eye. Just about every possible property listing is available online including historic sales, prices, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, addresses, land size, it goes on and on. That gives calculator programs an incredible volume of data to match with your property numbers and retrieve prices on similar sales.

How can I estimate how much my property is worth?

To get a fast, computer-based estimate all you need to do is input your property details. 

What you search directly affects the information the program retrieves, so it's essential that the starting information is accurate so that the results are also accurate. 

For a start, property details will appear automatically based on the address you input. You’ll need to check over these and make sure they are current and include any renovations, additions or changes.

Real estate home pages (like realestate.com.au) will offer property value calculators online, or may even present them to you as part of a property listing footer. If you use a particular real estate app, you’ll likely find a price calculator there too.

Follow these steps to complete your online property price estimation:

  1. Type the property address
  2. Check the repopulated fields to make sure they are current
  3. Hit the start button.

You can track your property value to see how your estimate fares as the market changes.

What data is used for the online property calculation?

Because the online calculator relies on data of similar properties in the same location, it might not be accurate if it doesn't have many options to draw on.

The most accurate calculations draw on the biggest number of data points, so if your home is rare or totally unique in your neighbourhood, it might not be possible to get a good feel for price based on online data.

If you know that your property is similar to your neighbours and there has been a buzz around sales lately, you can feel pretty confident starting out with an online calculator to put you in a ballpark range for your current property price. This is known as a high confidence estimate.

If you are in a newly established neighbourhood or a tightly held community, it’s best to get an in-person appraisal from a bank or real estate agent as these are low (or perhaps medium) confidence estimates.

Who is Peta Stewart?

Award-winning conveyancer. Entrepreneur. Business mentor. Women’s cycling advocate. These are just some of the ways Peta Stewart is introduced. What ties them together is a steely determination to help people achieve their life goals and have fun in the process.

In 2004, Peta became the first licensed conveyancer in the Albury Wodonga greater region. Five years later, she launched her own business and started shaking up the industry with a good dose of personality, integrity and humanity.

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