Faith,
You have presented a question which every homeowner in the country has concern. How much has the value of my home declined? Some areas, such as Houston, Tx has faired very well and other areas such as Florida has experienced a real re-evaluation.
As real estate professionals we are faced with this issue on a daily basis, when listing a home and when representing a buyer in acquiring a home. Two opposing set of dynamics are in play with each transaction.
To best establish the value of a home, I utilize more than one evaluation process that are independant of each other. These three, four or five process (depending on the resources available for your community) will objectively value your home.
There is no way to project the value of your home without visiting your home, analyzing your community, and factoring your motivation.
Please give me a call this week if you would like a List Price Analysis.
Annette Lawrence
ReMax ACR Elite Group, Inc
727. 420. 4041

Faith, There are two different values here. An appraiser gives an opinion of value but a buyer determines value. If you are going to try and sell then you need to look at comparables that match size and basic features as your house and that should give you a good idea of the what your house might be worth. Depending on how many short sales and foreclosures have affected values in your neighborhood you can expect a 25% drop in price. It could be more, could be less. The new deck and aluminum siding should help your house show well but return in value probably not much.
Of course that is what we Realtors do is give out for free an estimate of what your house might sell for.
Feel free to contact me directly.

Hi Faith,

Great question and the answer isn't an any easy one. It depends on a number of factors. Was the home appraised as part of a refinance or did you pay for an independent appraisal (an independent appraisal I'd put more stock in). Also, values in various price ranges and areas have depreciated differently. Is it a single family home or a condo? Condos have really taken a beating and it's next to impossible to find financing for buyers on most of them.

Please read this link http://pinellaspeach.com/2009/05/11/pinellas-real-estate-sal… for an easy to understand analysis on what's happening with prices in Pinellas County. As you'll see there, single family home prices have dropped 24.5% from March '08 from March '08. Assuming that prices dropped at a steady pace of 2% per month (a big assumption - the % of decline varies over time), and using your example which means that 7 months have passed since the home was appraised at $280K, your value has perhaps dropped 14% to about $241,000.

This answer should be taken with a grain of salt, however. I'd highly recommend you call a professional Realtor that understands the market and the market statistics for a Comparative Market Analysis, and better yet, one that offers a Supply and Demand Analysis for your property. Each unique property deserves a thorough evaluation.

The deck and aluminum siding sounds great although you'll likely not regain that dollar for dollar investment. On the upside, it's fantastic that you made upgrades. Your improvements, alongside a proven stealth marketing plan from professional Realtors like us, will make the difference in determining whether or not your home sells if that's what you're contemplating. By the way, if you're thinking of selling and buying up, the world is your oyster!

Kind Regards,

Julia


Julia & Matt Fishel
Licensed Real Estate Consultants
Suncoast Partners @ Keller Williams Realty
(727)366-0324
Info@SuncoastDreamHomes.com


http://www.SuncoastDreamHomes.com
http://www.PinellasPeach.com

You have not provided enough information for a good answer but you can check out some stats here. http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/33764-Clearwater/market-trends/