The Cost Of Waiting To Buy a Home

Determining Your Home's worth

NORFOLK, VA, Mar 18, 2014—One of the most difficult parts of selling your home occurs before you even place it on the market: determining its listing price. Coming up with a realistic number can be a confusing process, as a home is ultimately worth what it is paid for it. Everything else is really an estimate of value.
Take, for example, a hot seller’s market when demand for housing is high but the inventory of available homes for sale is low. During this time, homes can sell above and beyond the asking price as buyers bid up the price. The fair market value, or worth, is established when “a meeting of the minds” between the buyer and the seller takes place.
So how do you decide what your home is worth? “A comparative market analysis and an appraisal are the two most common and reliable ways to determine a home's value,” explains Louis Eisenberg, Associate Broker REALTOR ABR SFR of Prudential Towne Realty.
Your real estate agent can provide a comparative market analysis, an informal estimate of value based on the recent selling price of similar neighborhood properties. “Reviewing comparable homes that have sold within the past year along with the listing, or asking, price on current homes for sale should prevent you from over or under pricing,” suggests Eisenberg.
In order to find the appraisal price, a certified appraiser is needed. After visiting the home to check such things as the number of rooms, improvements, size and square footage, construction quality, and the condition of the neighborhood, the appraiser then reviews recent comparable sales to determine the estimated value of the home.
However, it is often the buyer—not the listing party—who brings in the appraiser. Lenders normally require an appraisal – which run between $300 to $400 – before they will approve a mortgage loan. This protects the lender by ensuring the home is worth the money you want to borrow.
“You also can check recent sales in public records, through private firms, and on the Internet to help you determine a home’s potential worth,” notes Eisenberg.
Below are some other points you will have to understand when finding a listing price:

List price vs. sales price
You probably hear both terms being tossed around, and it may be causing some confusion. The list price is a seller's advertised price, or asking price, for a home. It is a rough estimate of what the seller wants to complete a home sale. A seller can price high, low – which does not happen very often – or very close to what they hope to get. “A good way to determine if the list price is a fair one is to look at the sales prices of similar homes that have recently sold in the area,” notes Eisenberg.
The sales price is the actual amount a home sells for.

What about appraised value and market value?
“A certified appraiser who is trained to provide the estimated value of a home determines its appraised value,” Eisenberg explains. The appraised value is based on comparable sales, the condition of the property, and several other factors.
Market value is the price the house will bring at a given point in time, once the buyer and seller establish a “meeting of the minds” on price.

For more information on buying in our Coastal Virginia low inventory market, please contact Louis Eisenberg, Prudential Towne Realty, 109 E. Main Street, Norfolk, VA, leisenberg@prudentialtownerealty.com, (757) 572-7244, or www.LouisEisenberg.com

Buying a Home vs. Renting

For more information contact Louis Eisenberg, Prudential Towne Realty, 109 E. Main Street, Norfolk, VA 23510, 757-572-7244, leisenberg@prudentialtownerealty.com, www.LouisEisenberg.com

Year Over Year Home Price Change By Region

Year over year home price change by region. For more information contact Louis Eisenberg, Prudential Towne Realty, 109 E. Main Street, Norfolk, VA 23510. 757-572-7244, leisenberg@prudentialtownerealty.com, www.LouisEisenberg.com 

Home Mortgage Changes to Know In 2014

For more information contact Louis Eisenberg, Prudential Towne Realty, 109 E. Main Street, Norfolk, VA 23510, 757-572-7244, leisenberg@prudentialtownerealty.com, www.LouisEisenberg.com

What Drives Home Mortgage Interest Rates

Infographic Courtesy of Vantage Productions LLC

5 Household Delimmas You Can Solve On Your Own

NORFOLK, VA, Mar 04, 2014—While a house doesn't come with an owner's manual, there are several things you can do to stay on top of, and ahead of, your home. Knowing how to handle small maintenance fixes will save you stress and money,” says Louis Eisenberg, Associate Broker REALTOR ABR SFR of Prudential Towne Realty. Save your dollars for when it's really time to call in a professional. In order to feel confident handling simple maintenance tasks, read through the following tips and tricks.:

1. Open the garage door when the power is out. Need to leave the house in a power outage? Pull on that red cord dangling from the ceiling-mounted operator. “This disengages the chain drive, allowing you to manually slide the door up its track,” explains Eisenberg.

2. Remove the base of a broken light bulb. Accidentally break a lightbulb while it's still screwed into your lamp? No need to panic, as long as you have a potato in the pantry. Take a raw potato, cut it in half, and press the sliced end onto the jagged glass. Then, simply unscrew. This is also a great party trick.

3. Learn how to locate a stud. Trying to hang a heavy mirror? Nothing is worse than ripping a hole in your drywall. Many people know how to rap on walls to locate a stud. But there is a systematical approach, as well. “The majority of studs are placed at 16-inch intervals, so once you knuckle one out, you can usually find the others,” explains Eisenberg.

4. Remedy a seized lock. Can't jiggle your keys in the door any longer? Don't worry - your spouse didn't change the locks. Chances are, your lock is seized. Instead of calling a locksmith who will hand you a hefty bill, head to the drug store and arm yourself with WD-40. “Spray some into the lock to get the gears moving again,” suggests Eisenberg.

5. Unclog a sink. No, not with a chemical pour, which really only burns a hole in the blockage. To really clear out a block, you need to clear out the mechanism. To do so, remove the stopper and block off overflow holes. Then, notes Eisenberg, run water into the sink and as the water runs, plunge the hole with a plunger. Not enough? Get yourself a hand snake and push the coil down the drain to clear out the block.

Know when to hire a handyman. You can only DIY so often. “Know when it's time to bring in the professionals – anything involving electricity or wiring is usually a good time for the real deal,” says Eisenberg.

For more real estate information, please contact Louis Eisenberg, Prudential Towne Realty, 109 E. Main Street, Norfolk, VA 23510, leisenberg@prudentialtownerealty.com, (757) 572-7244, or www.LouisEisenberg.com