Refinancing your home can be a great way to improve your financial situation, but you will need to know your home's value before you carry out that transaction. While a professional appraiser is going to be ideal, there are some simple steps that you can take on your own to get a rough estimate of your home's value.
Use an Online Calculator
If you only need a general estimate, then you can use an online calculator to figure out your home’s value. Most of those calculators are completely free to use, and they take many different variables into consideration. That includes the age of the home, how much the home was sold for in previous years, and the current state of the market.
Check the Value of Nearby Homes
You can also take a look at local listings to see how much the homes in your neighborhood are going for. That type of information will be especially useful if a nearby home was recently sold and the final price has been listed. With those prices, you will know exactly what is happening with the real estate in your area and what your home’s value might be if you put it on the market right now.
Consider Your Home’s Upgrades
Your home’s upgrades will need to be factored into the equation as well, and that step in the process is going to be slightly more complex. Depending on what upgrades you have carried out, you might have increased the value of your home by thousands of dollars. That is why it is so important for you to reconsider your home’s value whenever you complete a larger upgrade or addition.
Acquire a Comparative Market Analysis
Depending on where you live, you might be able to acquire a comparative market analysis before refinancing a home mortgage. That type of data is usually collected and analyzed by local real estate agents, and it could be updated as often as once every few weeks. To acquire an analysis, you can call local real estate agents to see if they will email the data or send you a free hard copy.
Once you have estimated your home’s value, you will then need to contact a lender to discuss your refinancing options. With the proper plan in place, refinancing your home could end up saving you thousands in the coming years or even help you pay off your loan early.
