A good agent should be able to provide you with a market analysis that will take into consideration a lot of these items when coming up with a price. Zillow et al are just zip code algorithms.

Appraisers will give some value to some upgrades. For example, brick will be an upgrade that is reflected in an appraisal. $1000 faucets won't be. Also don't get caught up in the "my lot is bigger" thing. If they are all typical suburban lots, size is pretty negligible. If your lot is also one of the largest in the neighborhood, it's not going to add a lot, if, any value. Going from .25 of an acre to .35 of an acre is insignificant overall. Going from .5 acres to 10 acres is significant.

I did not have any appraisals on the homes I sold last year, one of which I sold FSBO. I had however been following the market closely for a couple years so I had a good idea what comparable properties were selling for. The house I sold through a realtor had few comparable properties but we both agreed on what we thought it should be listed at based on one or two similar homes that had sold last year.

What type of many custom features/upgrades and how much larger is the lot?

I'm building a new home and I know the bank did give a bit for the fact our lot will be larger. Plus they also added to our appraisal based on number of bathrooms, and the fact we're adding a fireplace. I believe the pool also added to it but that's because we're in FL. Other things we're adding did not add to the appraisal from the bank.

If there are a lot of sold homes in your neighborhood then you have a pool of homes to compare. Appraisers use the same comps realtors use, so I would just use a realtor. Make an upgrade list to give to the realtor.

Also, property tax rate isn't a consideration at all. At least not in Texas.

I sold a house recently using a flat fee listing service. Before listing I asked 3 realtors for CMAs. I was upfront that I intended to market it myself at least initially. I finally decided to list it $30,000 above the highest of the 3 values because I felt that the realtors were undervaluing the lot. There had been really no comparable sales in the area to give me a good indication of value. My house sold in 4 days at full asking with back ups also at full asking. I still believe that realtor CMAs offer good guidelines but at the end of the day if you have been watching the house sales in your area, following similar homes for sale to see how soon they sell or if they have to drop the price, and perhaps have visited competing properties to make comparisons with yours, your own 'appraisal' may be pretty close. Good luck!

Back to the OP.... it's a matter of terminology. Do not confuse an appraisal with a competitive market analysis. The appraisal is done for the buyer and his bank, and works with the recent sold properties in your area to determine how much the bank will loan. The CMA is done by RE agents, and will include not only recently sold properties but also other homes that are on the market in your area. If you talk to at least three active agents in your area, and have each do a CMA for you, that's the info you will need to price your home to sell.

I 've looked at the CMA's and they all feature 'builder's grade' features, not upgraded features, ie;hand scraped wood flooring, tile, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, light fixtures, interior/exterior door hardware, exterior front door, and garage doors. These are the more expensive upgrades. I'm not sure of granite/SS, but don't consider them a big deal, and really don't give two hoots if they are or not. I was on zillow just to try and get some sort of idea, even though I know it's not a reliable source. As a basic house in the area it's 'valued' by zillow at $249K. With all the upgrades, my cost was $284K when built 8years ago. The home is in very good condition and should show well imo. I'm just trying to get a 'handle' on what the house would possibly list for *before* contacting an agent.

Thanks everyone for your input.

I don't know about your area, and price point, but in my area upgraded garage doors, bathroom vanities aren't really going to increase the sales price. They may make the house sell more quicky but they won't increase the price. The hardwood floors are a selling point if all the comparables have carpet, but if the comparables have hardwoods and your upgrade is handscraped then I suspect it won't add much.

i would get some realtors to give you a CMA and then ask them about the upgrades and if they add to the sales price.

ie;hand scraped wood flooring, tile, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, light fixtures, interior/exterior door hardware, exterior front door, and garage doors. These are the more expensive upgrades. I'm not sure of granite/SS, but don't consider them a big deal, and really don't give two hoots if they are or not.

