Page 79 - Selling secrets 5 18 2023

and easy, but do not answer questions regarding factors like
location and current local trends. Be aware that in practice,
the prices arrived at might be highly inaccurate.

For example, a home in Ohio was put into one such system,
Redfin (www.redfin.com/what-is-my-home-worth). The
home last sold for $180,000 in 1998; it was appraised for
refinancing in 2015 at $275,000. In 2017, Redfin’s calculator
valued this 1890 Victorian home (4 bedrooms, 1.5 baths,
and 2,100 sq. ft.) in a four-block area of “Grand Old Ladies”
at $158,000.

The apparent reason is that the six “comps” (comparable
recent sales) include only two homes in this desirable
neighborhood (over $300,000), while four others are
outside this small neighborhood, although close, and sold
for $150,000 to $199,000. Information that would be known
to real estate professionals in the area is missing. These
tools are worthwhile for obtaining “comps” of area sales;
however, they aren’t accurate enough to use in arriving at a
listing price.

PROFESSIONAL APPRAISAL

Real estate appraisal (also known as “property valuation”)
is the process of developing an opinion of value for real
property. This is the “market value,’ or what a willing
reasonable buyer would pay for the property to a willing
reasonable seller. Real estate transactions almost always
require appraisals because they occur infrequently on a
given property and every property is different or unique in
features and characteristics.

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