What's the best (cheapest) way to find out what your house is worth now?

[cbmeeks]

We have only lived in the house for 1 year. We paid $102,800 for it and the house across the street (that had major work done) is listed for $110,000.

Also, a side question, we are on a fixed rate, 30 year at 6.75%. I know 15year would be better but should I try to re-finance to see if I can get lower than 6.75? is 6.75% a decent rate?

My area is Hixson/Chattanooga, TN

Thanks

[jmjj215]

Finding out what the neighborhood comps are doing is relatively cheap, though maybe not that easy. You could check out zillow.com - though I don't know how accurate its records are - yet.

[sakigt]

6.75% is good for todays rate. Wait until intrest rates drop...which wont be for a while, imo.

Small changes in intrest rates arent worth the change due to the fees that normally come with them.

[cbmeeks]

thanks guys. I will check out zillow.com.

Also, I fear you are correct. the work it would take to drop 6.75% down to 6.5% wouldn't be worth it.

I hope they go down to 5.00% sometime over the next couple years...hahaha

(not holding my breath)

[shengmei]

If you find out the house is worth less than it is appraised make sure you let the city housing commission know. I believe you could successfully argue to lower your property taxes.

[cbmeeks]

I didn't think about that. If that were the case, do you think my mortage would be lower (taxes included) or maybe it would be the same but more to the principal?

Probably doesn't matter a lot anyway because property taxes are low in my area

[shengmei]

I am not sure about the morgage.

One time I saw a scam on Law and Order involving banks overappraising poor people's homes so the people ended up paying for twice as much morgage as they are supposed to.

[cbmeeks]

poor people usually do pay twice as much for everything. That's why they are poor.

I'm certainly not rich but I used to be in that "stupid rich people!" mentality. I have been educating myself (not in spelling...lol) and I realized it's not some club that only people with high IQ's and winning lottery skills. It's simple. Spend less than you make and invest.

That builds wealth. Most poor people don't understand that. That's why you see them spending most of their earnings on cigarettes, beer and lottery tickets.

If I made $200/week and had a family, those would be the last three things I would buy.

Control....education.....persistance.....then wealth!

[fultron]

You can have it appraised which will cost a few hundred dollars. Or try contacting a local real estate agent and tell them you are considering putting your home on the market and want to find out what its worth. Most agents will offer you a free price evaluation in hopes of you selling it through them.

[Fern]

i found zillow.com to be highly inflated; my house is listed now for far below what zillow quoted, based on 4 realtors' CMAs. Try homegain.com

[Bluezy]

Zillow.com for a high-end range, and also your county property appraiser's website. Just type in your address on both sites will give you some basic ideas.

Other than than, you will have to pay for a fair market appraisal.

[sweeps]

Check your local newspaper and/or its web site for the latest real estate transactions. And then look for the properties that are closest to yours. That's all zillow does anyway.

[TBH]

When Zillow first came out of beta, it listed my house at $17,000. Now it's listed as being worth $55,000, but that's still less than half of what comparable houses on my street are selling for. So I'd take Zillow with a grain of salt. Or maybe a whole teaspoon. The acuracy varies widely depending on your area.

Try also homevaluebot.com

[cbmeeks]

yeah, they rated my house at like $75,000 and hopefully it's worth more than that. :-/

[b4freedom]

Ask an agent, or several. They’ll give you a good idea of what your house is worth.

The real estate market has cooled a lot, so don’t expect to see the gains of the past. Just remember, the real estate market follows a cycle. Eventually, it’ll start going back up.

As far a finding the best rates, I use www.bankrate.com. It allows you to find the best rates for your area. However, rates are going up, not down, so don’t be to hopeful.

[jmjj215]

I told my dad his house was worth $500,000 and he just started laughing his head off. I guess zillow was 'over' for his house.

[jodi]

Originally Posted by fultron

Or try contacting a local real estate agent and tell them you are considering putting your home on the market and want to find out what its worth. Most agents will offer you a free price evaluation in hopes of you selling it through them.

Speaking as a real estate agent, I would ONLY go this route if you were considering selling the place in the next few years (which the original post did not mention). Yes, we will do this service for free - but we work strictly on commission and do it in hopes of landing future sales. When done right, it can take several hours of time. Would you want to work for several hours with no chance of getting any compensation? Just my $.02.

[sweeps]

I agree with jodi. It's unethical to ask an agent do work for you without the intention of listing your house with her.

[lrjohnson]

cbmeeks:

Most poor people don't understand that. That's why you see them spending most of their earnings on cigarettes, beer and lottery tickets.

cbmeeks, I think you are making some pretty hectic generalizations here. Even just talking about "them" is dangerous thinking. How many of us on this site are poor now? How many of us may have been poor until recently?

I've in the "welfare" business, and while I can attest to some poor decision making on some low-incomes folks part, I'd be wary of making such generalizations. It may have been a toss off comment, so I don't mean to make too much of it, but it sure made me screech to a halt, especially the word "most."

[MarshallMiddle]

If you are interesting in finding out a quick estimate of what your house is worth go to www.Zillow.com Here you can enter your address and it will give you a rough estimate of the value of your property. It is a free service