Zoopla and valuations - overpricing?

deanparkr

Just wondering some thoughts from MSE's on this..

I am looking at making an offer of £200k on a property marketed at £210k. But Zoopla has the valuation at £192k with the highest confidence level and the value range being:

£186,879 - £198,691

The vendors have said that £200k is too low and they are looking more in the region of the full asking price.

This same house sold in October 2013 for £180k. The most recent sale in the same road was 24th Feb 2014 for £195k for a Semi-D, but the one I am looking is an End Terrace.

My main questions are - how do people find the accuracy of Zoopla? Is it generally reliable and would you trust it as a negotiation tool?

deanparkr

I think.. having just used the search feature I may have just answered my question.

Ie. Zoopla estimates can be "wonky" but the previous house sales in the same area is in fact very useful information.

MobileSaver

deanparkr wrote: »

My main questions are - how do people find the accuracy of Zoopla? Is it generally reliable and would you trust it as a negotiation tool?

In most cases Zoopla is not remotely accurate, you can often affect the valuation simply by clicking a few extra buttons.

I would seriously laugh at anyone who tried to negotiate a price based on what Zoopla said.

DRP

Zoopla isn't a valuation it is a calculation seemingly based on average rise in the postcode X last sale price (or something similar).

So it isn't reliable and probably couldn't be used successfully in negotiation (unless ea/vendor very niave).

andymd

When we put our house on the market in May, Zoopla suggested it was worth £285k, although our Neighbour's (the other half of a semi built and purchased on the same day for the same price) was showing £290k despite having a smaller garden and an attached rather than detached garage.

We had three agents out who all agreed on a £325k valuation. I asked them all how they would justify the difference and they all said Zoopla was a few months behind.

We sold the house for just under the asking price and sure enough the Zoopla valuation now says £310k, so is catching up with reality.

Running_Horse

Zoopla is rubbish.

DRP

andymd wrote: »

When we put our house on the market in May, Zoopla suggested it was worth £285k, although our Neighbour's (the other half of a semi built and purchased on the same day for the same price) was showing £290k despite having a smaller garden and an attached rather than detached garage.

We had three agents out who all agreed on a £325k valuation. I asked them all how they would justify the difference and they all said Zoopla was a few months behind.

We sold the house for just under the asking price and sure enough the Zoopla valuation now says £310k, so is catching up with reality.

I seriously doubt the problem with Zoopla is that it is a few months behind - it updated the 'valuation' calculation based on your sale.

andymd

DRP wrote: »

I seriously doubt the problem with Zoopla is that it is a few months behind - it updated the 'valuation' calculation based on your sale.

When I say we sold the house, we have agreed to sell the house, the sale hasn't been recorded yet.

TrixA

Zoopla valuations are simply based on last sale price and increases in the market for that area since then. The main problem is they don't take into account any improvements that have been made to the property since the last sale.

Running_Horse

And if a particular property has not sold for a long time, there may be no land registry data, and no way for Zoopla to know how it compares in quality and size to those that have. Zoopla will also not know that my electrics are out of date and dangerous compared to my neighbour who maintains her house properly.

hazyjo

Overvalued my old house by way over £100k when I bought it!


Had been an overpriced new build to start with. Prices then shot up in the area, but it didn't take into account the new build premium. We bought it around 8 years old for 'only' around £35k more than they'd paid. Other 'second hand' properties had increased by 25% or so.


They just add mathematical logistics to everything. Obviously some streets/postcodes will be more desirable/valuable than others. I also have some very mixed housing stock in my road. Some 1930s houses (like mine), lots of bungalows, some lovely Victorian houses, and some more council looking ones. Zoopla will just add a percentage to the value of all - it won't know one style from t'other.


Jx