Learn more about your home's potential market value

Have you ever wondered how prices are determined on those properties listed for sale in San Marino and surrounding communities? If you’re thinking about selling your home, you probably have a number in mind that you’d like to receive. But sometimes it’s difficult to know if it’s a realistic expectation.

A number of factors can affect the market value of your house. This ranges from market conditions (supply vs. demand) to the average values of other homes in your neighborhood. In a seller’s market, you can probably list your home at a higher price, and in a buyer’s market, you’ll have less negotiating power.

A seller’s market means that there is high demand for houses, and you’re likely to see more situations where more than one buyer is making an offer at the same time. In a buyer’s market, houses tend to linger on the market for a longer time period, and you don’t have nearly as much leverage in setting the price if you’re motivated to sell. I think you can guess which market we’re in now.

Of course, you could look at San Marino real estate listings to get an idea of what kind of prices others homes are listing. But this doesn't always work because you still don't see the final sales price or how long these properties stay on the market before they're sold.

As a real estate agent, I’m qualified to offer a professional market analysis to determine the market value of a property, just as any other agent could. But I’d like to offer a tool that will allow you to do some preliminary research on your own. A great resource can be found at www.homevaluesca.com.

The reports generated from this website may help you determine whether the price you have in mind is anywhere near the mark. If it is, you should next contact an agent to move forward with a listing. If not, you may have some thinking to do about whether it’s the right time to sell.  Either way, it will answer some important questions for you, such as:

• How do actual selling prices compare to the listing prices in a neighborhood?
• How are homes within 5 miles selling?
• Are there unsold homes in your area, and how many?
• How long are homes in your area typically on the market?

In addition to the market price information, the site provides reports with school and community information for the area. This includes where schools are located, where you can find community attractions and services and some information about the population and household numbers in the community. 

Even if you're not planning to sell, I encourage you to use this tool to learn more about your property's market value. These reporsts will be an interesting read.