There’s a great article on the Rain City Real Estate Guide (Seattle) on why you should consider the value of a home (whether a buyer or seller) based on factors that cannot be determined from raw comps alone.

For example, who is the best buyer for a particular property? If you’re a seller, is your house right for the buyers who are paying the most in your specific market? If not, why? And can you fix these issues before you list your property?

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, you really need to dig a little deeper when determining the value of a home. One thing I noticed when I first started practicing real estate in the Seattle area, is that almost no one digs deep enough when determining value based on “buyer profile”. This is an old fashioned concept, I guess, that I learned many, many years ago when I was the Certified Corporate Property Specialist (CCPS) for a large real estate company on the East Coast. That’s a fancy name for someone who must quickly sell the vacant inventory homes of relocated executives whose homes were “acquired” via a “buyout” corporate perk. The very first question I had to ask myself when I went to the property before putting it on market was, “Who is likely to buy this house?” I needed to know if I had an expanded or diminished buyer “pool”.

Remember, the market is shifting from a “baby boomer” market to a “Generation X” market, and we have to change our thinking and valuing with the trends that are affected by this shift. “We” meaning anyone interested in the “value” of property, whether that be buyers, sellers or real estate professionals. [more...]

It’s important to note, as this author does, that people are “getting info from the internet regarding total square footage, and doing comps based on this total square footage. “The house across the street sold for $800,000, so this one is worth X on a “price per square foot” basis.”

That logic does not account for SO MANY factors in a home purchase. It’s a good starting point, but if you are pricing to sell your home or if you’re comparing houses prior to writing an offer, consider who this house was really laid out for, and how that translates into value in today’s market. Even if it’s perfect for you, will it work for other buyers?

As always, a Realtor is your best source for this information! As helpful as the data may be on the internet now, nothing can replace actual life-experience from an agent who has been in many of the other houses in a given neighborhood.

Where do the kids sleep?!? [Rain City Real Estate Guide]

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 10th, 2006 at 11:55 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.