how much is a house worth

hcb42

I had £125K difference with three valuations last year....like prev poster, not in a £m house either.

I think it would be worth paying a few ££ to get a surveyor, although I do wonder from house buying surveys how good these are as well.

EAs do see what houses sell for, in their defence...my house is quite unusual as well, 2 of a kind, and the other one hasnt sold for years.

olias

The point I made was that most decent Agents have a surveyor who does the valuations. Thats what RICS is - Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. They should state this on their website, or just ask them!

But I still maintain that a very small amount of research should mean that you have a pretty good idea of value prior to even getting the agents round. Particularly if your property is fairly standard.

For example, if you live in a 4 bed detached on an estate, and a quick check on rightmove shows 20 4 bed detacheds on yours and other similar estates in your town at between £200-£250K, then you can hazard a guess that - guess what? - yours is going to be worth somewhere in the region of £200-£250K. If, on another check on any of the sites listing sold prices, similar houses have sold in the last 6 months for say £180-225K, then you can also hazard a guess that - guess what? - houses like yours are generally selling at 10% below asking price. It's not rocket science.

OK, with non standard houses, or ones the type of which are few and far between it gets trickier, and that's where an agents experience should come in.

Another point, is that an independant surveyor, unless they do a lot of valuation work, say for a lender, is unlikely to have as much experience in the local property market as an RICS qualified agent who values and sells properties all day long!

Olias

ruggedtoast

Or the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors even.

olias

Pedant!

Olias