The welcome lady's Blog

Is The House Priced Fairly?

For the last several years house prices have been soaring. It’s only recently that prices have begun to decrease once more. Still, some homeowners have not realized that a price reduction is probably a necessity in today’s buyers’ market in order to achieve a quick sale.

In any market, it can sometimes be a daunting task to determine what is a fair offer price when you are buying a home. Determining whether a home is priced fairly requires market research and some assistance from your real estate agent. You don’t want to pay more than you absolutely have to.

There are a number of ways to get assistance on what homes are worth.

Real Estate Agent: Your real estate agent can be one of the best sources of information on housing prices. Because he or she is intimately involved in pricing homes in your neighborhood, the agent will have knowledge of comparative prices (comps) and know how the house you’re considering falls in a comparative market analysis. Choose an agent who is familiar with the neighborhoods you are considering. If you don’t feel like you and your agent see eye to eye, shop around for another one.

Get an Appraisal: An appraisal on the property by a professional appraiser will help you determine a fair price. This will involve an inspection of the physical property, square footage and amenities. Your mortgage lender will require an up-to-date appraisal to accurately determine the funds to lend.

Go Online: There are a number of Web sites that can give you comp prices in the area, including your local newspaper’s Web real estate pages. Others will tell you what the final price was on home sales around the property you’re considering.