Professional home valuation
How much is my Miami house worth?
Submit your property details for a market-based value estimate; what the valuation covers and how long it takes gets talked through together.
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A professional Miami estimate starts with what similar properties closed for, then adjusts for the property's condition and for whether its view will last. Inside a condo tower, the line a unit sits in and its floor both move the number, and so does how sound the HOA's finances are. Automated estimates on public sites can miss how units in different lines of the same tower differ. A report from an agent who works the market gives you a price range you can defend, and that range does two jobs: it helps you pick a list price and judge an offer already on the table. For a mortgage, divorce settlement or estate filing, a licensed Florida appraiser's formal valuation counts instead.
How a Market Valuation Gets Built
What Feeds the Valuation Figure
An online estimate runs on square footage, your ZIP code and the recorded sales its model can match. It can't see the remodeled kitchen, the enclosed patio built without a permit, or whether you face the bay or a garage. It also misses a special assessment the association just approved. A working agent's valuation starts where the model stops.
You get a price range plus the sales that support it, so every line of the reasoning can be checked. That's a comparative market analysis, and under Florida law it counts as a licensed agent's opinion of value, never an appraisal. If your lender or a court demands an appraisal, this document won't satisfy that demand.
Method
From Street Address to Price Range
The public record
We check the parcel, lot and living area, year built, the permits on file and the county's values. Where the record and the house disagree, say a bedroom was added or the garage converted, we point it out early: a buyer's appraiser will be reading that same record.
The comparable sales
Closed sales of comparable homes nearby come first, and the newest, closest ones carry the most weight. Pending contracts and active listings add the direction of the market. Condo valuations lean hardest on sales in the same building and the same line.
The adjustments
Each comparable sale is adjusted up or down for the ways it differs from yours: square footage, condition, water frontage, view, which floor, a pool, parking, and how recent the renovation is. Ask for every adjustment as its own line item instead of one lump total.
Checks for Your Building or Lot
Buyers price in the costs that come with a property. With a condo, that means the association's budget and how much it holds in reserves, where the milestone inspection stands and whether a special assessment applies. With a house, it's the age of the roof, the flood zone, the elevation and what insurance will cost.
Your Range and What Comes Next
The finished analysis gives you a list-price range, the sales that back the low end and the high end, and a read on how buyers would likely react at each price point. What you do with it is up to you: sell, wait, refinance, or simply know.
Four numbers
Four Values People Mix Up
Your home may have four separate values at the same moment, each produced by a different party for a different job.
Online estimate
- Who produces it
- Listing-portal estimate: an automated model.
- What it rests on
- It runs on public records and recorded sales its algorithm can match.
- What it is for
- A rough first look.
- Its limits
- It can't see condition, views, renovations or a building's finances.
Comparative market analysis
- Who produces it
- Agent's opinion of value, from a broker or licensed agent.
- What it rests on
- Inputs include comparable sales, competing listings today, the property's condition and, for a condo, the association's numbers.
- What it is for
- It guides list price, offer evaluation and sale timing.
- Its limits
- It's an opinion of value, and Florida law bars calling it an appraisal.
Appraisal
- Who produces it
- Appraiser's value: from a state-certified or licensed appraiser, chosen by the lender when there's a mortgage.
- What it rests on
- Backed by a property inspection and a written report.
- What it is for
- Used for mortgages and refinances, estates, divorces and tax disputes.
- Its limits
- Each report serves a single purpose, as of a single effective date.
County just value
- Who produces it
- The county property appraiser.
- What it rests on
- Tax assessment: a mass valuation of all parcels as of January 1.
- What it is for
- Property taxes and exemptions.
- Its limits
- Built for taxation, not for pricing a sale.
Sources: Florida Statutes §475.612, on when a real estate licensee may give an opinion of value and who may issue an appraisal report; the Fannie Mae Selling Guide, B4-1.1-02, under which the lender chooses the appraiser; and Florida Statutes §§192.042 and 193.011, which set property assessment at just value as of January 1.
South Florida specifics
What moves value here
View and floor
Two units with the same floor plan in one tower can sell far apart, depending on the floor and what the windows face. Buyers will ask whether the view is protected, and a permitted project across the street changes that answer.
The association's health
Condo buyers have the right to a milestone inspection summary and a structural integrity reserve study, where they apply to the building, and buyers read both closely. A special assessment, approved or pending, gets subtracted from the price they'll pay.
F.S. §718.503(2)
Roof, openings and insurance
What a buyer pays for insurance hinges on how old the roof is and whether the windows and doors are impact-rated. Insurers are obligated to discount for documented wind-mitigation features, so a current wind-mitigation report is worth having on hand.
F.S. §627.0629
Flood zone and elevation
Federally regulated lenders require flood insurance on homes in a Special Flood Hazard Area, and buyers price that premium into what they offer. An elevation certificate showing the floor sits above base flood elevation gives a buyer a concrete fact to weigh.
42 U.S.C. §4012a
Permits for Your Own Work
A renovation counts in full only after its permits are closed. Open permits, or missing ones, turn up in a buyer's records search and may become credits at the closing table.
Land and water
On a house: the lot, canal, bay or ocean frontage, seawall and dock. For boaters, say whether fixed bridges lie between the dock and open water.
Useful to have
What to have ready
Nothing here is required to begin, but each item tightens the range.
- Kitchen, baths, roof, A/C, windows and doors: for each upgrade, note the year it was done and what it cost.
- Permit numbers for work you've done, or a note of anything done without a permit.
- Your latest insurance declarations page, plus a wind-mitigation report if you have one.
- An elevation certificate or survey, if you have either.
- If you own a condo, add the association's current budget, leasing rules and any special-assessment notice.
- Your timing and next step shape the advice you get, not the value itself.
Questions
Home Valuation Questions
What sets this apart from a web estimate?
An online estimate is a calculation on public data by a program that has never seen your home. A comparative market analysis is a licensed agent's work: your view, condition, renovations and building finances get weighed against specific sales, and the analysis lists the sales it used.
Does a comparative market analysis count as an appraisal?
No. Florida law lets a licensed agent give an opinion of value, but that opinion can't be labeled or handled as an appraisal. Lenders and courts that need a value turn to a licensed or state-certified appraiser.
Do I have to list after getting a valuation?
No. Asking for a valuation doesn't commit you to listing, signing anything or hiring anyone.
Why is the county's value different from market value?
Because it serves taxes, not sales. The property appraiser values every parcel as of January 1 by mass appraisal, and on a homestead the assessed value can rise each year by no more than the lower of 3% or inflation. The county's figure is a tax number, not a price.
How soon does a valuation go stale?
Accuracy lasts only as long as the local market stays put. A fresh sale in your building or on your street, a swing in mortgage rates or the turn of a season can move the range. Before you list, request an update.
Sources
The original sources behind the rules cited here.
- F.S. §475.612: value opinions and appraisal reports.
- Section B4-1.1-02 of Fannie Mae's Selling Guide sets out what the lender is responsible for.
- F.S. §192.042: the assessment date.
- F.S. §193.011: just valuation.
- F.S. §193.155: homestead assessment rules.
- F.S. §718.503: condominium disclosure.
- F.S. §627.0629: wind-mitigation discounts.
- 42 U.S.C. §4012a — flood insurance requirement
This service provides a market-based opinion of value, not a formal appraisal. For mortgage, divorce, or estate purposes a licensed Florida appraiser may be required. Submitted information is handled in accordance with our privacy policy.