When you’re buying or selling a home, there’s one thing that should be on your mind — value. If you’re buying a home you should be thinking about getting great value for your dollar, and if you’re selling, you should be thinking about maximizing the value of your home. Whether you’re buying or selling, here are three important things to think about when it comes to value in real estate:
- Value vs. Price Many people confuse value and price as the same thing, but they’re not! If you believe a house you’re selling is worth more than its listing price, that’s only perceived value. Price is what that house is listed for. The perceived value of both the buyer and seller have to align in order to create the actual value. Many deals fall through because of the disconnect between perceived value and actual value.
- Financial Value This is what the home is worth in real dollars to most people. Because we make decisions justified by emotion, financial value and personal value get mixed up when buying or selling a home. If there is an aspect of a house that does not add financial value to a house, then it is a personal value.
- Personal Value This is what the home means to you — this is more common among sellers. If you make an addition to your home that you know won’t necessarily increase the financial value of your home, but that you enjoy personally, that’s personal value. Personal value is still important, but it is not financial value. This confusion can derail many great opportunities in the real estate market.
The key to understanding value when buying or selling a home is knowing value does not equal price, and personal value does not equal financial value. Whether you’re buying or selling your lake home or property, our agents at Lake Homes Realty can help provide insight into today’s lake real estate market and guide you in your home journey.