How To Value A Brownstone In Harlem

By Bretton Love

Whether you are looking to buy or sell a house in Harlem, it’s important that you know how much that house is worth so you can make set up a proper listing price or give a proper offer to the homeowner. Both buying and selling houses can be very stressful due to the large amounts of money they are worth and just like any normal person, you would want to ensure that you are getting a fair deal. With housing, “small adjustments” might be in the range of thousands of dollars. When compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions the house is worth, it does not seem like much.

So, as you’re looking into the housing market here in Harlem, make sure that you are doing your research and you know how to roughly value a house so you can ensure that you are not getting ripped off into the deals you are engaging in. Here are a few tips on how to value your house or another house in Harlem.

Look at the Comparative Market

Most of the time, your best bet for roughly estimating the value of the house is to compare it to the houses sold around it recently. For the most part, houses in the same area are built roughly the same and therefore should be similar in value. It is important to note that if you have done any renovations on your house and have improved it, this will drive the price of your house higher so be sure to include that when you start to factor in your estimates. If there are no houses like yours that have sold in the area, you might have to look further away. This becomes a little more challenging, as there are two aspects of any home purchase, the house itself, and the land. The experts from Invest Home Pro talk about the importance of determining how much the land itself that your house is situated upon is worth. As Harlem has become a much nicer area in New York, the land itself has risen dramatically in price and as a result a house in Harlem will sell for much more than the exact same house on the outskirts of New York. Looking at the comparative market to compare land prices and house prices is one of the first steps you must take into determining the value of your home.

Hire an Appraiser

So, you’ve gotten your rough estimate, but you’re still unsure if the price you’re thinking is correct. The best option now is to hire an appraiser to come in and look at your house. They will be able to provide you a better estimate of your house based upon the number of bedrooms it has, kitchen space, bathrooms, etc. Every feature in your house can help to add value and if you are unsure of these things, it is better to involve someone and be safe, than miss out on losing a few thousand dollars on your housing sale. Make sure you find an appraiser who will communicate with you and is within your budget. An appraiser will help give you that extra added safety net to determine the value of your Harlem household.

Use an Online Estimator

This last tip is quite easy for you to do and once again can save you plenty of money in the long run. There are websites set up where you can describe your home and the program will spit out a rough estimate of how much the house is worth based upon the area it is located in, the amenities nearby, and what is inside the house. Once again, this is not a perfect solution to everything and the number is not to be perfectly believed, however, it does start to give you a rough idea where that number will sit and where to begin listing your house at. Think of doing this as getting a second opinion, and with the big decision you’re making, the more opinions the better.

With the fluctuating house market in New York and Harlem, you need to ensure that you are staying on top of things and not getting taken advantage of. Looking at comparative markets, using online estimators, and hiring appraisers, are great first steps in getting to know the value of a house in Harlem. Houses are not a small purchase, so you need to make sure you are equipped with all the information necessary to make the right decision. Good luck looking at Harlem housing with these tips!