Is it a good idea to see how much your property is worth?

LiveOnce

Hello

Is is a good idea to see how much your property is worth in the current market even though you might not want to sell?

E.g. Getting a estate agent to give you an estimate on the house?

What are the pro's and cons of doing this?

EverGreen_2

LiveOnce wrote: »

Hello

Is is a good idea to see how much your property is worth in the current market even though you might not want to sell?

E.g. Getting a estate agent to give you an estimate on the house?

What are the pro's and cons of doing this?

Perhaps you can search, different websites, for house prices in the area or street, similar properties etc. This way you may get rough estimation of your property's value. Without intention to sell, it may be unfair on the EA unless you disclose your goal.

Davesnave

It may a good thing to do, especially if you have a one-off property.

If you don't, there are plenty of sites giving you sold prices for comparable houses, so an hour or two with these and Rightmove will give you a fair idea, if you are honest with yourself. It's a good to do this anyway, even if you're having an agent value, because some of them massage their figures to encourage business.

Reasons for knowing the current value of a house might include a longer term plan to buy elsewhere, always remembering that area prices may change relative to each other over time.

A more immediate reason, could be to calculate the ceiling price of your property before spending considerable money on it.

This is what we did, though in our part of the UK relationships with agents are different from those in city areas. The 'valuation' took place with two local EAs over tea & biscuits one afternoon in their summer holiday slack period. They were honest about our ceiling price, which helped us to decide if we should tackle a refurbishment / extension or cash-in and move on.

N9eav

EverGreen wrote: »

Perhaps you can search, different websites, for house prices in the area or street, similar properties etc. This way you may get rough estimation of your property's value. Without intention to sell, it may be unfair on the EA unless you disclose your goal.

We had our house valued the other day for a mortgage change and the valuer said, all he did was look at the price of the houses in the area to get a figure.
I asked why he came out at all and did not do it by Google Earth? He said we sometimes do, but for a mortgage it's just to check that the interior is not a mess and your house is not falling down.


So if you house is in good shape, look on the estate agent websites...

Running_Horse

Not sure I understand why it would be good or bad. Do it if you want, don't do it if you don't want. Although any house will find its value in a particular market, many estate agents will inflate the value to get your business, while many valuers will knock down a price you might have been willing to pay. Unless it is unique, you can get a good idea by looking at sold prices available on a number of websites. If you keep calling agents out for free valuations, they might think you are a bit of a time waster when you do finally decide to sell.

moneyistooshorttomention

I don't think its necessary either to get an EA valuation unless a house is unique or in uniquely bad condition.

A few long sessions studying RightMove closely and you can work it out for yourself basically.

My last house was "whatever the price is for a 2 bed terrace house in average condition in average area in that location". Find out what that price is and I had that worked out.

My current house is "whatever the absolute top price is for a 2 bedroom detached house in good area in current location". There is also a bit of side-checking to see what the "state of play" is re development is round here (as this house is also on a very good plot should the local Council start eyeing-up possibilities on that front, ie because of the access my plot would provide to obtaining various other surrounding properties that wouldn't be viable without mine). But that's not a current factor in that Council's eyes...just a little "factor to keep an eye on" in my eyes and see how things go...

But I'm personally "on a gamble" with my current house that may or may not work out sometime. Doesn't matter unduly if it doesn't. Big smile if it does...

So unless you have a possible "Future Factor" in there (which vast majority of houses wont have) then Rightmove alone is quite sufficient for an assessment.

ognum

LiveOnce wrote: »

Hello

Is is a good idea to see how much your property is worth in the current market even though you might not want to sell?

E.g. Getting a estate agent to give you an estimate on the house?

What are the pro's and cons of doing this?

What are you going to do with the information when you have it? How accurate do you think the information is?

The EA like you can only look at historical data and pitch a guestimate (I know this is not a word) as to the value. Houses seldom sell at the exact figure.

So is this information to use at dinner parties, to take a loan against or just for fun?

goggle

why would I care how much my house is worth if I have no intention of moving? My house is only "worth" what somebody is prepared to pay for it/lend on it.
It serves no purpose to know whether it's worth £200 or £200,000 today when I don't plan to move for at least another 10 years!

nubbins

goggle wrote: »

why would I care how much my house is worth if I have no intention of moving? My house is only "worth" what somebody is prepared to pay for it/lend on it.
It serves no purpose to know whether it's worth £200 or £200,000 today when I don't plan to move for at least another 10 years!

Because you might want to remortgage before you move and therefore get a better rate if your property value has gone up.

inatdeepend

It might be a good idea for some rather deluded sellers to do some similar research online