Tracking real estate prices...

[Tod osier]

I'm looking to keep tabs on our local real estate market for a future sale and to keep tabs on another market for a property we own. One of the markets is really small and not many houses sell per year.

Is there a good tool and index that anyone can recommend to track house prices for a zip code or county or town? This is mostly academic, but it would be nice to have a number to track over time. I was thinking of something like price per square foot, but don't really know what is best. Average house price sounds not so great since the one market is so small and a couple expensive houses would screw a whole year up.

Maybe this isn't a great idea, but I like to keep track of the stock market too. It doesn't cause me undue stress when things are bad and I like knowing where things are.

 

[CorbLand]

Call a real estate agent in your area?

I am sure there is one but I feel like real estate has too many variables for something to really track it well. A brand new 2000 square foot house with granite counter tops, heated floors and 10 foot ceilings is going to fetch more than a 1950s 3000 square foot house that hasnt been renovated...

 

[Tod osier]

Call a real estate agent in your area?

I'm more looking for something where I can generate a graph by day or week or month sitting on my computer, alternating with reading Rokslide.

 

[riversidejeep]

I watch Zillow, they send emails updates all the time.

 

[CorbLand]

I'm more looking for something where I can generate a graph by day or week or month sitting on my computer, alternating with reading Rokslide.

See my edit I was typing when you responded.

My brother is a real estate agent, I will ask him for you.

@ianpadron is a real estate agent I believe.

 

[molliesmaster]

Doesn't Zillow do something like this?


*Riverside beat me to it.

 

[S.Clancy]

Realtor does this for you.

 

[Tod osier]

I watch Zillow, they send emails updates all the time.

I can't get it to do what I want (partly because I don't know what I want), I did find that it will give average home price, but I think that is problematic in the one market. I do have both houses on Zillow and have their estimate, but the one house has no history in the area because the market is so small. That number fluctuates wildly, like over 100K.

 

[Tod osier]

See my edit I was typing when you responded.

My brother is a real estate agent, I will ask him for you.

Thanks! Obviously a realtor has the nuance of what is happening at the moment and inventory, etc... but it seems like there should be a good place to get a graph over time for an area.

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

Altos Research will send you a weekly snapshot of your region and is very good. The weekly national market youtube/podcast update the founder (Mike Simonsen) does is very good as well and is short (10 min).

 

[The_Jim]

We just upgraded our house so I've been dealing with this. Price/SqFt. varies wildly depending on the quality of the home, 2 story vs 1 story, neighborhood, etc. I think your best bet would be to talk to a local realtor to make sense of it.

 

[CorbLand]

Thanks! Obviously a realtor has the nuance of what is happening at the moment and inventory, etc... but it seems like there should be a good place to get a graph over time for an area.

I will call him on my way home from work.

Both my brother and uncle are real estate agents and have been for some time. Both have said that Zillow and those companies can provide general overviews but nothing as of yet beats a knowledgeable real estate agent in the area. Like I said earlier, I think there are too many variables to get anything more detailed than what Zillow and Realtor provide.

Our lender sends us a monthly snapshot from HomeBot...not sure if you could get something from there sent to you.

 

[MattB]

Zillow is probably your best bet, but you simply won’t get good data in an area with low sale volumes.

 

[MattB]

Thinking more about this, if the sales prices are the things that are widely desperate, you might want to look at the price per square foot and use that as a rough estimate for how to value your home. There are other factors that come in to play like the size of the home, the amount of property the home is on, the quality of the construction, and other qualitative factors (e.g. large out-buildings, NF access, etc.), but you should be able to find some comparable sales that are closer to your property and come up with a simple model to estimate value.

 

[Bachto]

Hi, Real estate agent here. Zillow is your closest (free of charge, I am sure there are some you could pay for) tool from what it sounds like you are looking for without contacting your local real estate agent. You are right though, in small markets with limited comparable Zillow can be wildly off.

Price per square isn't the best metric to use as it can be very different from house to house depending on a myriad of factors like were mentioned by MattB.

Real estate agents will often do a free market analysis for you on a yearly basis just in the hopes that you will use them to sell or buy in the future.

Another option would learn on Youtube how to look at comparable properties and a market analysis yourself. It's really not super difficult once you know what you are doing and especially with the internet and every sale being easily found on Zillow.

