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How to Determine The True Value of Your Home

June 22, 2011 By sdtrueag Leave a Comment

Today’s housing market is pretty challenging. Besides tighter credit and stricter requirements for obtaining mortgage loans, as a homeowner you need to know the true value of your property. This is very important if you decide to sell your house because it helps you set a realistic asking price. It may also be important if you consider refinancing your home because you should be prepared for your creditor to examine the value of your property. Especially due to declining property values in several areas on a national scale, creditors determine not only the current true value, but also the expected true value of a property after a certain period of time, namely months or even years.

Here are three popular methods that you can use to determine the true value of your property:

a) Ask for a professional appraisal

One popular method is to ask a professional appraiser to carry out a comprehensive and thorough assessment of your home. The assessment involves a physical inspection of your property to assess factors such as the number of rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms, size of the lot, construction material, and many others. It also involves verification of property data through public records. Especially, if you are considering refinancing, presenting an appraisal by a certified professional to your lender increases your chances to be approved because it shows that you are really interested in lowering the interest rate on your monthly payments to avoid defaulting on your mortgage. Besides, a professional appraise will also include an analysis of the market trends including an evaluation of whether it favors the buyers or the sellers, how intense the competition is in the area your property is located, what is the level of interest rates and other important factors that should be considered in the determination of the true value of your home.

b) Ask for the help of real estate agents in your area

Another popular method for determining the true value of your home is to ask for the help of real estate agents in your area. Real estate agents can prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) that includes a statistical report on comparable homes in your area. To make sure the CMAis accurate provide the real estate agent with exact information on you property such as the number of rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms, age, construction and square footage. Moreover, include your full address and zip code and make a list of up to 10 roads within a mile radius. By locating properties in your area that are similar to yours and have been sold in the previous 6 to 12 months, your real estate agent can determine the true value of your home.

In regards to comparables it is very important to know how long they stay on the market in your area before getting sold. Generally, if properties stay long on the market, the area is considered a declining market and final sales prices are lower than original asking prices even if the true values of the properties remain stable. It all has to do with consumer confidence and how potential buyers do not trust a property that has remained long unsold.

c) Check on your tax assessment

Some homeowners check on their tax assessments to determine the true value of their home. However, this method is not always reliable because historically tax assessments are lower than the fair market value of a property. This happens because taxes are not assessed every year and tax assessments may be even performed every ten years in certain neighborhoods. Therefore, valuing your home based on your tax assessment requires a lot of attention. Also make sure to look at your property tax bill to make sure the professional appraiser did not miss anything. For instance, if you have tore down a garage but it is still in the appraisal, or if you have installed a swimming pool but it is not mentioned, you should make sure to correct these things so that your assessment is accurate and your tax assessment corresponds to the true value of your home.

The true value of your home is the fair price your property is worth in today’s market. It is also the first step in pricing your property correctly. Therefore, the true value of your home has to be correctly determined to ensure that the expected selling price is fair and competitive both for you and your buyers.

Written by Christina Pomoni
Financial Adviser – Freelancer Writer

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Cheap Ways To Improve The Value Of Your Car

June 22, 2011 By sdtrueag Leave a Comment

Keeping your car looking and running good can protect your initial investment in an automobile, and by using some cheap ways to improve the value of your car an auto owner can assure that the actions pay off when it comes time to sell or trade-in a vehicle. Regardless of a car’s true value, an auto that looks unattractive or appears poorly maintained will never fetch a decent price when the time comes for an owner to part ways with it. With a little elbow grease and a small amount of mechanical knowledge the car owner can gain a financial edge, and recoup a reasonable amount of the original purchase price of the car with a minimum of effort. Using cheap ways to improve the value of your car can turn a few hundred dollars and less than ten hours of personal labor into well over a thousand dollars on resale.

One of the best cheap ways to improve the value of your car does not cost a cent and begins with the day you accept delivery of your new car. It is imperative to retain the value of your car to make absolutely certain that recommended maintenance on your vehicle is performed on time, every time it is necessary. This means that when maintenance is necessary it is performed by a certified and factory trained technician at an auto dealership – not by your brother-in-law working in your driveway after consuming a six-pack of beer. The documentation that a car owner receives following scheduled maintenance should be kept in an orderly fashion in a secure location, to be presented at a much later time when the car is sold or used as a trade-in. These records show a perspective buyer that the car owner has done their part to ensure that the car’s quality and condition have been tended to in a responsible manner, and it is a great cheap way to improve the value of your car.

In addition to good maintenance and record documentation another excellent way to improve the value of your car is to clean the vehicle thoroughly on a regular basis. Once some individual parts of a car become too dirty they are beyond the point of cleaning, and this is especially true on a car’s interior. Just by cleaning a car interior and exterior once a week and detailing the car completely twice a year a car owner can improve the value of their car by ensuring that the car is always attractive in appearance. A simple measure such as utilizing a dashboard sun screen is one of the best ways to improve the value of your car because it save the car’s upholstery and carpet from fading and discoloring.

Written by twconroy

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The True Value In Renting From Your Local Video Store

June 22, 2011 By sdtrueag Leave a Comment

Being the owner of a business in town can sometimes be entertaining and sometimes it is just trying.  I actually had a guy come in last week, who I hadn’t seen in many, many years.  He and his family used to rent from us when we were in the old corner building, so that gives you a time frame.   He walked around for a couple of minutes and then stopped at the counter and said:  “I AM SURPRISED YOU ARE STILL HERE”.  I wasn’t really sure how to respond to this statement.  It wasn’t a question, It was just a statement.  (Well thanks for sharing)  There were many things running through my mind, but none really appropriate to say to a possible customer.   As he left, without renting a movie, I wanted to say:  Now you come back in 10 years and see if we are still here….but, of course, I didn’t.

     Do you rent from your local video store? With the advances in every day technology, video stores are becoming a thing of the past.  You are now able to get movies on demand with the push of a button. Is there still value in renting from your local video store? Of course, being the owner of a rental store, my answer is yes. Most of the time when purchasing a movie on demand you are getting a movie that has been out on video for over 30 days. Plus, we rent movies for or less. With movies on demand, you will pay, at least, .99 and up, plus tax. In addition, our local store carries much more than the newest  latest videos. We have a classics section, western section, childrens section, award winners section and many more older movies you can not get with movie on demand. If you just look at the money the value is still there.  If you look at the selection, are value can not be measured.

     What else do we have to offer? Coming from a small town of under 5000 people means there are not a lot of  large businesses  in town. I would say McDonalds would have to be the largest with every other business being locally owned and operated. As such, when it comes time for the schools, churches, scouts, little leagues, and more to look for businesses to support their cause, it is the small businesses that they go to for donations. Let me say here, I am happy to help when I can. I feel it is my obligation to support my town. My point is, try to get a donation from your local cable company that is making money when you purchase a movie on demand. So, as a small town business, we offer support to our town. Are you getting the picture? We need you, our customers, to stay in business and you need our business to help support our town. I think this is a pretty good value to encourage renting from your local store.

In closing, I would like to encourage everyone to support your local businesses. Whether you live in a small town or a large town, the local video store and other businesses are probably privately owned. By supporting them via renting your movies there or making purchases, you are in turn supporting your entire town.  Hey, It’s just my opinion.

Written by Catherine White
Owner of a small town video store. Active marketing professional.

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