What Is Your Home Worth Today?

Four Numbers That Get Confused With Each Other

Automated online estimate. A computer model reads public records and recent nearby sales and produces a single number. It has never been inside your home. It does not know that you replaced the roof, finished the basement, or that the back yard borders a busy road. It is useful as a rough starting range and for watching direction over time. It is not a pricing recommendation.

Comparative market analysis, or CMA. This is what I prepare for sellers. It compares your home to closed sales from roughly the last three to six months, homes currently for sale, homes already under contract, and listings that expired without selling. Each comparable is adjusted for square footage, lot, age, condition, updates, garage, school zone, and location. The result is a supported range with the reasoning attached, not a single number with nothing behind it.

In-person property evaluation. This is the walkthrough that makes the CMA accurate. Condition, layout, finish level, deferred maintenance, and the things a buyer notices in the first thirty seconds all affect where your home lands inside the range. The walkthrough also produces the preparation list: what to repair, what to disclose, and what to leave alone because it will not return its cost.

Formal appraisal. This is an independent opinion of value from a licensed appraiser, usually ordered by the buyer's lender after a home is already under contract. Its job is to protect the lender's collateral. It is not a marketing tool, and it is not a substitute for pricing strategy before you list.

Put simply: the automated estimate tells you roughly where you are, the CMA and the walkthrough tell you where to price and why, and the appraisal confirms a number after a buyer has already agreed to it.

What Actually Moves the Number

Condition. Roof, HVAC, water heater, windows, flooring, paint, and anything a buyer will read as deferred maintenance. Two homes with identical square footage can sit far apart on condition alone, and condition is the single easiest thing to misjudge from the inside.

Improvements. Not all money spent comes back. Kitchens, baths, roofs, systems, and usable square footage tend to hold value. Highly personal finishes, over-improvement for the neighborhood, and unpermitted work often do not. If you have receipts, dates, and permits, bring them. Documented work supports a number; undocumented work usually gets treated as a guess.

Location. Street, lot, traffic, school zone, and what sits next door. This is the factor you cannot change and the one automated models handle worst.

Competition. What a buyer can see the same weekend as your home. If three similar homes are already listed nearby, your pricing decision is different than if there are none.

Recent sales. Closed comparables are the evidence. Pending sales show where the market is heading. Expired and withdrawn listings show what buyers have already refused to pay.

Current buyer activity. Showing volume, days on market, and how much sellers are conceding right now. This is the part that changes fastest, and it is why a valuation from six months ago is not a valuation today.

None of these factors matters in isolation. The pricing recommendation comes out of how they stack up together for your specific home in this specific month.

Request a Comparative Market Analysis

Tell me where the home is and how to reach you. I will pull the comparable sales, look at what your home would be competing with, and send you a written range with the reasoning behind it. If a walkthrough would make the range meaningfully more accurate, I will say so and we can schedule one.

What you will get back: a price range rather than a single number, the comparable sales I used, a short note on what would move your home toward the top or the bottom of that range, and an estimate of net proceeds if you tell me roughly what you still owe. No cost, and no obligation to list.

Your information is used to prepare and send your valuation and to follow up with you. It is not sold or shared with third parties. Please do not send account numbers, Social Security numbers, or lender documents through this form.

Option 1: Start with an instant estimate. Enter your address below for an automated online estimate. Treat it as a rough starting point, not a pricing recommendation. For a number you can actually price and negotiate from, request the comparative market analysis below.

What Happens After You Send the Form

Within one to two business days you will get a written range and the comparable sales behind it. If the range would be a guess without seeing the home, I will tell you that instead of sending a number I cannot support.

If you want to go further, the next step is a short walkthrough and a conversation about timing, preparation, and net proceeds. That is a consultation, not a listing appointment. Nothing gets signed, and there is no pressure to list.

The Sellers page walks through everything that happens after pricing: preparation, marketing, showings, offers, inspection, appraisal, and closing. If you would rather just talk it through, use the Contact page or call 615-405-8772.