One of the first questions every homeowner asks when thinking about selling is: how much is my house worth? It seems simple, but the answer you get depends heavily on where you look — and the differences can be significant.
Here’s what you need to know about reading those numbers correctly.
Why Online Estimates Are a Starting Point, Not a Price
Zillow’s Zestimate, Redfin’s estimate, and similar tools use public records and sales data to generate automated valuations. They can’t account for your updated kitchen, the addition you built, or the fact that your neighborhood has been selling fast this spring.
These tools are useful for orientation — they’ll tell you whether you’re roughly in the $400Ks or the $600Ks. But they can miss the actual market value by 5–15% in either direction, and in lower-turnover areas that gap can be even wider.
The Three Numbers Sellers Confuse
There are three valuations that come up when you sell, and they’re not the same thing:
• Tax assessed value: What your town uses to calculate your property tax bill. This is almost never equal to what a buyer will pay.
• Appraised value: A licensed appraiser’s opinion, typically ordered by the buyer’s lender after you’re under contract. It can lag the current market.
• Market value: What a motivated, informed buyer will actually pay right now. This is the number you’re pricing toward.
Understanding the difference matters — especially if your town’s assessed value hasn’t been updated in years.
What Actually Drives Your Home’s Value
How Much Is My House Worth in Today’s Market?
Four factors move the needle most:
• Comparable sales (comps): What similar homes in your neighborhood sold for in the last 60–90 days is the most reliable signal.
• Condition and updates: Renovated kitchen and baths, newer roof, updated HVAC — buyers notice and they pay for it.
• Location and school district: The baseline you can’t change, but it sets your price ceiling.
• Current market conditions: How much inventory is competing with your home, and how fast are things moving?
How Location and School District Set Your Baseline
Everything else you can change — but you can’t move your house. Location is the single largest determinant of value, and within any given town, school district boundaries often create sharp valuation differences between neighborhoods separated by a single street.
In Southern NH, proximity to highly rated districts like Londonderry, Bedford, and Windham consistently commands a premium. In Northern MA, access to top-performing schools in Andover, Groveland, and parts of Haverhill creates similar advantages. Buyers with school-age children or who plan to have them factor this heavily into what they’re willing to pay.
What this means for you: if your home is in a strong school district, that’s a built-in advantage your comps should reflect. If your district is less competitive, price accordingly — you’re competing on other factors like condition, updates, and lot size.
What to Do When Two Agents Give You Different Numbers
This happens often, and it’s usually not a sign that one agent is wrong — it’s a sign they’re using different comps. Ask each agent to walk you through the specific sales they used. Look at recency (comps older than 90 days may be stale) and similarity (square footage, condition, lot size).
A word of caution: some agents price high to win the listing, with the expectation of recommending reductions later. The number you can defend with data is the one to trust.
Get a Personalized Estimate for Your Home
The best starting point is a real valuation based on your actual property — not a zip-code average.
Ready to take the next step?
Use the free Home Valuation tool
Schedule a free consultation with Rob
