<p>Is there any online calculator that will compute a rough guess of what a home may be worth based on its purchase price, purchase year and zip code? Zillow does not work for my area (not enough transactional data). I'm going to try to get a real estate agent in to do a market analysis next week, but I'd love a quick calculator to give me an idea. I haven't really seen many comparable homes on the market here recently, so I have really very little clue what our home is worth now. We bought in 2005 at what seemed like the peak of the market.</p>
<p>[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Federal Housing Index Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid)</p>
<p>Someone posted the above web address a while ago. I calculated my house value through it and I found it to be low. Zillow covers my area, so I did an average of the 2 numbers. It’s probably a good idea to get a couple of estimates. Real estate agents are probably going to want to pump up the value. In my town, our taxes are based on a low value of our house, but they calculate a market value, as well, and it’s listed on our tax bill. Possibly your town itself can give you a number. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks, that will be useful to compare with what the RE agent says!</p>
<p>There have been multiple threads on this topic in the past few months - rather than repeating myself, please see what I wrote in this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1016375-what-correct-method-determining-value-your-home.html#post1065783580[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1016375-what-correct-method-determining-value-your-home.html#post1065783580</a> It’s post #12, with a link to the relevant page in Kalman Chany’s book, and a link to an earlier post of mine in an earlier thread on the same topic. (I also have a more recent one, which pretty much reiterates the other two).
Like others here, I highly, highly recommend Chany’s book, “Paying For College Without Going Broke”.</p>
<p>We use our tax assessment.</p>
<p>Do not use any higher value for your home. Zillow and similar reflect market averages- not your home’s condition and some market-sensitive issues. A RE person is better, but will focus on maximized potential- and cannot predict how long it would sit on the market. An assesment? My friend’s home is assessed for 300k and, in mid-2010, two of her neighbors couldn’t sell when listed at 280. IMO, use the lowest defensible number. Keep a record of where you found this and how you made any adjustments, in case questioned.</p>
<p>I looked at the Federal Housing Finance Agency calculator originally too, but it only goes back to 1991 (which would be fine for you mathmomvt) but we bought our house in 1989.</p>
<p>If you go to fhfa.gov, it only goes back to 1991. If you use the link above, via finaid.org, it allows input for pre-1991. -?</p>
<p>I ask our real estate agent who sold us the house over 30 years ago, for comparitives.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link to the earlier thread, MomCat.</p>
<p>For those who use the Federal Housing Index calculator, did you use the minimum value it gives you, or the 10% higher they “suggest”. We’re getting a RE agent in here also, and I will show her the page of Chany’s book (we have it too) explaining that we need the fire sale value. But he also says they’ll compare to the FHI value so I’m pleased to have access to that as well.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I used the lower value. I feel it is defensible. But, between the finaid source (which is supp to be fhfa-based) and fhfa, I get radically different estimates.</p>
<p>We just refinanced a month ago, and were required to have an appraisal as part of that process. It cost $350, but I think it was worth it. It seemed right on target.</p>
<p>I got very similar values between finaid and fhfa. I actually think the value may be even less, especially the “fire sale” price from looking at a few comparables, so I will see what the CMA comes up with. I don’t really want to pay for an appraisal at this point but I suppose that might be worthwhile documentation if the CMA comes up below the index prices. </p>
<p>Thanks all! These forms are driving me INSANE!</p>
<p>I just tried the FHFA and gave an absurdly high figure–and I have a pretty good idea of what comparable properties are going for. The calculator doesn’t take account of the collapse of real estate prices in many areas. I wouldn’t use it.</p>
<p>It sounds like you need to be aware of what the FHFA calculator says for your house, and be able to back up a lower number if you put one down, because it looks like the Profile folks may use FHFA to see if they think your number is reasonable.</p>
<p>The FHFA doesn’t take into account the condition of the property, though. This calculator gave me a very high value and doesn’t take into account the fact that my home is in need of some major renovations.</p>
<p>keylyme - use the “fire sale” value, as Kalman Chany suggests,and subtract realtor commission. People tend to put <em>thousands</em> of dollars into their house before putting it on the market, wihch makes the market prices inflated.</p>
<p>We’ve gotten pretty behind on home maintenance. I know that in order to put our house on the market we would need to put on a new roof, sod the lawn (looks like crap, worn away in many places), take out a dead tree, do some landscaping, fix the leaky shower in the master bathroom, rip out the yucky carpet and put tile in the master bath, paint everything except the 2 rooms we did a few years ago, recarpet all bedrooms, LR, DR and study, paint the exterior (house is mostly brick, but the areas of wood need new paint), recondition the kitchen cabinets, and replace the garage door and the front entry door. This takes thousands and thousands off the “market value” that neighborhood comparables would indicate, but it seems perfectly reasonable to subtract out what these repairs/upgrades would cost.</p>
<p>^ And, that’s why you don’t use Zillow or an inflated assessment.</p>
<p>We’re getting a RE agent in tomorrow to do a market value assessment and we’ll be clear with her that we need the “fire sale” value without us doing any fixing up etc. But the housing index numbers were useful for me to get a ballpark of what a FA officer might “expect” our house to be worth, so that we know how much we may need to justify if we end up using a lower number.</p>
<p>On my first Profile, I put a note in the explanations box re: how I had determined the value- and maybe added, older home/maintenance deferred. Or similar. In your case, yeah, you can certainly note that the number came from a consultation with an RE agent. </p>
<p>I really think they’re looking for oddball warning flags- the folks in Beverly Hills or Manhattan who claim the home is worth 200k.</p>