None of those things will make your house worth more than the builder grade houses. Not one of them. Those are all cosmetic things and taste specific. It will help your house show better. If your house shows better AND your house is priced competitively with the other houses, (meaning asking the same price) then yours would most likely sell before the others.

Your extra land, depending on how much larger may make your property worth slightly more.

You can't use Zillow for a CMA.

Patty,

I don't know where you are in the Austin area, but we just sold our house in Leander for full asking price before it ever went on MLS. We are building a new house and didn't want to put it on the market until the new build was done. Our Realtor had it as a pocket listing knowing we didn't want to move twice. The couple we sold it to had looked at other houses and new builds and just didn't find what they wanted. This too was to be our forever house and when I retired I remodeled thinking that. I replaced all the floors with wood look tile, painted the inside, remodeled the master bath, restained the kitchen cabinets, put in new kitchen countertops, put crown molding in the living area and replaced all the baseboards with larger base, replaced the sliding patio door with double french doors and enlarged the patio. They walked in and fell in love. So much so that we are leasing the house back until the new house is done. We weren't sure it would appraise for what we asked but it passed with flying colors, no problems. Right now the market is really hot in this area so properties aren't lasting on the market and it's a sellers market. Look at the houses in your neighborhood that are listed and see how yours compares, then talk to a good Realtor. Good luck with your sell. I hope yours is as easy as ours was.

Emma and Cpartist, so my 2700 sq ft house irreguardless of any upgrades is comparable to a builders grade, bare bones home? Well as Frank Sinatra once sang, Ain't That a Kick in the Head. lol I'm confident the house will show quite well, and i'll recoup a good portion of my upgrades, but will remove the light fixtures and hang the builders grade back up. Only time will tell.....and possibly the right realtor.

Charintx, I can relate! I had an offer on my home in Ca before it hit the market $5K less than asking, and a cash back up offer at full price. The first party was given the opportunity to come up the $5K, and got the house, but I probably would have chosen them anyway since they were a young couple and this was their first home. The house was very clean, and a friend and I staged it very well, but it was a bare bone builders grade home, and in a good location. I'm 20 minutes out of Austin in a growing area, and most new homes with the same sq ft are $300+K from looking at the comps, and the tax rate is lower than Austin, which I also feel is a plus. Like yourself, I know someone will walk in and fall in love. Buying a house is a very emotional experience!

, but will remove the light fixtures and hang the builders grade back up.

Frankly when I just sold my condo, I removed all my quality light fixtures, packed them up to be put in my new build and got inexpensive light fixtures that looked good for resale.

I also had some expensive cabinet pulls in my two bathrooms and replaced them with basic HD ones.

Emma and Cpartist, so my 2700 sq ft house irreguardless of any upgrades is comparable to a builders grade, bare bones home? Well as Frank Sinatra once sang, Ain't That a Kick in the Head. lol I'm confident the house will show quite well, and i'll recoup a good portion of my upgrades,

The point is if all the builder basic houses in your neighborhood are selling for $300k then you may get $310k. So even if you put 50k in, you won't get it back. As mentioned, it will make your house show better and will probably make it sell much quicker. You don't want to price it above the other houses in the neighborhood because no one wants to buy the most expensive house in a neighborhood.

What happens if you're priced too high is one of two things. Either lots of folks will come through looking to see why you're the most expensive house in the neighborhood but won't write you an offer. So you'll wind up having to drop your price. Once you have to start dropping your price, it makes your house feel less desirable.

Or someone will come in with a very lowball offer to see where you might go.

From what you've said it's still a builder basic house, that you made nicer.

Thanks again for your honest opinions! The most diffucult part for me is knowing when I leave this house I won't have the nice upgrades in the house I purchase since prices have increased in value for the basic house. With that said, this house *isn't * a standard builders grade home, but high end build having won awards several years in a row in Austin, as well as Dallas.. My home was the last home built by them 8 years ago. There were many lots left and a Ca builder came in and purchased the lots left in the development, but the homes are not of the caliber of the older homes, in many of the finishes. Sure, the sq ft may be there, and I do know in the end, that's the only thing important to the lender. I'll just cry when I leave. ;(

When we bought our home it had a newly installed top rated energy efficient, Geo-Thermal heating and cooling system. In the side by side +/- comparison sheet with 3 comps this feature carried no additional value when compared to the other houses without. All 4 simply noted "central HVAC", check.

