How Much are Houses Selling For?

General Market Snapshot
The median sales price in Harrisonburg for July 2014 was $199,250.  While the year to date median sales price, for July, was $179,250.


Buyers
Are you interested in a particular neighborhood for the school district?  The proximity to work?  The walk-ability to downtown?  

You may now be wondering what houses in the that neighborhood are selling for.  Sure, you can scour the newspaper, and the internet for answers, but why not ask a local expert?   A Realtor has been keeping track of housing prices for just that reason and can provide you with a market report.  The best part about this service, is that a buyers agent is almost always free to the buyer!


Sellers
Do you want to know what your house is worth?  An amazing part of home ownership is that, overtime, your house usually goes up in value.  Like any type of investment, Real Estate has it's ups-and-downs.  However, historically, the market has risen despite the ups-and-downs. 

So, now you've owned your home for a 5 years; or 10; or 30.  Do you remember how much you bought it for?  Are you curious how much the house is worth today?  

There are a number of ways to figure out your houses value.  One popular one is using the website Zillow.com.  The provide a zestimate which sometimes looks about right, sometimes looks great, and sometimes is disappointing.  The reason for this is because in the small print, Zillow claims that 25% of houses sell for 20% higher or 20% lower than the zestimate.  

The best way to find out what your house will sell for is by contacting a real estate agent and asking for a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA).  While preforming a CMA, a Realtor compares the houses for sale and the houses that have recently sold to your house.  In this process the Realtor will pull the pertinent information about your house to help compare.  This is the best way to get an idea of what your house will sell for at the current market.
 

Sources: Rockingam-Harrisonburg MLS; Zillow.com