Find Out How Much Your Apartment Is Worth

Today, many real estate agency websites offer the service of online apartment valuation. You just need to enter the address, floor, area, building type, number of rooms, and year of construction into a ready-made form. The system will determine the price range, but the difference will be no less than 10%. Our expert Maria Litinecskaya explains how to determine the market value of housing more accurately, taking all parameters into account.

Maria Litinecskaya is an expert and Managing Partner at «Metrium Group» — a real estate and consulting company operating in the Moscow region and St. Petersburg. How Is It Done? Scenario 1

You're lucky – there is a similar apartment for sale in your building or even several. For an objective market picture, it's better to use statistics based on four listings. If you have information about the sale of one object in your building and several in nearby buildings – that's also good. You just need to calculate the price per square meter using a simple division operation.

You get the quotation for the "square meter" in your building, calculate the base monetary equivalent of the property you're offering for sale by multiplying the obtained price per square meter by your area. Now, you need to adjust for the uniqueness of your object. After all, it's different from the one your neighbor is selling.

What to Consider?

1. On Which Floor Your Living Space Is Located: Being on the first floor makes it 7–10% cheaper. The top floors of typical high-rise buildings are also less popular. If the building does not have a technical floor, there is a risk of flooding. An apartment "under the roof" costs 3–5% less.

2. Presence of a Balcony: If it exists, that's a plus of 3–5% to the price.

3. View and Direction of Light. Try to predict the emotional response of a potential buyer to the view from the window.

4. Quality of Finish. On the secondary market, this parameter is conventionally divided into five levels in ascending order: requires major renovation; requires cosmetic renovation; in satisfactory condition; freshly renovated; European renovation.

5. Seller's Readiness to Deal Using Mortgage. Agreement to use this mechanism significantly expands the pool of potential buyers, meaning that the time of listing the property can be reduced. After weighing all the advantages and disadvantages of the apartment, you determine the final amount that you can confidently set in the advertisement for sale.

How Is It Done? Scenario 2

You're less lucky, and you found a similar listing only within your district or even the whole area. It's important that the type of building matches the type of building used as a price reference.

Comparing brick to panel is incorrect. In the worst case, you can compare buildings of the same year of construction. The most significant factor determining price differences in this case is the location of your building.

What Is Important for Evaluating the Location?

1. Social Environment. The price of an apartment in a prestigious residential complex, surrounded by parks and rivers, will be significantly higher than that of an apartment in a less reputable area near industrial zones. For buyers, the social level of residents living nearby is always important.

2. Level of Infrastructure Development in the Area. Proximity to supermarkets, schools, kindergartens, clinics, and service industry enterprises clearly increases the appeal of your property to buyers.

3. Transport Accessibility. Overcrowding of the capital’s road network makes having several alternative transport routes to other districts especially valuable. The distance to public transport stops, and above all metro stations, is very important for the mass housing segment. The farther from the subway, the cheaper the area. A minus 1% from price for every two minutes of walking. For elite class properties, this rule doesn't apply.

Create a Legend for Your Apartment

There is a category of real estate that doesn’t fit into conventional schemas. If the apartment was once inhabited by a famous ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre, a renowned physicist, or a poet of the Silver Age, setting a price based solely on quantitative indicators is wrong. And if you own a share in an architectural masterpiece – that’s also true.

Unusual properties carry a romantic aura — use it. Even if you want to sell a former housekeeper’s flat, find out its history. Many people are ready to pay extra to be part of a legend.

Put Yourself in the Buyer's Shoes

A common mistake made by inexperienced sellers on the real estate market, as it happens in other fields, is overestimating expectations. People mistakenly believe that if they set a higher price, they will also sell the apartment for more. But it’s not true! There is an objective market situation. Overpricing and you won’t get any calls about your listing.

The golden rule of interpersonal relationships applies to selling an apartment too: for business success, the seller must learn to put themselves in the buyer’s shoes. If your price is 20% higher than that of a competitor’s similar listing, which buyer will choose? Today, you need to act very carefully, so it's better to consult with a professional.

Don’t Delay!

Why is it important to estimate your apartment as accurately as possible? To sell the property in a reasonable time. Even if you're ready to wait for the right client for years, too long exposure will work against you. If an apartment has been on sale for many years, potential buyers will eventually doubt why the item has remained unsold for so long. People will start looking for flaws in the property’s condition or its legal history (transfer from owner to owner), so it's better to set the price as accurately as possible.

On the Cover: Design Project by Inna Zoltmann