What Is Your Home Worth?
Ask a simple question, get a simple answer, right? Yes and no. Thanks to the power of machine learning and a dedicated group of software developers in Edmonton, Alberta, artificial intelligence will give you an answer to the simple question, "What's my house worth?" in less than a minute. It's pretty cool - check it out now by using the Free AI Home Valuation tool on this page.
The artificial intelligence engine is learning and it accepts input to refine the property values it calculates to make it more accurate over time. When you receive your AI Home Valuation, you will have the option to sign up for monthly updates - you'll be able to keep tabs on your property value, and also see the AI learning and becoming more accurate.
WELCOME to the OttawaAgent.ca Home Valuation Centre!
Are you:
Curious about the current market value of your home?
Fascinated by artificial intelligence and want to see if it thinks your home is worth more or less than you expect?
Thinking about refinancing your home to use some of the equity for a project?
Coming up for mortgage renewal and trying to decide what terms you want based on how much equity you have?
Assessing your overall financial position in preparation for a major life event?
Looking to challenge an appraisal you feel is too high, or too low?
Thinking about selling your home or investment property, and planning your next move or acquisition?
Depending on your reason for asking "what's my home worth", you'll need a more thorough analysis. The value of your house compared to others like yours in the same neighbourhood, condo building, or even on the same street, could be a lot more or less. There are many factors that impact its value, from specific aspects of your property to market conditions and current consumer behaviour. Some of these factors you can control and others you cannot. Preparation is key to success - consider your objectives and select the level of home valuation that delivers what you need right now.
Three Levels of Home Valuation
I'm glad I had a chance to really read through the paperwork. All looks good and the parts you have added into the form are clear and straightforward. This is the fifth home I have bought and sold (now trying to sell) and I must say you are easily the most professional, clear-spoken, and pleasant realtor I've ever worked with. The buying and selling of homes is always really stressful but you have made the process this time around far better than my past experiences. It will be my pleasure (metaphorically as it will just be bank transfers) to write you a check at the end of this as money well spent.
Why Pay For A Home Evaluation?
As I do on my blog, Critical Thinking, and in my monthly newsletter, Ottawa Real Estate Monthly, I'm going to give you the straight scoop about real estate agents. Let's face it, every real estate agent has the same marketing campaigns to attract new clients: 1. offering a "Free Home Evaluation" or saying "I have a buyer looking for a house like yours" to attract seller clients, and 2. using their seller clients' properties to attract buyer clients, through Open Houses, Coming Soon or Exclusive Listings, and DDF or MLS listing feeds on their website.
Don't be fooled - the one and only objective of these campaigns is to find new clients for the agent, not to help their existing client sell their property successfully. A "Coming Soon" sign or Exclusive Listing is not going to build anticipation and increase the number of buyers interested in your house. How many potential buyers are going to see your listing before it hits MLS? Once it does, millions of people including every qualified, motivated buyer will find out about it. You get the best results when you attract the maximum number of potential buyers.
The same disingenuous undercurrent drives the Free Market Evaluation. Yes, any real estate agent is happy to give you an idea of what your house might be worth, and all the more so if you're thinking of selling. They will deliver the minimum requirement to satisfy the Free Market Evaluation promise if you're not going to list with them. In many cases, even if you are going to list with them you never receive a fully researched, professionally narrated market analysis. In some cases, you'll get "I know every house in this neighbourhood and yours is worth X", or you might get a big batch of paper (yes, they still use paper, glossy, and tons of it, ugh!) in a fancy folder with a printout of every house similar to yours that recently sold. They might even highlight a few things on those listings.
But try taking that Free Market Evaluation to the bank. Or to the lawyer if you're working on a divorce settlement or estate planning. In the vast majority of cases, it won't be worth the paper it's printed on. It's enough to engage you in a conversation about selling your house and the agent hopes to get your listing, and that's it.
But hey, it's free! Well, you get what you pay for.
