Chapter 1: The Garcia’s

How To Know You Are Getting or Selling Your Property At A Good Price In Skokie, IL

The time has come and we are ready to embark on a new journey in a new home. We love our current home in Skokie, IL but sadly we have outgrown our home. We took the time to decide that we want to stay in the area but we wanted to ensure that we are getting the best price for the next home we will be going into. Throughout our research, we realized that we needed to bring in assistance. We were so lucky to find Onyx Homes and we are happy to share our experience with how they assisted us in the search for a good price for our new home.

How Onyx Homes As An Investor Stepped In To Help

The first question that we had with Onyx Homes was how do we know we are getting a good price for the home we are interested in? This is a question that is asked most often by buyers or sellers. There are several ways to discover the value of your current home or the prospective home that you are buying is being sold at a good price. Onyx Homes provided us with several answers to this question. They state that several factors go into the final cost value, such as the upkeep neighborhood appearance, crime statistics, environmental concerns, and usually the most influential checkmark on a homebuyers’ list are the quality of the schools within the area. Our family was already in a great school district, so we wanted to find another suitable home in the same district. In most states, they have a grading system for each school district that is available to the public to view. The rating of the schools in the area is a deal-breaker for the vast majority of home buyers and us. Onyx Homes took the time to research us and used their value estimation tools to analyze if the home values were accurate. The technical term for these tools is the automated valuation model or AVM.

Onyx Homes took time to research through public records like property transfers, deeds of ownership, and tax assessments along with some mathematical modeling, these tools try to predict your home’s value based on recent sales and listing prices in the area. The AVMs used by lenders and real estate professionals are different. These tools use a “confidence score” to indicate how close the AVM provider thinks an estimate is to market value. A confidence score of 90% means the estimate is within 10% of market value, for example, though each AVM has its way of calculating confidence. Onyx Homes took things a step further so that we were not skeptical of how accurate AVMs are. They went to a second approach to analyze the value of our new home. The Federal Housing Financing Agency’s house price index (HPI) calculator applies a more scientific approach. The tool uses the “repeat sales method,” according to FHFA senior economist Will Doerner. Armed with millions of mortgage transactions gathered since the 1970s, the FHFA tracks a house’s change in value from one sale to the next. Then it uses this information to estimate how values fluctuate in a given market. There are drawbacks to this method that a seller or homebuyer should keep in mind: the HPI calculator looks at conforming home mortgages (loans less than $548,250 and up to $822,375 in high-cost areas) and isn’t adjusted seasonally or for inflation. Still, “if you have a conventional, conforming loan, the HPI calculator is an easy way to see how much your house may have appreciated over time,” Doerner says.

We were advised that the best resource for evaluating the value or determining you are getting a good value for your home is the real estate agents in your area. We were so pleased to have found Onyx Homes because we felt nobody else had a better handle on Skokie’s real estate market than the real estate agents at Onyx Homes. When choosing a real estate agent for the job, look for the same things you would look for if you were searching for someone to sell your home for you. Ask around for recommendations from friends and family members, read online reviews, and find someone with whom you click. The agent will use public records to determine your home’s value, primarily data on recent home sales in your area. They’ll also be able to factor in things about your home that may affect its value, like high-demand features and improvements.

How To Determine Your Home’s Value

A requirement of selling your home is having a home appraisal done. An appraiser is hired and comes into and takes stock of several different elements surrounding your home. Lenders require a home appraisal before they’ll approve a mortgage, but as a property owner, you can hire an appraiser to estimate the home value at any time. One thing to take note of is that more than one-fourth (28%) of U.S. homeowners determined their home’s value through an appraisal, according to a recent survey of home selling that was conducted.

An appraiser can be hired at any time and not just for when a home is under contract and ready to be closed on. Be sure to only work with an appraiser who is licensed or certified and has experience in your particular market. Appraisers not only perform appraisals for the current market value for a refinance or purAmong other things, appraisers evaluate:

Appraisers look at several different factors to determine the value of your home: Here is a list of just a few of them:

• Market: The region, city, and neighborhood in which a home is located.
• Property: Characteristics of the house, including improvements and the land it sits on.
• Comparable properties: Sales, listings, vacancies, cost, depreciation, and other factors for similar houses in the same market.

Chase but they also can find out the value of a home from years in the past.

One thing appraisals and AVMs have in common is their reliance on the recent sale value of comparable properties, often called “comps.” According to a recent study, over half (56%) of U.S. homeowners estimated their home’s value by looking at comparable properties. On its face, this approach seems simplest. Let’s admit who hasn’t just casually.

Pulling comps is one way to determine market value without paying an appraiser, but use good judgment. Keep in mind, that if your neighbor recently sold their home, their home price is not necessarily going to be the same as your home’s value. To choose accurate comps, you must employ the concept of the “apples to apples” approach. A home with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths will be priced differently than a home with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. A home’s square footage or the amount of property the home sits on will also factor into the value. Think about which properties would interest a buyer if yours weren’t available. Look for similar sizes, locations, conditions, and upgrades.

To get started:

• Browse a site, like realtor.com, where MLS listings are displayed, to find the recent sale prices of comparable houses in your neighborhood.
• If there aren’t enough recent sales, look at listing prices, but remember they might not be realistic.
• You’ll need at least three valid comps to come up with a likely range of market value for your house.

Once you’ve chosen comparable properties, things get a little tricky. You’ll need to adjust for differences between your house and the comps, such as adding value to the comp price if it has more bedrooms than your house or subtracting value if its interior is outdated, for example. How much you add or subtract depends on conditions in your market, which can vary widely. After adjusting values, look at your highest and lowest comps. A rough estimate of your home value is somewhere in the middle.

Overall, how much your house is worth is a combination of both actual and perceived variables. One must keep in mind that no estimate or resource is an infallible measure. The only value that matters is the amount you can get from your buyer or the bank. But if you keep on abreast of your home’s estimated value, as well as the trends dictating your local market, you won’t have to worry about facing sticker shock when the time comes to find out what your property is valued at.

The Results

The value that Onyx Homes added to selling our home was much more than just a transaction. Yes, we sold them our home and gained tremendous value. No, we did not purchase at that moment with Onyx Homes. However, they did hand us to a trusted area agent that helped us find the perfect property for our family. We also gained knowledge and a friend. They walked us through the steps of evaluating our home from a real estate view. They helped us to detach from sentimental value and worked with us to complete the process. We are thankful for them and their team of true professionals who guided us through.