How Much is Your San Ramon Home Worth?

How Much is Your San Ramon Home Worth?

An accurate assessment of your San Ramon home value is an important first step to selling your home quickly and for a fair price.

There are several ways to determine your home value a comparative market analysis or an appraisal are the most reliable methods to determine your homes worth.

Establishing a home’s market value is equally important to buyers, sellers, lenders and real estate
professionals so that transactions can proceed quickly and efficiently.

A real estate professional may prepare a comparative or comprehensive market analysis (CMA) for their
sellers to help them choose a listing price. The CMA includes recently sold homes and homes for sale in
the seller’s neighborhood that are most similar to the seller’s home in appearance, features, and general
price range.

Although the CMA is used to help determine current market value, it does not establish the seller’s home
value. In fact, the seller’s home is typically not even featured in the CMA. The CMA is merely a guide to
help the seller learn what’s happening in their local market, so they can better understand where their
home fits in term of price ranges, based on location, features and condition.

Once the home is listed on the open market, a buyer makes an offer, usually based in part on a CMA the
buyer’s agent has prepared. CMAs can help buyers better understand the local market as well as sellers.
If the buyer is receiving financing through a bank, the bank will order an appraisal.

Unlike the CMA, a bank appraisal is a professional determination of a home’s value. It’s performed by a
licensed appraiser, using guidelines established by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which
regulates federal housing loan guarantors such as FHA, VA and housing loan purchasers Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac.

An appraisal is a comprehensive look at a home’s location, condition, and eligibility for federal
guarantees. For example, a home that doesn’t meet safety requirements such as handrails on steps will
not be eligible for FHA or VA loans until the handrail is installed or repaired.

Appraisers use the same data in their market research to find comparable homes as REALTORS® do.
They are also members of the MLS, but they also have additional guidelines from the bank to follow that
minimize risk to the bank. They may take off value for slow-moving markets, or markets with high rates of
foreclosures. If prices are falling, the appraiser takes the number of days a home has been on the market
far more conservatively.

When the appraisal is finished, the bank makes the decision to fund the loan, or it may require the seller
to fix certain items and show proof that the repairs have been made before letting the loan proceed. If the
loan doesn’t meet lending guidelines, the bank will decline the loan.

Despite stricter lending and appraisal standards, most buyers’ loan applications go through to closing –
nearly 85 percent. One reason for that is that real estate agents are preparing CMAs that are better
tuned to lending standards, for sellers and buyers to better understand not only what the market is doing,
but how much lenders are willing to finance.

Contact Mona Koussa for more information. Fin out your San Ramon Home Value