Sorting Through Multiple Perspectives On Home Value

Which one of the values above is the "market value" of the imaginary home in question? The answer is -- the GREEN bar -- a home's value is most often determined by how much other buyers have recently paid for similar properties.

A would-be buyer might WANT the home's value to be the "tax assessed value" -- but that might be quite a bit lower than the recent sales prices -- so a home's tax assessed value is not necessarily the home's market value.

A would-be seller might WANT the home's value to be the "Zestimate" from Zillow -- but that might (often, usually) vary quite a bit from a home's market value -- so a home's Zestimate is not necessarily the home's market value.

A would-be seller might REALLY WANT the home's value to be the same as the list price on competing properties currently for sale -- but those listings might sit on the market forever with unreasonably high list prices -- so the list price of competing listings is not necessarily the home's market value.

Now, this scenario would be much easier...

As you can see here, there isn't too much of a difference between the different values -- so it matters a bit less which of the value perspectives we use when estimating a likely sales price and planning for a potential list price.

But in the case where there is quite a bit of separation in these different value perspectives -- stay focused on what other buyers have recently paid for similar properties -- this alone is your best guide as to what you can/should expect the next buyer to be willing to pay for your house.