How to Estimate What Your Home Will Sell For in 2026?

Should I use an AI chatbot to determine my home’s worth?

While it might be tempting to let an AI chatbot like ChatGPT or Gemini take a stab at guessing what your home is worth, both McMartin and Keene are skeptical that these tools are well-suited to give homeowners an accurate assessment of their home’s value or what it will sell for.

“Just as the Zestimates can come close, AI can not see what we see with our eyes right then and there,” says Keene.

“AI chatbots like Gemini or ChatGPT are great for education and strategy brainstorming, but I would not treat them as a standalone pricing tool. They usually don’t have live access to a local multiple listing service, can’t see the home’s actual condition or micro location, and may rely on generalized or lagging data, so their estimates can be off or lack crucial nuance,” warns McMartin.

“I see them as a helpful ‘second opinion’ to generate questions and perspectives you can bring to your agent, not as a replacement for a data‑driven CMA and an in-person evaluation,” she adds.

Instead, consider using a Net Proceeds Calculator. This type of tool is great for helping you break down what you might earn from selling your home, letting you factor in a real estate agent’s commission, how much is left on your mortgage (if anything), and more. This can give you a clearer snapshot of what you might earn when all is said and done, and help you plan accordingly.

Consult a real estate agent and get a comparative market analysis

If your AVM estimate looks good and you want to take the next step, it’s time to start thinking about contacting a local real estate agent.

A local real estate agent is usually going to have a finger on the pulse in their respective market, and as such, is best equipped to help you estimate what your home will sell for. But more than that, a real estate agent can provide you with a comparative market analysis (CMA), usually for free.

A comparative market analysis is a tool that real estate agents use to determine the value of a home by assessing various features about the property, like its size, age, location, and more, against similar properties in the area that have sold. The goal is to compare your home with similar properties to determine the correct starting price to list it for (which can, of course, change depending on potential future bids on the homes or how the listing shakes out).

“A comparative market analysis helps a seller move from a vague idea of ‘what my home is worth’ to a data-backed price range based on recent sales, current competition, and how their home’s condition and features stack up,” says McMartin.

McMartin calls CMAs one of the best ways to anticipate what buyers are likely to pay for a home in the next 30 to 60 days.

“Most full‑service real estate agents do offer a CMA as part of a listing consultation, often at no cost, but the real value comes from choosing an agent who can clearly explain the data and customize the strategy to that specific property and market,” McMartin tells HomeLight.

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What if I want to sell my home for cash?

Maybe you’ve looked into working with a real estate agent and decided that you just need to sell your home quickly and be done with it. In that case, you might want to consider obtaining a cash offer.

There are many ways to sell your home for cash. For example, there are programs like Simple Sale or “We Buy Houses” companies that specialize in purchasing homes for cash, often in a matter of days, regardless of the property’s condition. This is usually ideal for sellers dealing with time-sensitive issues, such as avoiding a foreclosure or relocating for a new job.

Redfin lists the median days on market nationwide for December 2025 at 60. Compare that to working with a local We Buy Houses company, which can usually purchase a home in just a few days, with minimal effort on the part of the seller, and it’s easy to see why a cash offer might be appealing.

However, there is a downside. While cash buyers are known for their speed, this comes at a cost. Most cash offers are well below a property’s market value. This is because cash buyers typically use the 70% rule, which means they won’t pay more than 70% of a home’s after-repair value (ARV), minus the cost of repairs, when purchasing a property.

For example, if a property with an ARV of $300,000 needs $45,000 in repairs, a cash offer might look something like this:

Step 1: ($300,000 × 0.70) = $210,000

Step 2: $210,000 – $45,000 (the estimated cost of repairs) = $165,000

Cash offer amount: $165,000

Depending on the condition of your property and other market conditions, this could be even lower. Some cash buyers, like iBuyers, can pay a bit more, but they typically focus only on properties in good to excellent condition.

Conversely, once you factor in agent commissions and fees, a real estate agent might get you a higher price of around $290,000 for the same property, much closer to its full market value. It just may take longer.

“A cash offer is going to be quick and easy — you most likely won’t negotiate the price. You just get the offer and decide whether or not to take it. There is no cleaning up the house for showings and such. The downside is that they are investors buying the home and will turn around and want to sell it, so they won’t offer you full price,” says Keene.

“A cash offer typically wins on speed, certainty, and convenience with fewer contingencies, faster closing, often as is. A traditional, well‑marketed listing with an agent usually takes more time and effort, but exposes the property to the widest buyer pool and gives the best chance of achieving top dollar through competition,” says McMartin.

Want more examples? Consult our Home Cash Offer Comparison Calculator. You can put in your home’s estimated value and get a quick comparison of what it might sell for between a real estate agent, a cash offer, and more.

Sell Your Home Fast and With Fewer Hassles

House needs some work, or do you need to sell on a tight timeline? Get an all-cash, no-obligation offer through HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform. Receive your offer in as little as a week and close in as few as 10 days. No showings, no repairs, no open houses.

