Why would you want to determine the value of real estate in this or any area without using a local real estate professional? That's like wanting to find out what it costs to fix your broken arm without speaking with a medical professional. It will save you lots of money, save you money and also be painless to speak with a professional rather than try to use a website or self anointed expert.

There are many local professionals who would be more than happy to help you, so make the call and save some money!!

Good Luck!!

OK, there is far more to it than that. We would drill down to the detail level. St peters/st charles is a very large area. Some sections of it don't get a very high price while others do. The builder, the amenities that come with the home, the school district, whether it has a basement or not, the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, how updated the house is all play a part, not just if it is "structurally sound". You can be structurally sound and be worth $100,000 because you are in a horrible area, back to the town dump and have no updates or be worth $400,000 for the same square footage based on being in a premier area, having a gorgeous lot and being totally updated with a finished basement (and by the way basements and garages don't figure into square footage).

When I am showing homes to a buyer, we search for the right home to meet their needs first. Once we find it, I do the comps for the neighborhood for them before we formulate what we want to offer the seller for the home. We look at what the homes in the neighborhood have sold for, what they are listed for, and where they aren't selling at. Very similar to what I do as a listing agent for a seller. We look at whether the home is priced correctly for the condition it is in, or whether it is overpriced or a "great buy". We also discuss what the value of the home will be after the buyer "fixes it up" to where he or she wants it to be, and if at that point it will be above the price point for that neighborhood and hence difficult to sell in the future (ie if it needs a lot of work done and by the time the work is done you are now over the average selling price in the neighborhood, it's a losing proposition to start with). By the time we are done, we have determined what the buyer wants to offer the seller as a starting point and often the point that the buyer doesn't want to go above during negotiations. But keep in mind that buying a home, unless you are an investor who is looking at rentals or commercial properties, is an emotional experience, not a logical one. You are looking at a HOME that is going to shelter you and your family, not just 4 walls. It's the Realtor's job to help you stay grounded and ensure that you understand where the price you are offering falls in the price spectrum, but at the same time, it is not the Realtor's job to tell you what to offer - we provide guidance and research, we don't tell anyone what to do.

Thank you everybody for youer valuable inputs. I now have a better understanding of how to best determine the price of any home... Can anybody let me know what would be the average price per square feet for a structurally sound home (that would be my main criteria when looking for a home) in Saint Peters/ Saint Charles area?

Raechel -
I also say be very careful using Zillow. Some of their information is accurate but some is WAY off. Our market currently does not publish home sale values outside the MLS so I'm not quite sure where they're getting their numbers. If something looks very high or very low compared to other comparable properties, the numbers are probably wrong or there is some extenuating circumstance. That's why numbers aren't always the most important guide...could have bad foundation (low number) amazing amenities, closing costs included in sale (high number). You're not in my area so I'm not asking for your business but would love to point you to a qualified professional who could assist you. If you're interested my information is included.

Trisha Lee REMAX Boone Realty, Columbia, MO
573-999-1000 TrishaLee@Remax.net

Past President Women's Council of REALTORS, Columbia,
Accredited Buyers Representative
Graduate Realtors Institute
Certified Residential Specialist
Certified New Home Specialist
e-Pro

Hi Raechel:

Be very careful if you do use http://www.zillow.com. I cringe when people tell me http://www.zillow.com is where they go and get information from.

The site offers whatever latest price they can get their hands on. If there are not many like properties in your area that were sold recently, the price can flunctuate a lot. It also does not account for any specifics about the house (which side of the street is it on? The view? The locaton? The upgrades? The layout? Bright? Dark? ..etc)

Getting a Realtor's opinion does not cost you a penny but you get great input - at least I don;t charge for it.

Best,
Sylvia Barry
Marin Realtor

zillow can answer the question on the price the homes sold for, but it can't tell you their condition, concessions, if it was a desirable lot or not, or a host of other things that can make a difference

Raechel,
http://www.zillow.com has a system you may want to investigate. It posts all of the recently sold homes and the prices they sold for in your target area. All you need to do is enter the property address and navagate to the comps.

IMPORTANT NOTE.....any tool like this needs to be used with care. The Zestimate that offers Zillow's opinion of the property value has been known to be inaccurate. Our recommendation is use the sold prices because they should be accurate because they come from the tax records and ignore the Zestimate.

With the sale prices you should be able to arrive at your own conclusion based on the specific information that applies to your situation.

Good luck,
The "Eckler Team"

It will be difficult to do because unless you know the inside and history of each home for the surrounding area and the current market condition of the area, it will be very difficult to get accurate estimate about the home.

Getting Realtor's help for the estimated value is really to your advantage!

Best,
Sylvia Barry
Marin Realtor

That is the million dollar question!

Realtors spend countless hours each year continuing their education on this - and all aspects of real estate. It's a process, learned and refined over the years with practical experience.

Dale is absolutely right...with great difficulty.

All the information you need is available but not readily accessible to lay websites. There are so many variables and pricing is a constantly moving target. If you're a home buyer your best avenue is to work with a buyers agent. They have more and better information available to them and are constantly evaluating home pricing so they can do it faster and better than the lay person. We're in the trenches every day.

The most important piece of information is that everything has a price that is determined by the marketplace. Every seller has a bottom line that they will accept when selling, and every buyer has a top price they will pay before walking away and buying something else. That's why they call it "negotiating".

If you'd like some recommendations for truly qualified buyers agents, I'd be happy to send you a couple of names or, if you're in St. Louis, just call Dale Weir.

Trisha Lee, REMAX Boone Realty, Columbia, MO
573-999-1000 TrishaLee@Remax.net

with great difficulty.

you will need to get the selling price for each home that might be a comparable, the information on what the condition of the home was, the amenities that the home had, the size of the home and it's features (the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, basement, etc). You will have to research the size of the lot, and whether it was a desirable lot or a non-desirable lot. Then you will have to weed through all of those to determine which are truly comparable and which aren't. (and none will be cookie cutter comparable unless they are new construction and no one has taken any builder upgrades or changes). You will need to take into consideration who has upgraded systems and who has not, as well as having upgraded kitchen, bath, siding, roof, etc. Then you get into cosmetics and the look and feel of the home when you walk in the door. now , even when you talk to agents, you will get a different value with each agent you talk to, since values are subjective, but the agents have the data readily available to them through the MLS and by being able to call the other agents and you won't have those available to you. All you will have is the tax records and those aren't updated immediately, plus those don't show you how long a home has sat on the market, if a contract fell apart earlier, if there were seller concessions, and a host of other details that the agents can determine from the MLS and being able to read the market and talk to the other agents.. The final value and only definitive answer on value however, is what a buyer is willing to pay you for the home. It doesn't matter what an appraiser tells you it's worth, or what an agent tells you it's worth, if no one will pay you that much for it, it's really not worth that much.