There are also many online services that can give you the estimated value of your home for a small fee. These services are generally very close to the actual value and are quuite useful when trying to determine a property value. This type of search is called an AVM or an automated value search.

Knowing the monetary value of your home will allow you to make an informed decision on what to do with your equity. Whether you want to upgrade into a more expensive home or take out some equity with a refinance, you need to know how much your home is worth.

Most counties in the state of Ohio have county auditor websites, which you can find very easily by typing in the name of your county followed by "auditor" into any search engine. Once you find the site, most of them offer a free county property search section where you can locate a property in your county by owners name, address, or parcel number. After you have located your property within their site you can find a lot of the information regarding your home such as size, room count, lot size, total number of Bedrooms and bathrooms, year built, last and previoius sale dates and amounts, and much, much more. Many of these auditor sites will even have a picture of your home along with a sketch of the layout. After researching your property information (which is actually quite interesting) you can look up other properties in your area, on your same road, or in your immediate neighborhood to give you an idea of the value of your house. Many of these county auditor sites also have a link that you can click within your own property report that will find comparable houses to yours, simply by clicking the link. Remember though the only way to get an accurate gauge of what your house is truly worth you will need to contact your mortgage broker to have them order an appraisal or order an appraisal yourself through a licensed appraiser.

There are some other online sources that you may be able to check to get an idea of what your home is worth. Some city, county or state websites keep online records of property transfers. This information will give you a list of homes that have sold near you, and the price they sold for.

Many online valuation models or AVM's can be very misleading. As a former real estate appraiser, I have to say that the best and most realible method of estimating the value of a particular home is thru comparable sales(comps). Although the MLS databases are the most widely used sources for finding comps, they are not the only databases around. Certain services, like RealQuest.com and The Redlink are databases that anyone can access for a fee. They can be pricely, but they are pretty up to date. Also check with local county tax assessor's offices as they also keep recent sales information on hand.

It is important to also understand, once you have the recent sales in the area, what you need to look in order to properly analyze the data.

Some of the biggest items to look for include:
-Sq. Footage
-Age
-Condition
-Construction (Brick or Brick Front as opposed to Wood or vinyl siding)
-Distance from subject property (if not in the same subdivision/neighborhood, then no more than .50 mile in most major cities)
-Date of the comparable sales (no more than 6 months, in most cases)
-Basement or Crawl Space/Slab?
-Bathroom Count (yes, this is adjusted for)
-Garage or Carport

Although these items don't include everything compared between the subject property and the comps., if you have comparable sales that are pretty close to your subject property in these areas, then those comps. are a good indication of the value range of your home.

If you were to assume for a moment that someone would pay all cash for a property - the market value of a home by definition is the price at which you can sell the propery providing you have a seller willing to pay that amount. Since very rarely do people pay all cash for the personal residence, the lender requires an appraisal which will be based on comparables.

Your broker should be able to let you know a fair range on your property value. Brokers work with appraisers and should have no problem finding comparable sales in your area.

One thing a compentent appraiser has to consider in assessing the value of your property is the location and availability of comparable properties or "comps" that have sold in the last year. If the appraiser has to go more than a few miles, and in some cases from 5-10 miles, a lender may classify your home as "rural" based on the distance to get 3 good comps. If this classification happens, your interest rate will likely go up .25%-.50% or more.

The appraisal also must draw on good comps usually with less than 20% of the value being adjusted for features like more square footage or acreage.

Another area of concern with appraisals is how much acreage is with the property. Most lenders only allow value to be given to a house and 5 acres. Some allow 10 and a few allow up to 20. I

If you are looking to buy or refinace a house with over 20 acres, specialized "farm" financing may be necessary and it typically runs about 2% over conventional conforming mortgage rates.

Farm financing can be obtained through the USDA. Some lenders will allow you refinance conventially if you can prove that the acreage is not being used as a working farm or as they call a hobby farm.

The one single most factor in determining what a home is worth is the existence of good recently sold comparable properties. Without such comparables the establishment of what the home is worth becomes much less exact.

Keep in mind that the value of a home is never a definate figure. It is what each potential home buyer perceives it to be. A potential buyer may fall in love with the backyard or kitchen and be willing to pay more for the house than another buyer. For this reason even a certified realtor or appraiser can only come to an approximate value. The house ussually sells for more or less than the assessed value.

You can get an idea of what your home is worth by hiring a licensed appraiser to appraise your home. This option will cost you money, however is the most accurate form in determining the value of your home. There are also some free ways of getting an idea of what your home is worth; Having a Realtor do a market analysis, checking recent sales in your neighborhood, and using some online value estimate resources.