Boston luxury condos for sale: Estimate asking price

Online Boston condo evaluation

When a seller begins to consider the process of selling a Boston high rise condo, an estimate of value is always one of starting points. When the right characteristics are taken into account, it is possible to become very specific with a high rise condo evaluation. However, the unique characteristics of typical Downtown Condos are many: what type of construction, what floor level, what is the square footage, what is the physical orientation of the condo, etc? There are generally two ways to approach a value estimate of a Boston downtown condo: Physical Inspection from a licensed professional or online from a website valuation estimate.

Professional Real Estate Broker

The more official path a seller may take is to approach a local real estate agent or appraiser for a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). I say this is an official approach because it involves a licensed professional who can visit the Boston Midtown condo personally and make an estimate of value based on other sales “of like kind” that have sold in the area. The physical inspection takes special features, location, and relevant market conditions into account. The only downside to this method is that you have to contact a local agent to provide this information. If you have worked with someone in the past or have a relationship with a local specialist, this is not a problem; if you don’t have a relationship with anyone yet, it may not be appropriate should you just be looking for a rough estimate.

Zillow, Trulia and Redfin

With the rise of national real estate websites such as Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin, it is now possible for a seller of a Boston downtown condo to generate a rough estimate of value on the internet without the opinion of a licensed professional. These larger websites that offer estimates apply algorithms to analyse real estate data in order to identify relationships between specific home or condo-related characteristics and actual sales prices. In relation to San Diego condos, characteristics such as square footage, number of bathrooms, number of parking spaces, Tax assessments, neighborhood location, and prior and current transactions are all taken into account.

Conclusion

I am approached by sellers of Boston luxury condos all the time asking me which method is more accurate. I think that in any case where a physical inspection of the Boston condo is possible will always be the most accurate approach; anytime there is an estimate without inspection, it will always just be a good neutral or objective guess at value. Typically, Boston condos are usually so unique in many ways; for this reason, their value estimates when using an algorithm may be less accurate. In this case, estimates from websites become starting points for conversation about the real value of a Boston condo. As an example of this, consider Downtown Boston specifically. One of the major issues in using an algorithm type method to try and determine value of condos in Downtown Boston is that within a specific geographic area there are many types of property that get bunched together. In a 2 or 3 block radius.