In most cases, your home is your most valuable asset. Whether you want to sell, purchase, or borrow money from a property, knowing its exact worth is crucial.
People certified and educated to do professional property valuation charge for their services, so this isn’t something you’d do if you’re not certain about your decisions. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid these hefty prices.
So, how to get a free house valuation?
If you’re thinking about some potential steps in the future or you’re simply interested in finding out more about your property’s current value, going for a free house valuation is the perfect decision. Make sure to continue reading this post to learn more about how you can do this.
How do I find out the value of my house?
Although the most accurate house valuation can be received through an appraisal from a professional certified by your country to do this process, you’ll have to pay a considerable amount of money for this service.
But, there are a few other options. Even though they might not equip you with the most precise results, they can provide you with some helpful estimates, free of charge. Check them out here!
Use free online tools.
There’s nothing you can’t find on the internet nowadays, including a plethora of free online tools that can approximately calculate the value of your property. This is without a doubt the quickest and easiest option, so if you’re looking for some rough figures, online free tools are the ideal choice.
Ever since the first online appraisal software tools appeared in 2006, the real estate industry upgraded and evolved these tools throughout the years. As a result, online property valuation tools can provide more accurate estimates with every new year.
All you have to do is enter some key information about your property, such as location, size, and general property condition. Then, these tools, powered by automated valuation models (AVMs), compare your property information to other similar properties published online.
By using property records and current public listings, the tools analyse and thus calculate the approximate range your property belongs in.
Make a thorough comparison.
If you have more than a couple of minutes to dedicate to your property evaluation, you might consider making a thorough comparison by yourself. This will take significantly more time and effort, but it’s a step worth taking if you want to learn more about your property for free.
Start by determining the key features of your property – where it’s located, how big it is, how many rooms the house has, and how many people can comfortably live in it. Then, you can use this information to search for similar properties currently on the market and see their price. Another useful tip is to check history records and find the sold prices of similar properties.
Don’t forget to check if your property offers something of interest that could increase the price. Energy-efficient home features, landscaping, and freshly renovated rooms are the most sought-after features that can up the price.
Hire an estate agent.
Finally, you can also hire an estate agent willing to do your property valuation for free. Although you might think no real estate agent would do this task for free, many of them will accept the offer as it increases their chances of gaining more business.
Start by researching the top real estate agents in your area. Even though the service is free, you should carefully consider which agent you go with. A highly-skilled and experienced agent who sells lots of homes will have a better understanding of the real estate market than a newbie who can easily make a costly mistake.
Therefore, a top-performing agent will ensure your property sells at the highest possible price.
How can I find the value of my home without an appraisal?
As previously mentioned, there are several ways on how to get a free house valuation. Nevertheless, each method comes with a unique set of pros and cons, which is why all three methods are used in different situations.
If you’re unsure which option is best for you, here are some key features that might point you in the right direction.
Free online tools
Pros:
- Use the service for free – These online tools are free of charge and available to anyone. All you need is an internet connection, and you’re good to go.
- Get a property valuation in record time – The online tools are easy to use and provide instantaneous results.
- Learn about your property details anytime, anywhere – Whether you’re home, at work, or on the go, you can get a free property valuation on any device.
Cons:
- The service isn’t always accurate – The tools tend to behave better in large cities where there are a lot of public records and plenty of information on real estate. This isn’t the case for smaller towns or villages.
- The service isn’t personalised – These tools use algorithms, and they aren’t advanced enough to suit different tastes. Namely, a buyer might be willing to pay more for a beautiful balcony, a farmhouse exterior, or a renovated bathroom, so it’s challenging to consider such factors.
- No further information is provided – Besides providing you with an estimate, there’s no further information you can receive from an online tool. If you’re interested in what affected your final value and what you can do to increase it further, you’ll have to visit a professional.
Thorough comparisons
Pros:
- Enjoy the free service – Just like online free tools created for property valuation, making thorough comparisons by yourself won’t cost you a dime. This is something you can do completely free of charge.
- Get more personalised results – If online tools give you an answer that’s too vague for your liking, browsing some similar property listings and comparing the prices can give you a better idea about your property value.
Cons:
- An extremely time-consuming process – Doing the entire research on property valuation by yourself is a time-consuming process. But, if you have the time, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t take a couple of hours to focus on your property.
- You might receive questionable results – If your career isn’t focused on the real estate business, you must take the obtained results with a grain of salt. As you’re not an experienced or certified professional, there might be errors you weren’t aware of making.
Estate agents
Pros:
- The most accurate free option – Estate agents are professionals who understand the field they’re working in. Therefore, they can give you the most accurate house valuation, which can be even pretty close to a certified professional’s value.
- Receive a personalised service – Real estate agents will approach each house valuation individually. This means they’ll consider all the unique features and upgrades your house owns that could increase the final value.
