Estate agents coming to value house next week

SkintMonkey

Is there anything I need to know before they come around next week?

Never sound before, so little bit nervous now that things are moving....

Poppycat

I would get several EA round to compare. I also found that by actively looking prior to sell you got a feel for a good EA or bad one.

Tidy up too

JonathanA

Poppycat gives good advice! I'd add to that, if your house is fairly standard, have a look at something like nethouseprices.com to get a feel for what houses in your area are selling for. Definitely tidy up, do those little odd jobs you've been meaning to do for ages.

Are you looking to buy in the same area? If so, go into estate agents as a customer, which ones take an interest, which ones couldn't care less.

don't always be persuaded by the "We sell more houses in your area than anyone else" statements, when we sold, one agent said that to us & we ignored it and went with a long established family firm who sold our house in 6 weeks (& that was over last Xmas period too).

Get the local papers, see what is similar to your house and what is / isn't selling. Try to have an idea of what your house is worth before the agent puts a value on it. The agent above, who said they sold more than anyone else in our area valued our house initially at £210k, when I suggested that was low, he immediately upped it to £215 but said we'd be lucky to get that. We advertised at just under £230k and accepted £225. It was a fair price - we could have held out I suspect for more as there was a lot of interest in the house, but we had our hearts set on one house in particular to move into. (That's another piece of advice, don't set your heart on a particular house to move to, it may not happen and you'll be disappointed!)

Poppycat

Dont always make the mistake of going with the one with the least commision. I found the one we had that was 1% really pushy, hadrly any web presence and there web site totally pants. See how they market other properties like I said above but perhpas go in showroom too. If there Lazy !!!! good for nothing sat on there but drinking coffee and having chit chat with one another I feel that not earning there monies, for me that would put me off a little as I would want them to work hard for that fat fee.

On subject of phots of house, is street is narrow as mine was and you have ansty van outside try and park outside hous night before so it that when they come to tale pictures you can move car, they it leaves a gopod impression if you no what I mean, no one likes a large vehicle outisde there hopuse if its a narrow street.

Clean up and declutter. I shoves bits n bobs in attaic and wardrobes.

Sorry about mistakes my pc is a real pain today, every so slow.

devils_advocate

They are not coming round to give you a valuation of your house. They are doing the most important bit of marketing in the whole house sale process - they are marketing themselves to YOU, so that you will give them the instruction to sell your house for whatever someone in the market is willing to pay for it.

So forget what they say the value is - they won't be paying it. Rather judge them on their ability to sell their services, firstly to you, as they'll be able to pitch to prospective buyers in the same way they pitch to you. If they're unconvincing to you, they won't convince anyone to buy your house, unless its is at a large discount to the real market value.

If you can, go into their offices before they come round. Use a friends name and address if necessary (and you won't be recognised!) and say you want to buy a house like .... (describe yours). If they're unconvincing here, don't get them to try to sell your house, no matter how chaep their fees are.

They'll tell you what they think you want to hear in order to get the instruction. Keep this in mind and use it to filter what worthwhile comments they make and waht is just advertising puff.

Good luck!

Rick62

And in fact they are probably not 'valuers' at all. EAs are sales companies, they like to make people think that they give 'valuations' to sound more authorative and professional.

The value is what someone will pay for it. So look at comparison websites, get several EAs around, and ask them to justify their price recommendations, but unltimately make up your own mind.