Home value
What Is My Home Worth?
Not an algorithm. I'll look at the house, the comps and the competition and give you a realistic range.
The work behind the number
How I look at your property
A value is an argument, not a guess. Here's what goes into it.
- Recent comparable sales
- What genuinely similar homes actually closed at — not what they were listed at.
- Current competition
- The houses a buyer would be choosing between instead of yours, right now.
- Pending activity
- Where reliable information is available through professional tools, it helps read direction.
- Location within the city
- Two homes of the same size in the same city can sit in very different markets.
- Lot
- Size, shape, usability, orientation, what's behind and beside it.
- Size and layout
- Square footage matters less than whether the floor plan works.
- Condition
- Honestly assessed. Condition is where most automated estimates go wrong.
- Renovations and upgrades
- What was done, how it was done, and whether buyers in this range pay for it.
- Major systems
- Roof, HVAC, and any deferred maintenance a buyer would notice or price in.
- Buyer alternatives
- What else the same money buys. That's the comparison the buyer is making.
- Features a model can't see
- Shop, RV parking, views, river proximity, privacy, a quiet street, a hard-to-find setup.
Context
Why online estimates miss
Online estimates aren't useless. They're a rough starting point, and they're getting better at reading public records and broad trends. If you want a ballpark before you talk to anybody, they'll give you one.
What they can't do is see the house. They don't know the kitchen was redone last year, or that the layout is awkward, or that the lot backs to something buyers don't like, or that the roof has five years left. They don't know which two listings down the street your house is actually competing with this month. That's the gap — and in a market with this much variety between neighborhoods, ages and property types, the gap can be large.
So use the estimate as a starting point, then let someone look at the actual property.
A value is not always a list price
These two numbers get treated as the same thing and they aren't. Value is what the evidence supports. List price is a decision you make on top of that — shaped by your timeline, what's currently competing with the house, the condition you're selling in, and what matters most to you about the outcome.
Sometimes the right move is to list at the top of the supported range. Sometimes it's to position slightly under the competition and let the market come to you. What I won't do is hand you an inflated number to make you feel good about hiring me. More on that in how I approach selling.
“I’d rather lose the listing than promise you a price I don’t believe.”
You can read what past clients say about that on the reviews page, or more about how I work on the about page.
The process
Three steps
01
Tell me about the property
Address and whatever detail you have — updates, condition, timeline, anything unusual. It doesn't need to be organized.
02
I review sales and competition
Relevant recent sales, what's active, and how your house compares to the specific homes a buyer would weigh against it.
03
You get a realistic range
A range, not a single flattering number, with the reasoning behind the high and low ends. If a walkthrough would sharpen it, I'll tell you.
Request it
Tell me about the property
Address and a way to reach you is enough to start. Details help, but you don't need to have anything figured out yet. I prepare these myself and reply directly — no automated report, no follow-up sequence.
- Call or text
- (509) 518-7101
- jason@vrgrealty.com
Property in a specific city? The Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and West Richland guides cover local context, and the Tri-Cities overview compares them.
Value questions
What people ask
- How is this different from an online estimate?
- An automated estimate is built from public data. I look at the actual house — condition, layout, upgrades, lot, where it sits in the neighborhood — alongside recent comparable sales and what's competing with it right now, and then explain what supports the range.
- Do I have to be selling to ask?
- No. People ask because they're planning a year out, weighing a refinance, sorting out family property, or just curious what the house is worth now. There's no obligation and no drip campaign.
- Do you need to see the house?
- Not always. If you can tell me enough about the condition and what's been updated, I can usually give you a realistic range. If the property is unusual, has acreage, or has had significant work, a walkthrough makes the number much better and I'll say so.
- Is the value the same as the list price?
- Not necessarily. Value is what the evidence supports. List price is a strategy that also accounts for your timeline, the current competition, condition and what matters most to you.
Thinking about selling? Here's how I handle a listing. Buying as well? See the buyer side.