MARKET VALUE

If you keep reading Dean explains how to determine the market value of a property.You can call a Real Estate agent and ask him to look up a specific type of property like 3 bed, 1.5 bath, 1,500 sq ft in a specific area (for example)on the MLS (multiple listing service).Also go to zillow.com that is a web site that banks use for values also.Hope this helps.

hi,how're you today?this is a place to be in investment.hopw we are going to be lifted through here soon......

come again sam?

Take zillow's ZEstimate with a grain of salt ie it's NOT gospel and often very wrong. Take a look at the actual comparable sales that zillow is using. How close are they to the subject property? How like the subject property are they (size, # of bedrooms, # of bathrooms, location etc).

Also make sure to look at the closing date. If the sale happened more than about 3 months ago, the price is NOT a good comp anymore.

While not in the same words, this is pretty much laid out in DG's book. But --here's how I do it.

To determine market value, you need to look at SOLD properties. If you go to the public tax records of the county / state in which the property is located, you can find the property by street address. Once you've found the exact property, look at the subdivision name. Run all the sales in that subdivision for the last six months (this is the same process that an appraiser uses). Print out the individual SOLD properties (not the refinanced ones -- just the ones that actually have changed owners). Find those that are most like your property of interest -- bedrooms, baths, and square footage, and lot size. Eliminate the highest and the lowest. Add the sold price of all the other properties together, then divide by the total number of properties used in your analysis -- this will give you an average SOLD price. Do the same thing with the exact same comparables based on square footage. This will give you square footage price. Take the average square footage price and multiple that by the square feet (from the tax record) for the property you are considering. This will give you the average square footage price for this prospect property. Now you have two values -- an average SOLD price for properties in the immediate area, and the average square footage price for properties in the immediate area. You can take it from there and figure out what the market value will be. You can look at the homes presently on the market for sale (but not yet sold) in the immedite area as well -- but note that they are "ON" the market, and until they are SOLD there are really just "what the seller is hoping to get". When it closes is what the buying public is saying they are willing to pay. Hope this helps.

Another idea is to call appraisers. Ask them for just a few minutes of their time. Tell them that you're just getting into real estate investing and that you're looking for an appraiser to be on your team of experts and was wondering if they might help you out a little. Tell them that this is what you've done, and do they think this is pretty well on the mark. Usually most of them are fairly helpful.

Texas Irish Lady

I have to agree with you. Zillow, along with other website are just that. They are not that accurate. I would use them as a starting point but always get the true comps from an agent or a title company. The Multiple Listing service maintains accurate records of property that has been listed, as well, they can give the history of the property as well.
The FMV is etremely important on figuring the offer amount, if it's off, you could lose.