Competition

Nonnie

We're putting our house on the market. The EA valued it at the same price as an almost identical property on the same frontage as us. Ours is mid-terrace and better presented inside and out, their's is end terrace so has a bigger garden (ie a side bit). He advised to sell at the same price to 'prevent a competition'. We're getting other quotes. What advice would people give should other EAs value our house higher than the other?

cattie

Usually I'd expect an end terraced property to sell for a higher price than a mid terrace.

An end terrace offers better possibilies than a mid terrace, especially when considering an extension or loft conversion.

It is always best to get 2 or 3 valuations when selling your house anyway & take the average of the valuations as a reasonable marketing price.

Tahiti

The other bonus of an end terrace over a mid terrace is that you only have one attached (potentially noisy) neighbour.

If yours has a nice kitchen/bathroom where theres needs updating, I'd agree that the price should be similar or even a touch more. Get a few quotes/opinions from agents though (you might be surprised by what you can pick up). In fact, why not get in the agent who's marketing the other house?

Out of interest, has the other property been marketed for long, and is the value quoted what you expected?

Nonnie

The other house has had the For Sale board up for about 2 days before we got ours valued - by the same company and person. Just waiting for the pics to come up on their website! To quote the valuer - 'Yours is much better inside.... This is a gorgeous house' (his words)

nmiah786

Nonnie wrote:

The other house has had the For Sale board up for about 2 days before we got ours valued - by the same company and person. Just waiting for the pics to come up on their website! To quote the valuer - 'Yours is much better inside.... This is a gorgeous house' (his words)

Dont mean to sound rude but you would expect a EA to say that, would you not?

Nonnie

nmiah786 wrote:

Dont mean to sound rude but you would expect a EA to say that, would you not?

Good point, well presented. Would any EAs out there care to comment?

2nd evaluation - £5K more than first, so they advised put it on at £3K more and drop it to equal the other if it doesn't sell quickly.

Aargh! this is getting well too confusing already. Help!

Tahiti

On that basis, how keen are you to sell? I'd be tempted to wait and see what happens with the other unless I was in a huge rush to sell.

EAs will bulls*it you to a certain extent, but if you get the EA around who's looking after the other house, he might just bring round the details and point out where there are benefits and negative points in comparison. Just a thought.

Doozergirl

You have to listen to what the EAs tell you and then make up your own mind.

How long has your neighbour been on the market for? Ifit's a while then there's not much point in marketing higher. Your price also depends on how desperate you are to sell.

In my opinion, a better presented, smaller mid terrace is only of equal or of lesser value than an end of terrace. People will go for the property they like best but they have to see value for money there.

Interestingly, did you tell the second agent what the first said? If you did, then their advice sounds a lot like "I think the same as the first agent but if I say you'll get 3k more then you'll choose me!"

If there are people that have seen your neighbours house and didn't quite like it for some reason, I can't see how a house a few doors down costing even more money is going to persuade them to buy. If you market higher you will make you neighbour look better value. That said, if they sell, then there's no competition for you!

So my answer? There's no right answer!

Jorgan_2

Nonnie, all things being equal, an end of terrace will be worth more than a mid terrace. You admit the other property has a bigger garden, which will usually add to the value. The first agent has taken the condition of both properties into consideration & has come up with his valuations. Do you know if the other agents have seen your neighbours house as well? What comparables did they use in coming up with their figures?

Doozergirl is spot on in my opinion. Look at it through the eyes of a potential buyer, they see two For Sale boards on a row of houses & the mid terrace is more expensive than the end, it may put them of viewing the property altogether. It may be worth going with the first agent, that way they can do back to back viewing's on the both properties and the buyers can see the difference in condition.

The OP may gave a gorgeous house, it was just the EA's opinion when he stated this. While some EA's subscribe to the 'tell the vendor the truth ' way of thinking, others subscribe to the 'tell the vendor what I think they want to hear' way of thinking. Personally I subscribe to former, if they've got a nice house I'll tell them, if the need house needs work, cleaning or could be better presented I'll tell them that to.