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Everyone is examining real estate values.

How much is a house worth? How much should I ask when selling? How much should I pay when buying?

A word of caution, these questions are simple yet complex at the same time. Accordingly, this article will discuss the best way to decide the list price of your house as a seller and how much to offer for a house as a buyer.

Following are common methods potential sellers use when they are trying to determine an asking price for their home. Sellers often start by scouring the newspaper real estate ads. But most homes advertised in the paper tell very little about location or details that are important ingredients to arriving at value.

It is important to understand that the properties advertised are not intended to be a declaration of value. Far from it. These ads are meant to make an advertiser's phone ring. But you would be surprised how often a seller will refer to the price of a property he deems similar to his, garnered from the classifieds.

In the end, please understand this. You will never get an accurate estimate of value by searching the newspaper.

Along the same lines, home searching is often initiated by buyers by looking for deals in the paper. They too will point out an ad that justifies their outlook for the real estate market.

Sellers often site a specific ad as the reason they should ask for a higher price than the market can support. Buyers on the other hand, often site the same source, the newspaper, as a reason to make lower than market offers. You can do much better than this.

Another method buyers and sellers use to search for price discovery is to visit neighborhoods and gather flyers from listed homes. Certainly, this is an improvement over the newspaper. At least this way they get an actual look at the physical location and outside condition of the houses they are interested in. But it doesn't allow them to analyze any homes from the inside in order to make accurate comparisons regarding condition and layout, important attributes of actual selling price.

More recently buyers and sellers have been allowed to search home prices by using the internet. Both real estate agents and for-sale-by-owners show properties online. More importantly, you can sign up to receive emails whenever new listings come online.

Let's examine this idea closely. If you are a buyer you can use this service to great advantage. Simply get online and type in the city or area you want to search. Look for services offering emails of new listings. Then go out and view the homes. Over a period of time you will begin to see a price trend. What an ideal method for self education of your local housing market.

Just like buyers, sellers can do this too. Before you put your house on the market, use the same online services to analyze your neighborhood market. Go out and look at each listing and how it compares with your home. You can get a general idea of the price to ask for your home based on listing prices of other similar homes.

Here is an important proverb that is often used to define the value of a home and it is an accurate statement. Value is what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller. When it comes to selling a house or buying a house it is important to recognize this concept.

In the light of this statement the previous methods of estimating value stated above will only give you a general idea regarding list prices. But you need more facts. To sell your home at the highest price in a relatively short amount of time, it is crucial to be aware of the price willing buyers have recently paid willing sellers. Likewise as a buyer, if you want a house that suits your needs and desires at the lowest price then you also need to be educated. You need to know what price willing sellers are asking willing buyers to pay. You need information.

Certainly, there is no better source than a trained and experienced real estate agent. Real estate agents have access to a database of properties sold in your area and similar to your home. So whether you are seeking to sell or buy, the services of a Realtor will save you time and effort as well as money.

Before you arrive at an asking price for your house, it is critical to know what similar homes have sold for in the last 6 months. Place emphasis on the most recent sales. Then compare the original list price to the recorded sales price. Do this for a few days and you will know how to price your home. In addition, home owners can recognize the length of time a home sat on the market.

Let me explain. Before you decide to list your home, ask two or three Realtors to prepare a market comparison for you. Most likely you will notice a consensus by comparing data provided by these Realtors. Watch out for extremely high estimates or extremely low estimates. Make sure they each leave a copy of the market analysis with you so you can evaluate and verify the presentations.

Keep in mind when you are searching for a house to buy, you can use the exact same data provided by your real estate agent to make a realistic offer that is most likely to be accepted. In fact, you should insist that your real estate agent provide a market comparison analysis before you make any offer on a home. It is important that you see the most recent sales data as well as asking prices of current listings. With your agent's assistance, you can then make an offer based on real time data instead of emotion.

Last but not least, never make or accept a quick offer based solely on excitement. Do your homework in advance.

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Kate Ford, your mortgage insider, invites home owners, home buyers and home sellers to visit Get Your Best Mortgage Rate for more articles like this one. In addition, you may also learn more about strategies for selling your house in today's environment.

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