Look at it as having enjoyed your upgrades for when you were in the house. As having given you pleasure.

As for not being able to get the same upgrades, maybe the thing is to buy or build a smaller house so you can enjoy the upgrades you want.

A lot of the upgrades that you mentioned aren't cosmetic. For most people a garage door is a garage door. They won't pay more for a house that has a nicer one, etc.. I just bought a house, and the houses I saw that had better quality fixtures and fittings, were far more appealing to me. I wasn't going to pay more, but those houses sold more quickly. I think most buyers want homes that have been well maintained and usually those better quality fixtures tend to communicate that a home has been well maintained. So you probably won't get more for your house, but I bet it sells far more quickly than the competition.

When I was a kid my parents bought a nice home with a detached garage. It was only after they moved in that they realized it did not have a garage door.

They sold it about 5-6 years later and the new owners never mentioned that the garage door was not there - I presume "disclosures" had not come into play yet - at least in a codified manner.

I've been so indecisive about putting my house on the market i've come to the conclusion i'm waiting until next spring. The market may have cooled, but that's the chance i'll have to take, and deal with. Hopefully my head will be where it needs to be. ;)

ie;hand scraped wood flooring, tile, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, light fixtures, interior/exterior door hardware, exterior front door, and garage doors. These are the more expensive upgrades. I'm not sure of granite/SS, but don't consider them a big deal, and really don't give two hoots if they are or not.

cpartist wrote -None of those things will make your house worth more than the builder grade houses.

I think it depends on the area and market. I live in a 90s builder grade cookie cutter neighborhood that is sought after because of the school district. The houses that have no updates/upgrades have sold for 235-260 over the last year and a half... The same homes that have upgrades sold for 290-305... It could be the "hot" market where I'm at, but I know without a doubt, here in STL, the homes with the right zip codes, sell for more $$ when they are upgraded (especially when they feature the "in-style" new kitchen or hardwood floors)

Common sense tells us a new kitchen isn't cheap.. Upgrades done right are worth paying more. It's just like looking at an all brick home or a home with all siding.. you can expect to get more for the all brick home, same thing applies to nice upgrades, especially in a hot market.

It comes down to location & market imo...

The houses that have no updates/upgrades have sold for 235-260 over the last year and a half... The same homes that have upgrades sold for 290-305

Yes, in a hot market in a "good" neighborhood, updated will sell for more IF other homes in the same market have been updated to the same standards.

My apartment is a prime example. I sold for one of the highest prices in my "good" building. Why? Because I had put in all the "expected" upgrades without being too taste specific. (Well maybe my granite was.) Because our building is a sought after building, I was able to sell at close to my asking. But I was able to because there were other condos in my building that had also been updated that had sold at around the same price.

Other properties in my building that weren't updated have been selling for considerably less money. Just like your example.

However, as an example, if I was in another building where 99% of the people had decided to go with the builder's basic, carpet, kitchen, etc but I decided to put in an upgraded kitchen, hardwood floors, etc, there is no way I'd get more than the other 99% in my building who had decided the builders basic was good enough.

Put another way, if all the houses are selling in the neighborhood for $230 it really doesn't matter how many upgrades you put in. If yours is the only one with the upgrades, you won't get $290. You'll get maybe $240 or you'll get $230 but yours will sell much quicker.

Cpartist - very good points and thanks for the examples :)

I didn't read all the comments so maybe this was discussed, but I guess I was just trying to give some hope to the OP that maybe she could ask more $$ with the upgrades. Of course we have to be realistic too and I don't know all the details so I was just offering another point of view.