I am not located in WY otherwise I might be of more help in being able to give you some numbers on your properties.

 

[Michael Rankin]

Did you actually claim your propert on Zillow and create an account?

Like others have said, that is a pretty good starting point. I’m always looking at local real estate, and here it is pretty dang accurate MOST of the time.

When you have markets going wildly up or down, it lags behind 30-60 days.

Price per square foot can be an odd metric to try to compare. In my area homes below around 2500 square feet have a higher price per square foot, single level even higher. When you start going over 3000 square feet it starts dropping very fast.

Are you just trying to plot the value of your properties?

Or are you trying to figure out if there is a certain size home that is a better investment over time?

 

[Hnthrdr]

I'm looking to keep tabs on our local real estate market for a future sale and to keep tabs on another market for a property we own. One of the markets is really small and not many houses sell per year.

Is there a good tool and index that anyone can recommend to track house prices for a zip code or county or town? This is mostly academic, but it would be nice to have a number to track over time. I was thinking of something like price per square foot, but don't really know what is best. Average house price sounds not so great since the one market is so small and a couple expensive houses would screw a whole year up.

Maybe this isn't a great idea, but I like to keep track of the stock market too. It doesn't cause me undue stress when things are bad and I like knowing where things are.

Tod are you trying to figure out best time to sell the house? Like time of the year or just see overall market trends? My pops has been an agent for 46 years and I grew up around it now like to dabble in real estate. So like many have said lots of factors. Real estate can be hyper localized, which is why location almost trumps everything. As far as timing sales, a broader look at rates/health of the economy may dictate best time to sell. From what J-pow is saying I’d expect rates to reverse sometime this next year. Once that happens buyers will be out again in force should cause the housing market to go a little nuts again. As far as a house in a very niche or small area, it may be harder to move it quickly, or it may be super sought after since there isn’t much there. If you want to fish I say go fish. Put your house on at the price you want to sell it at. Will these sales be for a 10-31 exchange or are you getting out of the real estate market completely?

 

[Tod osier]

Did you actually claim your propert on Zillow and create an account?

Like others have said, that is a pretty good starting point. I’m always looking at local real estate, and here it is pretty dang accurate MOST of the time.

When you have markets going wildly up or down, it lags behind 30-60 days.

Price per square foot can be an odd metric to try to compare. In my area homes below around 2500 square feet have a higher price per square foot, single level even higher. When you start going over 3000 square feet it starts dropping very fast.

Are you just trying to plot the value of your properties?

Or are you trying to figure out if there is a certain size home that is a better investment over time?

Have the houses claimed on Zillow. I'm definitely not trying to firmly estimate house price, more to just track the market to keep an eye on how things are doing.

We have a lot of things at play in our life and we are trying to time retirement. We have a fairly firm date (3 years and 14 weeks ), but we also have some flexibility. Could go earlier, might have to put it off, if the stock market or housing market craps out.

This is a want, not a need. Sometimes asking here, it is like magic and someone has just what you want - you don't know until you ask.

 

[txjustin]

Price per sq ft only works for a comparable property (same beds, baths, close in size, vintage, etc).

To get what you want you need sold data from the mls. Only an agent can get you that.


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[Tod osier]

Tod are you trying to figure out best time to sell the house? Like time of the year or just see overall market trends? My pops has been an agent for 46 years and I grew up around it now like to dabble in real estate. So like many have said lots of factors. Real estate can be hyper localized, which is why location almost trumps everything. As far as timing sales, a broader look at rates/health of the economy may dictate best time to sell. From what J-pow is saying I’d expect rates to reverse sometime this next year. Once that happens buyers will be out again in force should cause the housing market to go a little nuts again. As far as a house in a very niche or small area, it may be harder to move it quickly, or it may be super sought after since there isn’t much there. If you want to fish I say go fish. Put your house on at the price you want to sell it at. Will these sales be for a 10-31 exchange or are you getting out of the real estate market completely?

Not so much the timing, more so to keep an eye on things to make sure we are OK or on track. We have a retirement house and a current house (great financial move ). Proceeds from the sale of the current will be important, so understanding how on track we are is important, but mostly this is academic.

If the market slows with the current house, that may mean working longer. If it stays strong, full speed ahead. The retirement house the market is strong and growing, I'd like to just watch that growth.