First, you have to understand what impacts the value of your home
Location. Location. Location. This is the number one determining factor of your home’s value. That’s why watching what is happening in the real estate industry around where you live is the most important. For example, what homes are selling for in Toronto will not be the same as what homes are selling for in Calgary. Likewise, homes in your community may not be selling for the same as homes in another community in the same city.
Type & Style. This is the next most important determinate of your home’s value. Is your home detached or attached? A 2 storey, a bungalow, a walk-out? Depending on your area, the type & style of home you have will have a hand in determining the overall value.
Size. When comparing your home against ones that are either currently on the market or have recently been on the market you want to make sure you are comparing to similar sizes. If you home is 2500 sqft., it may not have the same value as a home that is 1200 sqft.
Condition & Amenities. These factors contribute far less to the value of your home, but can make a big impact of how appealing and saleable your home is to potential buyers. This may not seem important until you are selling but maintaining your home’s condition over the years will become very important if and when you are ever wanting to sell.
Stay up to date with your local market
Knowing what is currently on the market in your community, and the price range of homes similar to yours, will help you keep up with what your home may be valued at. It’s also good to take note of what is selling and what is coming off the market, or which homes are having price reductions. Market data can give you the best overall picture of if now is a good time to sell your home and the value you could get for it.
The Bōde market data section includes helpful information such as number of listings, average days on market, price per sqft., average listed and sold price, and average sold to list ratio.
Know what has sold recently in your neighbourhood
Ultimately, a home is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it. Seeing the sold prices of homes in your neighbourhood is a great indicator of your own actual home value. Plus, we all want to know how much that house on our street sold for!
This information has been gate-kept for a long time in the real estate industry. With Bōde, now you can see all the data – completely free. You can search by a specific address or community, or go even broader and search by city. Filter by sold period to get a better picture of what has been happening over a specified period of time in your area.
Keep an eye on comparable homes
When determining your home value, you want to make sure you are comparing yourself against the most equivalent homes. Since location, type & style, and size are the most major factors that impact home value, you’ll want to compare properties with those similar attributes.
Bōde has created a patent-pending tool to make this simple for homeowners. By answering a few quick questions you’ll be able to see currently listed homes that are the most comparable to yours. Give it a try!
Maintain a record of home upgrades and major repairs
As mentioned above, condition and amenities do not contribute to home value as much as some other factors, but they are still important considerations! As a homeowner, it’s a good idea to keep a record of major upgrades or repairs that could impact the value of your home.
Examples could include: finishing a basement, remodelling the kitchen, adding a garage, updating appliances, hot water tanks, or furnaces, installing a new roof or siding, and replacing windows.
If the time comes when you are ready to sell your home, you’ll be happy to have a record of upgrades that should be mentioned on your listing and could increase your home’s value and attractiveness to buyers.
