It is sometimes interesting how people come to conclusions about what their property is worth.  Some insist on a certain sales price because of how much they paid for the property or improvements they’ve made to the property.  Some set their price based on how much they owe the bank.  Others set their price on the amount of money they need to move, while some sellers actually understand the reality of the market.  These folks understand that their property is only worth what one buyer is willing to pay in any given market and at any certain point in time.  That dynamic can change dramatically as we have seen in the past decade, based on supply and demand.

     I have a cartoon at my desk with drawings of a mansion, a medium sized house and a tiny bungalow.  The caption under the mansion reads, “What your tax assessor thinks your property is worth.”  The one under the medium sized house says, “What you think your property is worth,” and the one under the tiny bungalow reads, “What a buyer thinks your house is worth.”  I have to laugh about that because it is just so true to life! What is missing in this comparison is “What the neighbor thinks your property is worth.” I wish I had a nickel for every time a neighbor told me a property was overpriced!
     Realtors® go to great efforts to compare like-kind properties so that a seller can have a glimpse in time of what a property may be worth, but these market analyses are only an opinion of value and much like an appraisal, they are not fact.  But it is true that those opinions of value have the credibility of the sold-market data to back them up.

     Sellers usually err on the high side, while buyers look at it from the opposite perspective, so who is right?  The give and take of the negotiation process, really settles the truth of the matter!  Since no two properties are ever exactly alike, setting a value on a property is not an exact science.  So, buyers and sellers negotiate a value that may not be exactly what they want, but is what they are willing to pay for and to receive.  Their agreed upon price then becomes the basis of comparison for other similar sales at a future time.  If you’d like to know the value of a property, call a professional for a market analysis.