Real estate appraisal services

Location or Neighborhood

In Chicago, the neighborhood the property is located in can have a drastic effect on value. The proximity of your real estate to public transportation (CTA or Metra stations) as well as restaurants, shopping, grocery stores, quality schools, parks, etc all affect value. Conversely, having a location with noise pollution can have an adverse effect on the value of your real estate (directly across from train tracks, on a busy street, next to a gas station, etc.).

Gross Living Area (GLA).

GLA is defined as all liveable space that is 100% above grade. The amount of value per square foot is determined on a case by case basis depending on many factors.

Condition or Effective age.

The effective age of the home is determined by the amount of updating or overall condition. For example a home built in 1955 could have a 10 year effective age if the home has recently had a significant amount of renovations completed. Just because you spend $25,000 on a new kitchen that does not necessarily increase your Orange County California home's value by exactly that amount.

Quality of Construction.

This refers to the materials used to build the home and the overall quality of finishes on both the interior and exterior. An all brick home compared to a home with aluminum siding or stucco, granite countertops compared to laminate countertops, hardwood flooring compared to carpeting, solid core 6-panel interior doors compared to hollow core flat panel doors, etc

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Lot size. A larger lot can add significant value. This is especially true when looking at possible "tear downs" in Chicago because the size of the new construction home is typically limited by the zoning department to a percentage of the size of the lot. A 30' x 125' lot compared to a 25' x 125' lot can have a significantly higher value in areas where there is a demand for buildable lots like Lincoln Park, Old Town, Gold Coast, etc. As you get further out on the northwest side and there is not as much demand for new construction, a larger lot could mean room for a side driveway.

Bed and bath count.

Generally speaking, more is better. In many neighborhoods there is no discernible difference in value between a 4 bedroom and 5 bedroom home. The law of diminishing returns typically will apply. The difference in value between adding a full bath to a 1 bath home is typically greater than adding a 4th bath to a 3 bath house.

View.

This can be best demonstrated by condos in Chicago high rise buildings. Two units that sold at the same time, with the same floor plan, located on the same floor, but with different exposures will likely have different values. The one that faces west and only has a city view vs. the other unit that faces east and has a view of Lake Michigan can have as much as a 10-15% difference in value.

Additional features.

These are things like fireplaces, decks, porches, patios, garages, landscaping, layout (open floor plan vs. closed/boxy layout), etc. While they typically have less of an effect, in certain circumstances, they can have a large impact on real estate value.


Just because you spend $25,000 on a new kitchen that does not necessarily increase your home's value by exactly that amount.

A larger lot can add significant value. A 30' x 125' lot compared to a 25' x 125' lot can have a significantly higher value in areas where there is a demand for buildable lots like Lincoln Park, Old Town, Gold Coast, etc. In many neighborhoods there is no discernible difference in value between a 4 bedroom and 5 bedroom home. The difference in value between adding a full bath to a 1 bath home is typically greater than adding a 4th bath to a 3 bath house.