The short answer: your home’s value is set mostly by recent comparable sales — what similar nearby homes actually closed at in the last 60–90 days — then adjusted for location, condition, size, and today’s market. Everything else is detail on top of those fundamentals.
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The 7 factors that actually move your number
- Recent comparable sales. The foundation. What did nearby, similar homes close at — not list at — recently? Everything starts here.
- Location down to the street. Two blocks can mean a different school boundary, a busier road, or a better-regarded pocket — and a real difference in price.
- Living square footage and layout. Usable, permitted space; an extra real bedroom or a genuine home office matters more than raw numbers.
- Condition and updates. Move-in-ready homes with updated kitchens and baths command a premium; deferred maintenance gets discounted hard by today’s buyers.
- Lot size and usability. Flat, usable yards and ADU potential add value across Fremont, San Jose, and beyond.
- Current market conditions. Inventory, rates, and how many buyers are competing this month.
- Presentation and pricing. Staging, prep, and list-price strategy can swing the final number meaningfully.
Market value vs. assessed value — a common source of confusion
One thing that trips up a lot of sellers: the value on your property tax bill (your “assessed value”) is not the same as your home’s market value. Under California’s Prop 13 rules, assessed value is generally capped at roughly 2% growth per year from your purchase price, while market value moves with actual buyer demand — which in the Bay Area has often outpaced that 2% cap by a wide margin over a period of ownership. That gap is exactly why a home can carry a modest tax bill and still sell for a price that reflects current market comps. You can look up a property’s current assessed value and parcel history directly through the county assessor’s public records: the Santa Clara County Assessor for Milpitas, San Jose, and Santa Clara, or the Alameda County Assessor for Fremont, Union City, and Newark.
Where the online estimate stops
Automated estimates are a fair starting point built from public records, but they can’t see inside your home, don’t know you remodeled, and miss hyperlocal patterns — like a street that consistently sells above its neighborhood. That gap is exactly what a local agent closes by hand-checking your value against the three closest recent sales.
Make the most of your value before you list
Two levers are worth pulling before a sale: fixing the right things (see Renovations That Add Value Before Selling) and presenting well (see Home Staging and Prep Guide). How you price relative to the comps then drives competition — the mechanics are in Pricing Strategy & Days on Market.
And remember your value isn’t your take-home: run the Seller Net Proceeds numbers to see what you’d actually keep. If you’re weighing a move that would reset your property tax base, see Prop 19 Move-Up Tax Savings for how the California State Board of Equalization’s rules on base year value transfers work for sellers over 55. For the full process end to end, start from the pillar guide.
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Laxmi Top Realtor · Intero Real Estate · DRE #02047105. Equal Housing Opportunity. Estimates are informational and not an appraisal or offer.