buying a home from a distance

The Benefits Of Home Valuations

30 August 2021

Jeffery Wright

Owning a home might be your keystone of wealth, but just how much wealth do you have at hand? Valuers answer this question through accurate assessments of property. Your home's value exists in different attributes but so do risks. Home valuations help you understand the risk profile as the buyer and its value as a seller. This article examines several scenarios when home valuations are necessary. 

Sales Listings

If you plan on selling your home, you need to determine its value before putting it in the public listings. The surveyor considers the size of the house, fittings, age, design, layout, and fixtures. Other essential factors include the garages and ease of vehicle access. Home valuation is necessary when your house has unique features that the listing agent could miss when preparing a comparative market analysis. Home valuations are better than your typical comparisons that involve comparing your house to the one next door. This 'apples to apples' approach leads to inaccurate judgment since the nature of the local market is not the only feature that matters when determining the value. 

Property Insurance

Does the sum assured always equal the value of your home? Well, insurance companies consider nearly all the attributes that the surveyor examines during a home valuation. Your insurer is interested in the size, age, condition, and building materials when determining the value of your home. However, your home's value depends on the market, while the sum assured is higher since it incorporates the costs needed to rebuild your entire house from scratch. Therefore, your home valuation is a great way to conduct due diligence to justify the premiums that your insurer demands. 

Taxation

Property taxes depend on the assessed value of your home. A government assessor assigns the assessed value and updates it after some time. The valuation process is essential if you are an owner-occupant instead of a landlord. In such a case, you enjoy the homestead exemption, which reduces your tax bill. You can hire a surveyor to determine the value of your home at the date when you report for taxation purposes such as inheritance tax, income tax, and stamp duty land tax. Therefore, you can incur any interest due to penalties and additional tax payables. 

Financial Decisions

Your strategic plans involving your house rely heavily on accurately determining its value. Home valuation ensures that the weaknesses of the depreciation schedule do not blind you when determining the value of your home. If you consider your home an asset in your financial plan, you need to know the extent to which such an asset can balance off your liabilities. This accurate information is essential in making financial decisions. 

When you want money to upgrade your home, you can get a loan from the bank and use the house as collateral. Your home's valuation report is essential in negotiating a loan that will help you improve the home and ensure it is livable or valuable enough for a profitable sale. The professional documentation of your home's value is also essential since it improves your credibility to lenders such as banks and other financial institutions. 

A home valuation is essential in various endeavors in real estate, including sales listing, property insurance, taxation, and making sound financial decisions. Contact a company like ScottGHarrison.com to learn more about property valuation.

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