My marketing plan for sellers always includes a comprehensive market analysis. It's a critical step in the process. It doesn't mean I'm able to perfectly predict the exact amount your home will sell for. It provides a solid understanding of the market value range of your property and an educated calculation of where in that range your house likely sits. It also provides a roadmap to a successful sale regardless of market conditions. It is a resource to consult when the market shifts or buyers raise objections. It helps craft adjustments to tactics when curve balls come our way.
My market analysis is not to be misconstrued as an appraisal. Only certified appraisers can author a bona fide appraisal. But many of my clients have submitted my market analysis to their lender or lawyer to successfully challenge an appraisal.
If we're working together to market your property, a Full Market Analysis that includes an Expert Home Valuation is one of my deliverables to you, included in the marketing service fee (commission). It's an integral component of the marketing plan. Agents who don't provide this level of detail are doing you a disservice.
But what if you're not planning to sell? Do you have to play a game with your local postcard-popping agent, asking for one of their Free Market Evaluations, perhaps pretending you're thinking about selling? You get this information for free and then tell the agent thanks, I'll consider you if I decide to sell?
This is why, if you're not selling, but you need a concrete idea of your home's market value, it makes sense to pay for what you need, without pretense on either side. Click the button below for a sample Full Market Analysis. This is an older version, from 2017. I'm always improving these reports; today they're more detailed and include additional sources that I pay for. I'm sharing an old version as a sample for competitive reasons - I don't want to display all my secrets publicly. Not that most agents would be willing to put in the effort or pay the costs required to produce a product like this anyway. It typically takes 5 to 10 hours to complete a full market analysis, including a visit to your property.
Full Market Analysis - 2017 Sample Report
AI Home Valuation
Your Property Value in Less Than a Minute
Don't be shy! No matter why you're here to find out the current market value of your home, you have to try out this new AI Home Valuation tool! It's fun, it's interesting, and it's a great place to start.
And it takes less than a minute!
I will follow-up with you to ask what you think of the service and the result - it will be interesting to see how smart you think the AI is - do you think your home is worth more, or less?
Simply fill in the form and your AI-generated home value will arrive in your inbox in less than a minute. The AI needs your address so it knows what property to evaluate. It needs your email address to send your Home Valuation. If you're simply taking stock of your home value or are just curious, the AI valuation may be all you need at this time. If you're making decisions about your property that hinge on a reliable valuation that other parties will be scrutinizing, you'll want to consider an expert valuation or full market analysis.
When you receive your results from the AI, reply and ask me to perform an expert home valuation. I'll ask you a few questions about your property that will help me distinguish it (positively or negatively!) from similar properties that have recently sold. I will pull MLS and land registry records and send you a detailed analysis and updated market value estimate. If it differs significantly from the AI's calculation, I will feed it the results to help it learn.
Expert Home Valuation
An Expert Property Value Assessment for Planning Purposes
Not selling your property but need more confidence in your market value estimate? An expert home valuation is a comparative market analysis (CMA) that will refine your AI market valuation and give you the ammunition you need for planning purposes. To conduct an expert market evaluation we will engage by email and I will ask you for more information about your property. Armed with this data I'll compare your home to the most similar homes that have recently sold. I pull MLS and land registry data and purchase MPAC reports to support and refine the valuation.
You'll receive a detailed MLS comparative market analysis that you can use to make decisions about potentially moving, passing the property on to your heirs, charting your course through a new partnership or bringing one to an end. Any situation that calls for a clearer understanding of your home's value. This report is generated without a visit to your property and does not include a full narrative explanation of the rationale and adjustments. It doesn't give you a roadmap to a successful sale if you are planning to sell.
