How to determine your home value, House valuation advice

Selling Your Home: How to Determine Your Home’s Value

26 March 2025

One recent study showed that we don’t know what our house is worth. Depending on how long we’ve lived there, we either overvalue or undervalue our homes, and both can cause serious issues.

First-year owners tend to seriously overvalue the level of appreciation, according to the research by Rocket Homes, while those who have owned their home for 7-10 years could undervalue their own home by as much as 27.7%

That’s a massive margin of error, and many of us have no idea how much our biggest investment is worth. An accurate valuation can help you negotiate property taxes, tap into your equity, or take a loan for renovations, as well as make an informed choice to sell your property.

So, how do you find out what your house is worth? Here are five reliable methods:

Check the Federal Home Price Index

The Land Registry Report is a weighted repeat-sales index that tracks home value changes across the country in different markets. With millions of sales details and refinancing information dating back to January 1995, the report can apply national and regional trends to your property to gauge the potential appreciation since your last valuation. You can filter the report on important properties like geographic area, date and property type.

Explore Digital Valuation Tools

Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) analyze vast amounts of data and can give you a solid valuation of your home right now. They include recent sales data, tax assessments, market conditions, and even the local crime rate to give you a surprisingly pinpoint valuation in moments.

Zillow’s Zestimate and Redfin both have these tools, and you should use them both. They can’t account for your property’s condition or recent renovations, though, so treat them as a starting point rather than a definitive guide. Zillow’s tool has a 1.9% median error rate for listed homes and 6.9% for off-market homes, so it’s a useful guide unless your home is truly unique.

Request a Comparative Market Analysis and Valuation

Most local estate agents will fight for your business, and that can include providing a free valuation and a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report free of charge. These reports include a basic appraisal of your property and its features, which the agent compares to similar properties in your area.

A CMA normally includes the square footage, bedroom count, upgrades, and neighborhood amenities that will influence the value. It’s not quite a full appraisal, but it’s a much more in-depth guide than the online calculators. You should also get multiple valuations of your home, as different agents will give you different prices.

Invest in a Professional Appraisal

You can expect to spend $300-$600 depending on the size of your property, and $500 is the typical cost for a family home. That buys a complete report on your home that drills down to the exact measurements and features, the quality of construction and maintenance, improvements or deterioration, location factors, and local market trends.

The right appraiser is worth 10x their money, as they can find value in your home that you can then use to unlock equity, contest a painful property tax assessment, or sell your house for a higher price.

Research Comparable Properties

With a few simple tips, you can turn a very rough art into a science. Focus on comparable properties, or comps, that have sold within the last six months. Ideally, use a site where all available properties are displayed to get recent and pending sale data. Find at least three comparable properties, and then adjust the value accordingly based on your home’s features, size, and other factors that affect the price.

A study by the National Association of Realtors revealed 88% of sellers use this method to price their home. It also recommended sticking to pending and closed sales, rather than active listings, as asking prices aren’t always a realistic guide to actual value.

Conclusion

If you have no real idea what your home is worth, then it’s time to change that. Regular evaluation of your home’s value will help you make smarter decisions and allow you to capitalize on your biggest investment. Equity release, home improvement loans, lower property taxes, and more are ready and waiting, but only if you know the true value of your home.

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