Create Your Own Home Price Comparison Spreadsheet

If you are in the market for a home, chances are you are looking to complete a home price comparison to determine whether the home is priced fairly. While real estate agents can provide home price comparison information for you, you can also easily create your own home price comparison spreadsheet so that you can complete your own home price comparison. Creating your own home price comparison spreadsheet is much easier than it sounds - here are some steps in getting started.

In creating your own home price comparison spreadsheet, first create a template with columns for the following home features: address, neighborhood, sale price, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, square footage of the home, lot space, assessed value (if your county home assessments are public information), and other information that you would like to collect in your home price comparison.

Next, you will need to collect recent sales information for the areas in which you would like to complete your home price comparison. This may be easier in some areas than in others. In my area (Pittsburgh), all recent sales are printed in the local newspaper and listed on our county's real estate web site. Look into whether these resources are available in your area. You can also look at your local realtor websites in completing your home price comparison, listing the above home attributes and the price that the seller is asking for the home.

Once you have collected this home price comparison information, you can look at the home price data in a variety of ways. First, you can consider a home price comparison based on price per square foot of the home. You can look at the home price comparison data for different neighborhoods in your area. You can also consider the home price comparison data based upon desired home attributes such as a spacious master bathroom or large backyard. If you want to be more exact, you can even give each home price comparison attribute an importance rating of 1-5 to determine which home you like the best for the price.

In any case, the home price comparison data that you have collected will give you some insight into what price buyers are paying for homes comparable to the one that you are interested in. This will give you an upper hand in negotiating a price for the home that you desire, as you will know the fair market value for the home.