March 19, 2014PostsComments34wz Loan TipsYour source for loan & credit tipsFind the right asking price by knowing the home valuationBy: Denis PYou may be wondering how to value my house, especially if you are considering putting it on the market in the near future. There are two things you’ll want to think about when it comes to valuing a home. The first one is how it compares to similar homes nearby your property that have recently been sold. You also want to think about how you v=place value on the advertised features and amenities.It is important to know whether or not an asking price is fair when you are ready to make an offer on a home. It is even more important when your mortgage lender hires an appraiser to determine whether the house is worth the loan that you are trying to get.  Check homes in your area that are comparable to yours and see how much they sold for, as you will likely refer to these as you are working to determine the value of your own home. Recent sales means within the last six months – however, some lenders will not accept comparisons of homes that have sold more than three months ago as this will bear little to no relation in terms of what is going on in the market currently.  Market activity will also determine how easy it is to find comparisons, as a hot market will have a lot of options to choose from. If the home you are looking at has special features, it might make it harder to find a comparable property.When making an accurate comparison, you have to consider location, size, amenities, and age of the house. Ideal comparisons will be in the same neighborhood as the house you want, but it might be necessary to have to go farther out to a similar neighborhood. Consider amenities like if your home has a pool, a great view, an extra room, or anything else. Think about the number of rooms, the square footage of the house, the size of the garage, and the size of the lot. Finally, appraisers like to compare homes of similar age because they have a lot of the same amenities. Unknown or unexpected circumstances can skew prices, like selling a home due to death or divorce. Lastly, uncontrollable factors like elections, war, oil prices, and more can cause home prices to change even within a matter of weeks.Knowing the value of your home can make getting a loan much easier because you will know exactly what you are applying for.Online Shopping-Business EditionAlmost all of us have engaged in some kind of online shopping at some point or another. In fact, it is almost impossible to avoid browsing through products while online, because of the constant bombardment of online ads.Yet, most of us also have become discerning customers. We are used to professional looking sites, and have been warned so often against viruses and internet scams that we are instantly suspicious. If you have a garish or unappealing website,we might not even make it past the homepage before we decide to navigate away to a more appealing looking site.T