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Finding a new home

Using Insights for ArcGIS

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Mark and Lisa are thinking about selling their home. Is it practical? How much can they get for their existing home? Where should they look for a great new home?  

If you, too, are wondering how much your house is worth and where you might want to start looking for a new home, you're in luck! Follow along with Mark and Lisa as they grapple with these questions, then download a <detailed tutorial> that will help you explore the housing market. The tutorial will show you how to use Insights for ArcGIS to create all of the maps and charts below for your own house, tailored to your own new home search criteria. 

The house was perfect when it was just Lisa and two naughty dogs. After Mark and Lisa got married, the family grew to include a third dog and visiting adult children with their families. It was about the 15th time Mark mentioned it would be nice to have a two-car garage that they started thinking seriously about finding a new home. 

Unfortunately, Mark and Lisa have no idea how much they might be able to get for their house. Lisa bought it in 2005 when home prices in Crestline, California were nearing their peak. Prices have been up and down ever since. They are hoping they won't have to sell at a loss.

Three naughty dogs

Have home values appreciated?

Lisa paid $355,000 in December, 2005. According to Zillow, the average selling price for three bedroom homes that month was $291,900. The current average selling price for three bedroom homes is $263,200. Dividing 263200 by 291900, they learn that homes in their ZIP Code are only worth 90 percent of what they were in 2005. This isn't good news. (Click on the chart below or open the chart in a new browser to interact with it. Put your cursor over the lowest point on the line, for example, to see what homes in Crestline were selling for the first few months of 2012. Click the info button to see the back of the card. To continue reading, click somewhere off the card.).

A shared Insights time series chart for Crestline, CA

What would be a good asking price?

To get a rough estimate of how much to ask for their home, Mark and Lisa add what they paid for the house in 2005, to money spent on solid investments such as a new kitchen, roof and hardwood floors. Next, they multiply the sum by the depreciation rate (($355,000 + $100,000) * 0.90). This gives them a suggested selling price of only $409,500. They will investigate further.

Work through the <tutorial> to calculate a suggested selling price for your own home.

Is it a buyer's market or a seller's market?

Next, they examine the buyer-seller index for their neighborhood. If their house is in a seller's market location, they will have a better chance of getting their asking price. In a strong seller's market, homes sell fast because there are more potential buyers than there are homes available. Buyers need to move quickly and make attractive offers if they want to find a home. 

If their house is in a buyer's market, there are more homes available than potential buyers. Many homes sit for a long time before any potential buyers even look at them.

Mark and Lisa determine the buyer-seller index for their ZIP Code is 5.8. This index ranges from 0 (strong seller's market) to 10 (strong buyer's market), so they are right in the middle. They also learn that most homes in their ZIP Code can take almost three months to sell (87 days, on average).

An Insights for ArcGIS table with housing market data for Crestline

Using Insights for ArcGIS, they create a page called Selling Our Home with charts, tables, and maps for their neighborhood. (Click on the maps below or open the page in a new browser to explore buyer-seller indices and the average number of days homes for sale are on market for other ZIP Codes. Zoom out and pan. When you are done exploring, click outside the card to continue reading below).

A shared Insights page with charts, maps, and a table

Lisa is a bit discouraged. She loves their home in the mountains and is wondering if they can fix it up so Mark will love it too. That's when Mark introduces a new wrinkle: what if they could find a home for about the same price, with better investment potential? 

Where is the best investment?

Mark and Lisa decide to explore the investment potential of homes close to their jobs. Using Insights for ArcGIS, they evaluate market health, median home values, and expected home value appreciation for ZIP Codes within a 45 minute drive time of where they work. (Click on the maps below or open the page in a new browser to explore market health, home values, and expected home value appreciation within a 45-minute drive time buffer of Mark and Lisa's important places. Click outside the page to continue reading below). Work through the <tutorial> to explore this data for locations in and around your own important places.

A shared Insights page with maps showing market health data

Next, they exclude all ZIP Codes where home values aren't expected to increase by at least 5 percent. They focus only on ZIP Codes with good market health and median home values in their price range. This narrows the search to 5 candidate cities. (Click the maps below or open the page in a new browser to explore the data).

A shared Insights page with candidate locations for house hunting

Mark and Lisa can now use real estate websites such as Zillow.com or Realtor.com to search for a new home costing about the same price as their current home, with better investment potential. 

This might take a while, though; we're pretty sure Lisa is going to be hard to please.

  

Are you ready to find your great new home?

Use the Insights for ArcGIS tutorial to see whether or not you should sell your own home.

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