- Feel free to ask questions – The best thing about estate agents is that you can ask them many questions. They’ll also equip you with valuable tips and tricks on how to increase your property value.
Cons:
- The success depends on the agent – The success of an agent doing your house valuation entirely depends on their skills and proficiency. That’s why you must work with a knowledgeable agent who will do the job well.
- A time-consuming process – Because you and your agent must both be free to dedicate several hours to property value, clearing up your busy schedules could take some time.
Do estate agents give free valuations?
Many estate agents do house valuation for little or no cost, but only because of the hopes of being hired as a selling agent for the property in question.
For this purpose, estate agents use comparative market analysis, also known as CMA. Namely, they use the information of selling or recently sold properties that hold similar features to your property. In that way, agents can compare your property with other similar properties on the market and thus come up with the closest value.
Even though an estate agent won’t equip you with as detailed an appraisal you would otherwise receive from a certified professional, remember this is a free service more often than not.
Here are some essential features an estate agent will consider when working on your house valuation:
Location
Location is probably the most crucial feature that can determine the property’s value. When you look at property prices for different countries and cities, the fluctuations are already visible. However, that’s not all. Two identical houses in the same city can also have different prices, as location means much more than a geographical point on a map.
For instance, the state of the neighbourhood and surrounding properties affect the final price. If a property is located in an area with a high crime rate, near a prison, rehab facility, or any other institution with a bad reputation, the property value will decrease.
On the other hand, a property in a safe neighbourhood, well connected to the city centre, and surrounded by parks, schools, and kindergartens will cost a lot more.
Size
The size of the entire property and the size of the house can also play an essential role in determining the price. Naturally, the bigger the property and the house are, the higher the price.
Rooms
The number, plan, and condition of the rooms are other vital factors your estate agent will consider.
The number of all rooms is important, especially the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Since everyone tends to use the same kitchen and living room, bedrooms and bathrooms are the rooms that determine how many people can comfortably live in the house.
The house plan and the use of space is another important feature. If the house plan isn’t functional, future owners might have to do some serious renovation projects to find a better solution, which also isn’t affordable.
Finally, the condition of rooms is a deciding factor for many, especially when it comes to the bathroom and kitchen. Freshly renovated bathrooms and kitchens can drastically increase your price.
Home type
A home type also influences the price. Single-family homes, condos, and townhomes are just some of the popular choices, all differing in price.
Style and view
The style your house was built in can increase or decrease the value. Homes following trendy styles have a better shot at being sold at a higher price than outdated styles. A river view, sea view, or any other mesmerising view will positively affect the value.
Recent sales
Your estate agent will compare your property to the properties with similar features that have been recently sold. This gives a much better insight into how much money people are ready to pay for a certain property at a given time.
What is the most accurate site for home values?
By now, you’re probably aware that free online valuation tools can’t give you a 100% accurate response on your property value. Because countless factors affect the actual price, it’s impossible to do this without hiring a professional. Yet, these tools are one of the viable solutions on how to get a free house valuation.
Online free tools are perfect if you just want to get an idea about your property’s value. If you’re thinking about selling sometime in the future, this could be the perfect tool to decide whether you’d like to move in that direction or not.
But, since there are so many online free house valuation tools available, how do you find the best one?
Our budget calculator and valuation tool will equip you with everything you need to receive a plausible valuation of your property. Besides a range of the approximate selling price, price per square meter, and several other helpful details, our tool will provide some background knowledge of recently sold similar properties you can use for reference.
That way, even if you end up going to a real estate agent or an appraisal professional, you’ll already have some valuable pieces of information concerning the issue. That way, you’ll understand the entire process better, which will allow you to participate and decide when faced with options.
Our calculator is fast, easy to use, and delivers results in just a few minutes. It’s a simple and convenient tool to get an idea of what your property might be worth. If you’re looking for a quick, easy, and simple online tool that offers the most accurate results, there’s no need to look further.
Conclusion
The real estate market is highly unpredictable. Property houses can suddenly go up or down, depending on buying trends and recent events. Nevertheless, the large majority of properties rise in value as time goes by.
If you’ve been living in a particular house for a while now and you’d like to learn more about its current value, there are several options on how to get a free house valuation. Even if you’re not planning to move, it can be fun watching your property increase in value over time.
This occurrence allowed many people to use their home equity to pay off their debts or invest in a business. Regardless of your reason for selling the property, you’re undoubtedly interested in how much you can get for it today.
With free online sites and tools that calculate property value, you can get an answer to your question in a blink of an eye. It’s the perfect starting point where you’ll find an approximate range you can expect to receive. From that point, you can decide whether you wish to continue with the sale or think about it some more.
Use our handy calculator and find out more about your property’s value today.