Appraisal
A professional licensed Appraiser may be hired for several hundred dollars to estimate the market value of a home. In most markets, Appraisers usually use comparable properties in the area, which have sold in the very recent months to help compute value. With a professional appraisal, an Appraiser will often come out and measure a home and take notes regarding its features and condition. An Appraiser may also use other valuation methods, such as a replacement cost approach. A report will then be prepared. Appraisals are usually considered to be fairly accurate, except when market conditions are changing rapidly or there are not enough comparable properties sold to use in the analysis. The appraisal approach may be slightly different for new construction than for existing homes.

Internet Valuation
In addition, one may use Internet-based services or Websites, such as Zillow to help estimate the value a home. Services like Zillow are newer services that rely upon consumers and real estate professionals to provide their estimates for market data. The services can be useful, but are better relied upon as supplementary services, until the reliability of their data has been determined, validated and verified through widespread use and analysis.

REALTOR'S Comparative Market Analysis
A good real estate professional, such as myself, can also prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to help estimate the market value of a home. This is similar to an appraisal in that it uses recent sales data of similar homes in the same area to estimate value. However, unlike a report prepared by an Appraiser, a CMA prepared by a REALTOR may also consider historical sales data and data from properties currently listed or pending in estimating price. It is a bit less rigid in its valuation of features and improvements, as most appraisers use a standard schedule for these items, and real estate agents will often rely upon owner-stated dimensions, rather than measuring a property. A REALTOR also will have a very good understanding of things like curb appeal, how the property could present itself with staging and the value of unique features of a property, that might go ignored in an Appraiser's report. Real estate professionals are usually NOT licensed appraisers, but for most purposes, a Comparative Market Analysis, used in conjunction with a visual inspection of the property to assess features and condition, is a reliable tool for pricing a property or to use for comparison when making an offer to buy a property.

If you are considering selling your O'ahu home and would like to see what some houses in your area have sold for recently, please enter your address in the space provided and I will provide you with a FREE BASIC REPORT with respect to those properties: