Home Valuation

[JB]

In Money, what is the most representative number to use for the value of a
home? Can I estimate this on the internet without giving away my personal
info? Thanks for any help.

- JB (Homeowner since March 2003)

 

[SJCOHEN730]

Subject: Home Valuation

From: "=?Utf-8?B?SkI=?=" (e-mail address removed)
Date: 1/24/2005 11:31 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: <[email protected]>

In Money, what is the most representative number to use for the value of a
home? Can I estimate this on the internet without giving away my personal
info? Thanks for any help.

- JB (Homeowner since March 2003)

If you bought a home two years ago you surely know what you paid for it. Right?
That is the TOTAL price including your downpayment plus your mortgage. That
should be your starting point. Create a new account in Money and call it HOME.
If you want to really manage your assets and liabilities in Money you might
also want to create a mortgage loan accounr to associate with your HOME
account. The Money wizzard can help you. Good luck. Steve

 

[JB]

Actually, I set up the asset and liability accounts (for the home and the
loan) when I purchased the house. Now I am wondering how to assess if it has
increased in value and which source is the most appropriate to use for
updating the value in Money. Any advice?

 

[Dick Watson]

Look at comparable sales in your neighborhood. (Some newspapers publish this
stuff from tax records.) Ask a broker. Put it on the market. Money can't add
any value to this problem. if that's what you are asking.

 

[Chris Cowles]

You might want to create a separate account called 'Unrealized house
appreciation' representing the difference between the original and
subsequent investments, and the increased value. Increases in unrealized
appreciation can be categorized to an income category that you exclude from
your budget. That keeps it from skewing your income statement. Likewise, you
may choose to (or not to) exclude the unrealized appreciation from your
balance sheet.

What someone paid recently for a house like yours is relevant to its current
value; what you paid for it is not. Ask a friendly real estate agent about
comparative sales records. You don't have to provide much in the way of
personal information. The size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, etc., of
your house are public information because they're on property tax lists.