Before estimating the price of your home, it is important to understand the different notions of value and price.
Real or intrinsic value: The value of a new house minus the depreciation related to the age and condition of the house. The value of the land must be added to obtain the real value.
Market value: Corresponds to the market value, i.e. the price at which a similar property can be sold. In order to calculate the market value it is necessary to compare houses with similar characteristics in the same town and define the price that corresponds to the current real estate market.
Yield value: Corresponds to the rental value of a property when it is put up for rent. It is therefore a question of estimating the annual yield that can be received from a rental property.
Collateral value: Corresponds to the value of the loan in advance, i.e. the amount that an organisation such as a bank or insurance company agrees to lend for a mortgage loan.
Selling price: The price at which the seller is willing to sell his house. This price will be displayed on his real estate ad. The seller will have to define this selling price based on the real value of his property and by comparing the current real estate price in order to facilitate the sale of his house.
Transaction price: Price defined once the seller and the buyer have agreed on the final amount after negotiation. It will therefore be the price at which the house will have been sold and may be different from the original selling price.
The price per sqm of a city is the average of all the prices per sqm of real estate in a city. When looking for a price per m² it is therefore important to specify whether you are looking for the price per m² of an apartment or a house, as the two prices are very different.
In the case of RealAdvisor, they differentiate the price per m² of houses and the price per m² of apartments. Their database takes into account the real estate offers of 14 Swiss real estate portals, which allows them to calculate the most reliable price per m² on the market by city, but also by postcode and neighbourhood.
In the case of the average price per m² for a house in the Jonction - Plainpalais district in Geneva, it is currently CHF 10,833.
You will then have to multiply this price per m² by the surface area of your house and you will have an idea of the average price of your house.
One of the most accessible methods to evaluate one's home and analyze similar homes for sale. You can find out about the selling prices of houses in your neighbourhood. If a house on your street was sold for CHF 1,000,000, you can use this price to determine your own.
You can then compare the main features of this house with yours based on the main features of both houses as:
The larger your surface area and facilities are, the more the value of your property will increase. On the other hand, if the house sold was built in 1990 and yours was built in 1950, your house will have much less value because a property loses value over the years.
You can make these comparisons easily on real estate listing sites. By selecting houses in your town and with similar characteristics. The results will provide you with a price range. You will refine your price by getting closer to the selling price of the house most similar to yours. It is also important to note that if a house has already been on sale for a year, it is possible that its selling price is overestimated, so you will have to adjust your selling price taking this into account.
The estimating tools have access to a database of several thousand houses that are currently for sale, but also to prices from transactions that have recently taken place. The larger their database, the more accurate their estimates will be.
Note that if your home has rare features, it will be difficult to provide an accurate estimate because the number of similar properties will be too small to make a comparison. In the case of a unique property such as a chateau or luxury home the ideal would be to have your home professionally appraised.
To get your online estimate, you must enter:
Your house will then be compared to all houses sold and currently for sale and the tool will provide you with an amount that is consistent with the real estate market price.
Contrary to popular belief, an estimate by a professional is not necessarily paid for and perhaps without commitment. Indeed, you can contact an agent to estimate your house for free, he will be paid only if you accept that he helps you sell your house. If he concludes the transaction he will be entitled to a percentage equal to about 3 or 5% of the amount of the transaction.
The advantage of using a real estate expert and his experience but above all his knowledge of the local market. He will be able to take into account all the elements related to the location and the development or improvement projects in the city that can considerably increase the value of your home. He will also analyze certain documents for the most accurate estimate, such as the results of the technical diagnostics of your house for example.
See here: the complete list of documents needed for a home appraisal.
Finally, he will also be able to give you some advice on how to enhance the value of your home, such as renovations that are essential for the sale.
All the houses are unique and have a different market value, on the same street a semi-detached house will have a lower price than a semi-detached house at the end of the street.
It is therefore important to take into account all the specific characteristics associated with a house:
Semi-detached or semi-detached house deters thieves more than a detached house. This advantage is not important enough to add value but can be an asset for those looking for more security.
A semi-detached house is therefore generally more valuable than a semi-detached house. And a detached house has more value than a semi-detached house.
Some diagnoses are mandatory and have a strong impact on the price of the house.
Not all areas of a house have the same value and cannot be added in the calculation of the price per m².
When calculating your price, it is therefore important to check which surface should be taken into account. The gross area is usually 10% higher than the net living area.
In the cantons of Neuchâtel, Fribourg and Vaud, for example, the surface area to be used and the net living area, whereas in Valais it is the gross living area that applies.
The areas considered as habitable:
The garden generally represents 60% of the land surface, the house represents 40%. If your land is constructible, it will necessarily be more expensive than a non-constructible land. For a promoter, it will take into account 100% of the value of the land only, because his goal will be to raze the house and build on it. For a private individual, the fact of being able to enlarge his house will be a very interesting value-added.
You can add the price of the installation of the swimming pool to the value of the house if it is recent and well maintained. The value of the pool will decrease depending on the year of construction and its condition.
A house loses about 0.5% of its replacement value each year. If a house was built in 1940, in 2020 the house will have lost 40% of its value. 40 years later, a house that cost CHF 500,000 in 1940 will have a value of approximately CHF 300,000.
You can use your invoices with the detailed work to add to the value of the house. If the work was carried out in 2010 and had cost CHF 30,000, the depreciation linked to the past 10 years will have to be reduced again. Knowing that a house loses approximately 0.5% of its value each year, in 2020 the work loses 5% of its value, you will have to add CHF 28,500 to the price of the house instead of CHF 30,000.