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I want to sell my home on my own. How much can I get?

You might also be tempted to sell your property on your own, skipping agent fees and commissions to save money and making a “for sale by owner” (FSBO) sale.

One way to get the most out of an FSBO sale is to use a flat-fee MLS listing company. A flat-fee MLS listing company helps FSBO sellers list their homes on the local multiple listing service (MLS). The MLS is a private directory of for-sale homes that real estate professionals use to share home details with each other.

The main benefit is that the MLS puts your home in front of a wider pool of potential buyers, as FSBO sellers typically do not have access to it.

These companies are available at both the local and national levels, and their fees range from as low as $90 to thousands of dollars, with varying levels of service available at different tiers.

While this can be a great tool for FSBO sellers, many homeowners underestimate the time and effort that goes into selling a home, and doing it solo means juggling everything, from listing and marketing the property to contracts, negotiations, and more.

As such, increasingly, homeowners are relying on agents to get the job done. According to the National Association of Realtors, only 5% of successful home sales have been FSBO in the past few years. What’s more, these homes sold for a median price of around $360,000, compared to a median price of $425,000 for an agent-assisted sale — 18% less.

McMartin does not recommend that sellers undertake an FSBO transaction, primarily because the increasing complexity of selling a home, particularly in competitive markets, makes it more difficult than ever.

“Pricing, marketing, qualifying buyers, contract negotiations, inspections, appraisals, and legal compliance have all become more complex, and many FSBO sellers either underprice (leaving money on the table) or overprice (sitting on the market and ultimately discounting),” she tells HomeLight.

McMartin concedes that there are limited areas where an FSBO sale can make sense, like an “as-is” sale to a buyer you know, but “even then, I still encourage sellers to involve a professional (agent or attorney) to reduce their potential risk,” she adds.

How will the real estate market fare in 2026?

The 2025 housing market was generally considered to have struggled. HomeLight’s Top Agent Insights report described it as experiencing a general “freeze” in the market, with buyers slow to act due to affordability issues, and sellers suffering in turn.

Will 2026 be better? Agents and experts are, for the most part, optimistic. 74% of agents surveyed for HomeLight’s Top Agents Insights report predict that it’s likely that homeowners who delayed entering the market in recent years are likely to make the attempt in 2026.

“I’m expecting sellers to list in the new year. I’m excited for a 2026 with decent interest rates and improved inventory levels,” said Barbara Sawin, a top-rated Connecticut agent, in the report.

Similarly, Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist with the National Association of Realtors, expects a bit of bounceback this year, and a steady reduction of the “lock-in” effect — a phenomenon where homeowners are unwilling to sell, because the purchase of a new home will mean buying with a much higher interest rate than they currently hold.

“We are seeing a little better condition for more home sales … with more inventory and the lock-in effect steadily disappearing — because life-changing events are making more people list their property to move on to their next home. Next year should be better with lower mortgage rates, and that will qualify more buyers. We are expecting home sales to increase by about 14% nationwide in 2026,” he said in a NAR market forecast.

Like 2025, real estate success will be heavily defined across regional lines, with some markets faring significantly better than others. For example, Realtor.com expects its top 10 markets to be primarily in the Northeastern United States, in cities like Rochester, New York. It attributes the success of these markets to several factors, including relative affordability, a below-average “lock-in” effect, less overall new construction (which creates more demand for existing property), and a bevy of well-qualified buyers.

McMartin also expects this region and the Midwest to see success.

“Most forecasts point to 2026 as a “normalizing” year rather than a boom or bust: modest national price growth, slightly lower mortgage rates, and a bit more inventory. Markets in parts of the Northeast and Midwest, especially affordable metros with solid job bases and limited new construction, have strong potential to outperform as buyers look for value and stability,” she says.

However, regions like the Southeast and some coastal cities, which had been real estate market darlings in previous years due to strong fundamentals, are expected to take a step back amid growing economic headwinds.

“On the flip side, some pandemic‑era areas in the South and certain coastal or climate risk markets may soften or feel flatter as insurance costs, weather concerns, and a normalization of remote work cool demand; a dynamic I’ll be watching closely as the ‘Great Housing Reset’ continues to unfold,” McMartin adds.

Keene predicts that if mortgage rates do indeed dip to more favorable levels, buyers who have been waiting in the wings will likely enter the fray.

“If the rates get in the upper-to-mid 4%, you are going to see a lot of sellers enter the market who have been holding off because of a low Covid rate. At the upper-to-mid 4%, they can get a rate buy-down and still feel like they have a screaming good rate,” he says.

Ready to take the next step?

Now that you have a good grasp of what to expect when pricing and selling your home, and what your home might sell for, it’s time to take the plunge, and HomeLight is here with you every step of the way.

Searching for an expert in your local market is easier than ever with our free Agent Finder tool. We can match you with a top-performing real estate agent in under two minutes, wherever you are, day or night.

Want to skip the agent and sell for cash?  Consider working with a cash buyer and get an offer using a program like HomeLight’s Simple Sale.

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