How to Determine Your Home Value for a Sale

One stipulation of your divorce might be that you will sell the family home and split the proceeds from the sale. But how much can you expect to reasonably make from the sale of your home?

If you wish to get a realistic estimate of what your home might be worth, here are some strategies to employ.

• Hire an appraiser: A professional real estate appraiser will look at factors such as your local market, characteristics of your particular property and prices of comparable properties in your area to determine a value for your home, which you can then use to set a good listing price.
• Look at online valuation tools: Online valuation tools generally won’t give you as accurate of a valuation estimate as a professional appraiser, but they can still be helpful. Automated valuation models are often found on real estate sites like Zillow or Redfin. Banks and lenders may also create their own AVM tools. Keep in mind that these tools are generally designed for marketing purposes—while they might give you a general idea of your property value, their accuracy is limited.
• Comparative market analysis (CMA): A CMA is not quite as detailed as a professional appraisal, but it at least gives you a general estimate of value based on your local market. CMAs are typically available for a very low cost, or can even be completely free.

For more tips to help you determine the value of your home before your divorce processes, contact an experienced Long Island property division lawyer at Bryan L. Salamone & Associates.