Hey! Homeowners! I’m talking to you.

1. It’s been more than a hot second. How long has it been since you last got a good idea of what your home is actually worth? No, I’m not talking Zillow. I’m talking about a real, micro local understanding what your home is worth. It really pays to be “in-the-know.” After all, your home is likely your greatest asset and you’ll want to keep an eye on the value just like you would your 401K. Values change over time. 
2. You finally updated your 1980’s era kitchen. Have you had home improvements that may increase the value of your home? If you’ve worked on updating or renovating, or finally finished your basement, you may want to know the new value of your home to measure against your home insurance coverage. Seriously, you may have a 30+ year old kitchen, which you could live with, I guess. But you may have really old, out of date insurance coverage. You’ll sleep better at night if you know you’re properly insured. 
3. You hate paying PMI. If you purchased your home with a conventional mortgage, with less than 20% down, you likely have PMI, or Private Mortgage Insurance, added to your monthly payment. You could refinance to drop the PMI, which would lower your monthly payment.  Thus, you’ll have more money in YOUR pocket at the start of every month and not your lender’s.