Estimate Space Coast Home Values Before You Buy

With the home values and interest rates in Florida’s Space Coast at historic lows, now may be the best time to make that home purchase in Brevard County.  Even those individuals with a property to sell can find that selling their current home and taking advantage of a great savings opportunity on a larger home is to their advantage.  The money saved can far off-set any loss on the less expensive home.

One key to any home purchase is to do some home value research in advance.  This can be an intimidating task for many individuals, so a few suggestions and helpful tools are provided in this article.  Explore the resources provided here along with recommendations for your home value research whether researching home values in Melbourne, Cocoa, Rockledge, Merritt Island, or any other Space Coast community.

Estimating the value of your home for resale is just as important as knowing the actual current home value of any property you are interested in purchasing.  This can give you the advantage of having unbiased information before you buy.  It can also save you thousands when negotiating a fair price on your new home.  Whether estimating your home value, or the value of a property of interest, the suggestions below can save you time and money.

If you are searching for a home in the Brevard County Space Coast area, it is important to know that the Brevard County MLS (Multiple Listing Service) allows public access to their website. This is a great tool to search for homes in our local Space Coast communities.  This website is the primary research tool used by real estate agents from all our local agencies.  The information is updated constantly by the listing agent, and while some data is available only to registered real estate agents, there is a wealth of information provided for your home search as well.

First Step – Locate a Space Coast property you are interested in purchasing.

Note:  There have been some changes recently with the public access to our Brevard County MLS public search offerings.  The Space Coast Association of Realtors have developed a user friendly search tool which can be very helpful for your real estate search and valuation.  Take a moment to check out our page for Space Coast Real Estate to learn more.

While the Brevard MLS InnoVia website does not have a great deal of lead-through, it is easy to quickly locate properties with a few simple steps.  Review our suggestions below before you get started:

• Click the InnoVia link above or select the “Public MLS Search” link from Brevard MLS
• Select the type of real estate search you want to conduct (Land, Residential, Income, …)
• Refine your search by selecting appropriate items from the lists provided
• The refinements will be displayed on the left.  Select “Search” from below this window
• The results can be printed, and additional information (photos, etc) is also available for properties displayed
• Be sure to note the property address displayed since it will be needed to estimate property value

Another recommended method of locating real estate in Brevard County is the Home Finder Map Finder tool.   Simply scroll or zoom the map to locate available properties not only in the Space Coast, but also in areas throughout the covered regions.  Our experience shows that properties other than single family are often not displayed, but it can be a very convenient tool otherwise.

Second Step – Get a fair market value for Space Coast real estate

The next step in searching for a great deal on a home or other property in Melbourne, Viera, Cocoa, Rockledge or any other Space Coast community is to get a fair value estimate.  When searching for a property, you have already gotten a good idea of what the “asking price” is for homes in Brevard County.  Now it’s time to determine a “fair market price”.

Before you make an offer for any real estate in the Space Coast or elsewhere, do a little research to determine a fair market value.  Estimating your own home value follows the same process if you are planning to sell your home.  You can always ask the real estate professionals, but there are some reasons you might want to know a fair value estimate on your own:

• You want to streamline the process and do some advance research
• You want to avoid the hype and misdirection some agents engage in
• You are tired of waiting to hear from your agent
• The homes those real estate agents you are dealing with just aren’t right for you
• Sure it’s nice to have someone else give you their opinion, but is their opinion right?
• Does your agent really know the latest property value available?

Any reason you might have to do some home value research, you are probably right.  The next thing is to go to the resource provided with as unbiased an opinion as possible.  The Brevard County Property Appraiser should be your top choice here.  Home and other property values are the driving force behind this agency, so search their site.  There have been some recent improvements to their public access website which are great tools as well.  The resource we mention next is their map search which will help you determining your property value.

The Brevard County property map search can help you quickly assess home values for Space Coast properties.  Whether your own property, or a home you plan to purchase, knowing the current assessed value is only a starting point.  This value can be high or low, and is often not the real value of a home.  Knowing what other similar properties nearby have sold for can give you the same kind of information property appraisers for lending organizations will be using.  The amount paid by others recently goes a long way to determining a home value whether in Brevard County or elsewhere.

When you open the Brevard County Property Appraiser’s map, you will be able to select from a number of options which can help you determine if a property is reasonably priced.  Some of these options are not readily visible, so we are providing some hints below:

• Click on the property appraiser map to get started
• Click on the directional arrow on the left to open the left side panel for layers
• Make sure that the “Sales” box is selected (there are also a lot of other refinements available)
• Type in an address (just the number and street is all you generally need)
• Click on the “Links” button on the right (also displayed when clicking on any property) opens additional information
• By selecting “Property Details”, you can view a wealth of information about the property to use in your value determination
• Note: the property and surrounding area photos are often well out of date (explore the MLS site for more up-to-date photos).  Another suggestion to locate current photos of the home and surrounding homes as well, is to use Google Maps where there is often the ability to pan the screen for a true street view.

One key thing to get out of the Property Appraiser’s Map is to note other property sales in the area.  The red prices are current year, yellow is last year, and blue is previous year sale prices.  Even if these homes nearby do not have the same size or other features as your prospective sale, they can often influence the value of other homes in the area.  If you are looking to purchase a home, and recent sales nearby do not support the price asked, this information should be utilized when negotiating a fair market value.

Once you enter any valid address, the map can easily be scrolled or zoomed to the appropriate level to browse nearby properties.  Be sure to explore these other homes for more bargaining leverage.  If the prices are trending down, perhaps your prospective purchase is overpriced.  If the prices are on the rise, maybe you should offer full price for an undervalued home.

One thing of note related to Brevard County Space Coast area home values is that the recent three years sales prices displayed in the map browse function will generally show a downward trend.  Current sales are beginning to show an upward home value trend, but may not yet be readily apparent from just viewing recent sales.  Be ready to pay a bit more if you want a great deal in the Space Coast for your next home.

While it’s no secret that home values in Florida’s Space Coast dropped significantly since their height in 2005, prices have been steadily rising from the early part of 2012.  Zillow (Zillow.com) shows that average prices dropped from $210,000 to $90,000 in many parts of the county from 2006-2012.  The site also indicates that since that low in 2012, the same $90,000 home is now selling for $120,000 (check home value trends on Zillow).

Those prospective real estate buyers should be careful to not delay purchasing their dream home (or making a real estate investment) too long.  The truth about real estate and home values is that they are a major contributor to the inflation index when leveled out over time.  While it may be some time before the home values rise to their 2005 height, current prices are a real bargain and certain to not last long.  Do your homework and make plans now to invest in Space Coast real estate.