Full Market Analysis
A Full Market Analysis To Prepare to Sell, Or Challenge An Appraisal
Performing a full market analysis is one of the early steps in a well-crafted property marketing plan. I developed such a plan when I started working full time in real estate in 2005 and I've continuously improved it over the years. If you're researching real estate agents to find one or more to interview for the job of managing the sale of your home, you might want to check out my marketing plan - click the button below. If you hire me to sell your home, you won't need to separately purchase a full market analysis.
The OttawaAgent.ca Property Marketing Service Plan
Perhaps you're planning to manage the sale of your property yourself. If that's the case, a full market analysis is one of the best investments in the process you can make. There are a lot of steps in a successful marketing plan. One that is the most difficult for you to do on your own is properly assess your market value and plot a course to maximize the proceeds of your sale. A few hundred dollars spent on a professional market analysis will arm you with the data and recommendations you need to set expectations, prepare the property, price it strategically and execute the rest of your marketing plan. It will help you defend your price, giving you justifiable confidence in negotiations (not to be confused with "being tough" with nothing to back it up).
Whether you're planning to hire an agent or manage the sale yourself, you need a comprehensive plan, of which a full market analysis is one component. I've written a primer that gives you the straight scoop on how to manage the process to net the greatest returns. It explains how the real estate industry functions, what tactics are effective at generating the best results possible and what doesn't work. You're going to be surprised - much of what I have to say is the opposite of what you'll hear from most agents. Many of the tools and techniques that the majority of agents use are not only ineffective, but actually diminish your success. Click the button below to check it out.
How To Sell Your Property, A Primer
Why do I explain how common real estate agent practices are antiquated and not designed to help the client? Because I believe in the value of professional real estate services and I know that consumers would too if agents always served the client rather than framing the entire client experience around growing the agent's business. Why do people hire agents who undermine their results? Because in most cases the agents are simply copying what other agents do - consumers don't typically don't sell properties very often, and therefore they don't question practices that seem familiar as they've been entrenched since the 1970's. Think about it - most of the tools that seem normal and irreplaceable were created before Internet marketing existed! Why would you expect open houses, yard signs, post-cards, cold-calling your "contacts", or door knocking in the neighbourhood to be effective in the 2020's?
The majority of agents who work like sales persons from 1995 aren't intentionally undermining their client's interests - they believe they're doing the right thing. The problem is, they don't actually think. They follow the crowd, doing whatever they see other agents doing without critically assessing how it helps their client.
For example, why would you allow a real estate agent to put a sign on your lawn with their face on it? Do you think this helps generate a higher sale price? Attract more potential buyers? At least 80% of condominium apartments do not allow "for sale" signs, yet these properties sell just as well as houses. The sign promotes the agent, period. While this particular example isn't overly harmful (although it subverts your privacy and may create security risks) - there are many sales tactics that truly undermine your interest in generating the most successful sale possible.
Are you tired of reading yet? If you've made it this far I'm 1. impressed and 2. honoured. Thank you! I made a video about the process of selling your home or investment property - if you're not in the mood to read through my selling primer right now, maybe you'll enjoy the video for a change of pace.
Preparing to Sell?
Might manage it yourself?
Want to challenge an appraisal?
Fill in the form to kick-off a full market analysis. I'll be in touch to set up a time to meet at your property to take notes, help you decide what work to do & what isn't worth it, and talk strategy.
I was going to wait to do my final “thank you's” until closing, but I just have to thank you now for the incredible job you have done with the sale of my condo.
From day one you were SO knowledgeable, kind and professional (and I just knew I had the right person once I talked to you)! I SO appreciate the time, texts, calls, emails and support you have extended to me over the past few years.
I found it extra daunting to do all of this remotely, but after <the designer's> recommendation and talking and corresponding with you, I was able to relax and take great comfort in having you at the helm.
Thank you SO SO much from the bottom of my heart for everything... your hard work, knowledge, experience and kindness are not lost on me (and are most appreciated)!
I am already telling my friends, family and colleagues about you (and will continue to do so always). I honestly think I have the best agent in Ottawa and feel fortunate to have worked with you.