What Is Affecting Home Values?

By Matt Baumberger


Are you looking to buy a house, sell your home or already own one? Discover what factors effect home values. If you have ever bought or sold a house, most likely an appraiser was hired to calculate the homes market value. Many factors can affect your home's worth and it's a good idea to know them. Some can't be fixed, but change the variables you can.

The overall property's condition including fresh paint, recent landscaping and new light fixtures will affect it's worth. Appraiser's see your property through the eyes of the buyer. Anything fishy will be detected.

Any upgrades or repairs can affect the home values. Upgrading your property will increase it's value. Anything you do not do that a similar home has will most definitely decrease it. To make your home more valuable install new floors, remodel your kitchen and bathroom, install central air and a new roof.

Where the house is located also affects home values. Potential buyers want to be near schools, hospitals, major highways, malls and shopping centers but not right on top of them. Also, a property in an urban development in a high crime area will be worth much less than a home in a nice upscale, suburban neighborhood.

Home values are determined mostly by the selling price of homes similar to yours in the neighborhood. In real estate, these are known as comparables. The outside of these similar homes will be inspected by the appraiser and compared to yours. Information from county and tax records will also be used in comparing them.

Unlike the repairable factors above, these threats to home values are not as easily fixed but much more damaging.

A property's value can be hurt greatly by residing sex offenders in the area. Your home will depreciate more the closer you live to one of these creeps.

Foreclosed homes also decreases a home's worth. Potential buyers are scared off by foreclosures.

The value of a home will be changed by the presence of closed schools. Property values will be heavily depreciated by a government in debt that decides to close some area schools. Possible home buyers who have families or want one will want quality schools open and available in the neighborhood.

Living 2 miles or closer to a power plant will lower your home's value from 4-7% according to a study done at Berkeley.

Be conscience of these possible problems and repair or avoid the ones you can. Find out what threats, if any, are around the area when buying or selling home and be aware how they affect home values.




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