Our Homes Value

Jordan and I got some great news this weekend!

As part of our research for an investment property, we contacted our mortgage broker from our first home purchase.  She did some market research on our current property, and she sent us every sale, conditional sale  in our neighborhood over the last year as well as all active listings.

We we went through the information (7 pages) we found two homes that have identical layouts to ours (same builder), and very similar interior features.   One sold in February, and the other in March for $376k and $377k.  I am very confident that after looking at these listings as well as other homes that are comparable (but not identical) that our home will have a reasonable market value of $376K once we finish our backyard this spring with deck, garage and fence.  Our home also has triple pane windows, an extra large parking pad (2*2 bigger than standard), and extra insulation - so there would be added market value there as well if a perspective buyer valued those things.

So. Excited.

The sale price of our home, before taxes, was $327,650K.  After down payment, taxes, fees, and mortgage insurance, our total financed mortgage was $348,818.80.

Our home has increased in value from sale price to market value 15% in 16 months!  Not only that, but we now are re-assured that the risk we took in putting 5% down, rather the 20% down that would have avoided CMCH fees, was the right choice for us!  We would still have been saving, and now, the home we wanted would have cost us $48,350 more then we bought it for.

We have essentially 'paid off' the fees, plus increased our equity by $27,181 (the difference between the mortgage and the new market value).

In a month or two's time, once our backyard is finished, I'll update our networth numbers to reflect the new home value.