Compare your lot size, house size, year built, views. Your amenities add value for a buyer who values them. Having a home that looks well maintained and cared is good, but not much money value. Do you have high end kitchen appliances and bathroom fixtures? What year are your fixtures and appliances? What do you mean "less a range", having a "range" doesn't sound high end, is it a Wolf? Car lift is specific, most people don't want one.

I agree with the above poster. A car lift would be of no value to me. "Take it out and take it with you" would be my feeling. I would certainly not pay extra for it.

My former boss recently went through something similar. He came to rural north Missouri from an urban area in the southwest. He built a brick home with a circular drive, fancy features such as copper guttering and trim, and a bidet - features I assume were common where he came from. All on a 16-acre parcel just outside a town of 6,000 people.

In this area, the home was highly unusual and was viewed with suspicion and some derision. When he changed jobs and wanted to move away, he priced it at $549,000, probably about what it cost him to build it. He finally sold it last week - after 1.5 years on the market - for $369,000. General feeling is that he lost his shirt.

A realtor told me Zillow is useless in my area so I wouldn't worry too much there. What is the square footage of your home (not including basement, even if it's finished)? Buyers/Realtors tend to look at price per square foot. If you have lots of nice upgrades then it's reasonable to expect to get some more $$ per square foot. Plus you have acreage/private lot/lake access so you have to figure value there too. I would get a couple of professional opinions. It shouldn't cost anything but your time.

I just ran into this head on. Sold my home to someone who approached me. My home wasn't even on the market. While there is plenty of population and low end comps, my neighborhood is very unusual in that most homes are sold by word of mouth or to relatives.

That's exactly what happened. The buyer's financial adviser insisted on an appraisal. I'm an appraiser in a past life so I thoroughly understand the process. The appraiser had a hell of a time finding comps for the home. There just weren't enough similar homes. Even so, she couldn't make the value of what I wanted for something that wasn't really on the market. We did end up coming to an agreement. This was only due to the buyer really needing a home with a master on the main floor. I gave a little, they gave a little.

What is going to be interesting is what the buyer is going to do when they try to sell their monster historic home. They just had it appraised and it's worth about 40% less than what they thought it was worth. But, they still have to buy my house.

Zillow is useless and so is the tax assessors estimate. Remember that.

^^^homechef59's last comment should be in bold: Zillow is useless and so is the tax assessors estimate. Remember that.

Get an appraisal done, and get 3 realtors to give you market analysises.

There is a point where the price/market value of a home is determined by other homes in the area. No one wants to buy a million dollar home surrounded by 150k homes. The old saying " never buy the largest or most expensive home in the neighborhood/area" applies.

Most likely you won't get anywhere close to 1 mil if all of the other homes around you are selling for 180k. Even with lakefront views and upgrades.

Like Linda said if all the other homes are around $180,000 your home is not worth $1 million. Even on a lake lot. It may be worth double what the other lots are worth or even a bit more than that, but definitely not 8-10x more.

You wrote:

How much does interior accessories increase the value of the home?

Not one bit unless the rare person buying wants it.

We have a copper shower, a textured stainless shower, one huge kitchen, an upstairs master with a huge kitchen, less a range, a guest wing with a mini kitchen, 5 full baths, a car lift in the garage and many more items. Thoughts?

I would want to rip out every single one of those things so to me it would be a negative.

The only difference between your house and a house that is the same size with the same sized property on the lake is if yours is more up to date and nicer looking, it may sell faster. However, it will not sell for more money than the comparable house. Maybe a few dollars more, but not enough to base the pricing on that thought.

If other houses on the same acreage on the lake are selling for between $300-$350,000, then you're going to wind up with somewhere between those numbers IF you price it right from the start. If you price it too high, then people will look, but not make offers.

The things that will bring up value are the lake access, and perhaps the square footage, depending on how it is used. I'd look at the large kitchen, but I wouldn't want to maintain extra ones. The other extras are incidentals to me I wouldn't desire. So, basically, you are pricing for a rarified audience, which may not come around for some time.

Ps And a person wanting to spend $1,000,000 is probably going to look in an area where the average houses are going for more than $200,000.

This appears to be a classic case of over-imporving/building and overvaluing those improvements, within a sale. Maybe you can luck into the haystack in the needle, but I suggest a dose of reality, first. Harsh, but true.

Artemis says:

Ps And a person wanting to spend $1,000,000 is probably going to look in an area where the average houses are going for more than $200,000.

Yes. And a person wanting spend that sort of money, in this sort of market value, would do it for their own purposes, buy a cheaper property and then "do" to their own hearts content/taste/priorities.

Reminds me of my old town. The town is dying, and population has dropped by 50% in the past 20 years. The average house there, IF it sells, goes for about $30,000. That's a 4-bed, 2-bath, 2-car garage house on a half-acre. There's ONE house that's on the market for $999,999. It's been on the market for 10 years.

Your house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Period.

Is it *on* the lake? Or you just have access *to* the lake?

We have that issue here. Some homes have "deeded beach access." But they are not on the water.

One guy has had his house for sale for 2 years. It started at 995,000. It's now 699,000. "Beach rights." But you can't see the water.

Good luck.