The proper pricing of a home in the wildly oscillating real estate market is certainly a matter which takes extensive expertise, skill, and savvy on the part of a real estate agent. Although you may have very firm ideas on what your house should be worth, your position is likely based on your attachment to the property and your lack of thorough understanding of the real estate market dynamics in your area. Your real estate agent is a professional who takes pride in staying fully informed of exactly how your local market is performing and thus their estimate of what your home should be listed for, is definitely worth considering.
A real estate agent examines a wide range of data in making his determinations about your property's worth. A real estate agent bases valuation estimates on information of the recent sales of comparable properties in your area as well as the asking prices of the current listings; factors in various adjustments for the differences between the properties; and even takes into consideration the historical pricing trends of your area.
It is interesting to note that the current listings have to be examined just as closely as the comparables that have recently been sold. Of course, only the most recent sales are taken into consideration as in quickly changing real estate markets, a Seller's Market can morph into a Buyer's market in as little as a year or less. But all of the most recent sales are profoundly analyzed as they can provide valuable insight into the real estate market trends in that immediate area which can have a significant effect on the valuation of your home.
When choosing a comparable property to yours, the considerations include the proximity to your home; the style of construction and architecture, the age and condition of the structure, the footprint and the total size in square feet; the total size of the lot; any upgrades or major differences in feature set; and the number of bathrooms, bedrooms, garages, etc.
Once all of the numbers have been duly crunched, the goal is to find at least three or four, and preferably a dozen truly comparable properties. In the science of determining comparable valuation more is better, so in some cases the number of comparable properties can exceed twenty. The number of comparables that can be located varies from neighbourhood to neighbourhood as in the Post-WWII "cookie cutter" suburbs almost all the houses were built to a similar plan, while in older or younger neighbourhoods as well as urban centres, there tends to be more variation in home styles.
Once all the data is collected it has to be reviewed with an experienced professional eye. Two individuals can perform an analysis on the identical data and come up with wildly different results if one is an experienced real estate agent, and the other is a neophyte. The valuation which the professional agent will come up with will be much closer, if not directly spot on, to the actual current market valuation of the property. That is why your best bet for an accurate and valid valuation is always your trusted real estate professional.