Appraisal in the Atlanta Market
How Much is Your Property Worth?
I took the appraisal course shortly after I got my Real Estate license (20 years ago) and the first thing the instructor told us on the first day was that Appraisal is not a science, it is an art. Just looking at past sales does not give you a formula for figuring value. Past sales are a factor in determining value but there are always the intangible factors that also affect the value of a property. The style of the decor, the quality of the finishes, the lot and how it looks, the neighboring properties and how they look…all of these factors (and more) contribute to value.
There are situations where people will step forward and pay more than anyone else has paid in the past for a home in a particular subdivision, when the market conditions are right. Generally these homes are updated, or even renovated, and are impeccably clean with manicured landscaping and great decor. Yet if we look at a computer generated CMA or a strictly market data CMA, it may not give an accurate analysis of that type of added value, because it only finds houses of roughly the same size and age that have sold in the last year within 1/2 mile of the subject property, and does not factor in the property condition and special updates.
The definition of Property Value is the amount that an educated Purchaser will pay in a normal market. Property values have gone up over the years which means at some point someone pays more than anyone ever has for a certain type of property. Figuring out where you fall in the spectrum of quality of finishes, is the task at hand. A lot of people think that their home is wonderful and flawless, but find out that not everyone else agrees.
The first thing that you need to do is to find all of the sales in the last year for houses within your area. "Your area" means, not just a 1/2 mile radius, but the neighborhoods around yours that are actually similar to your home. A neighborhood of 50’s brick ranches does not compare to a historic neighborhood built in the 1920’s or a new subdivision, no matter how close it is. So it is important to make sure you are comparing apples to apples.
Comparable sales
MLS COMPS Real estate multiple listing services (i.e. FMLS and MLS) do not share their "sold property" information freely with the general public (unfortunately) at this time so I can’t provide the same type of search links that I do for the property for sale. The rumor is that this will change in the future, but for now I can only send it if you ask for it . If you want information about solds in a certain area I can email you a link which will be good for 30 days which will let you see what has sold in your neighborhood. This will be a link to the First Multiple Listing Service data for solds according to the criteria you ask for.
TAX RECORDS This is a computer generated CMA. The way it works is that I have to imput an address and the program will find comparable sales according to a set of preferences which I can customize. Normally I look for houses within 1/2 to 1 mile within a range of 15% of the size, and within an age group (pre 1946, 1947-1970, 1970-1990, or 1990-present), It is generated through Realist which is provided by the First Multiple Listing Service. The information is gathered from data from the County Tax record. It shows two things which are not in the FMLS or MLS: square footage and the private sales. It has a map and a lot of information. Then you can do a drive by to see which are actually comps and just use those when trying to figure value. Sometimes you will find the properties from the Tax record in the MLS data and will get inside pictures and descriptions along with square footage.
RE/MAX of Buckhead
DAN Connolly
404-370-0050
O. 404-233-4633
Fax: 404-370-0377