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Huge discrepancy in valuation.
MONEYTREE_2
Posts: 147 Forumite
I'm selling my house and buying one in another town for about the same price, give or take £20k.
My house is hard to value as there aren't many like it in my area and those rarely come up for sale. So I asked two agents for a valuation.
The first one is a senior negotiator with a long-established local agency with hundreds of branches across the UK. I told him straight not to give me any "bull", because, on the strength of his valuation, I'd be travelling back and forth to the other town by trains and taxis to view properties of that value.
He valued my house at £400k - about £100k more than I expected, so I queried this but he was adamant. I then browsed properties and found my Dream Home, offered at £425k.
However, today a second agent valued my house at £325k. His agency is also well established in our town and has nation-wide branches.
As the first agent is SO certain he can get £400k, I would be tempted to ask them to offer it for sale. However, they charge £200 upfront for professional photos and a floorplan (refunded when the house sells). So I could cough up £200 and end up having to drop the price again and again until I get ..... £325k?
Should I get a 3rd agent, and a 4th and a 5th and take a "mean average" of what they all say? Or is the £325k likely to be the correct valuation and the guy who said £400k was indeed giving me a load of bull even though I specifically asked him not to?
Thanks for your thoughts.
My house is hard to value as there aren't many like it in my area and those rarely come up for sale. So I asked two agents for a valuation.
The first one is a senior negotiator with a long-established local agency with hundreds of branches across the UK. I told him straight not to give me any "bull", because, on the strength of his valuation, I'd be travelling back and forth to the other town by trains and taxis to view properties of that value.
He valued my house at £400k - about £100k more than I expected, so I queried this but he was adamant. I then browsed properties and found my Dream Home, offered at £425k.
However, today a second agent valued my house at £325k. His agency is also well established in our town and has nation-wide branches.
As the first agent is SO certain he can get £400k, I would be tempted to ask them to offer it for sale. However, they charge £200 upfront for professional photos and a floorplan (refunded when the house sells). So I could cough up £200 and end up having to drop the price again and again until I get ..... £325k?
Should I get a 3rd agent, and a 4th and a 5th and take a "mean average" of what they all say? Or is the £325k likely to be the correct valuation and the guy who said £400k was indeed giving me a load of bull even though I specifically asked him not to?
Thanks for your thoughts.
0
Comments
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I'd say getting 3 valuations was fairly standard, so given that the first 2 have been so different I'd definitely be getting at least one more.
If you did go with the first agent, could you perhaps negotiate that the £200 is refunded if they don't find a proceedable buyer (at a minimum value perhaps?) within a certain time?Excuse any mis-spelt replies, there's probably a cat sat on the keyboard0 -
Possible scenario - the 400k guy sees the possibilities in your property and is prepared to play the long game in terms of sales. The 325k guy sees that priced 'comptetituveky' it's a quick sale and thus less work for him. Is the higher guy asking a higher percentage, by any chance?0
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The 400k one charges 1.25%.
The second one is going to email me with a formal valuation and their charges.0 -
To be honest these valuations are educated guesses, either someone will buy it ot they wont.
The fact your property is unique, isn't really the issue. It has X number of room, driveway y/n, garden y/n.
Public transport and schools?
That's the basic criteria.0 -
"To be honest these valuations are educated guesses, either someone will buy it or they wont".
Thanks for your input.
Fair enough comment, but how can anyone search for a new property without having a ball park figure for their sale property?0 -
The 400k one charges 1.25%.
The second one is going to email me with a formal valuation and their charges.
Ok. If they're much less, they'll simply want to flip it as quickly as possible, with minimal work on their part, hence lower starting price. They're not about doing high take for each individual sale, they're about volume and making money that way.0 -
"To be honest these valuations are educated guesses, either someone will buy it or they wont".
Thanks for your input.
Fair enough comment, but how can anyone search for a new property without having a ball park figure for their sale property?
You can, because presumably you know what your O/S mortgage is, what a bank will lend you and have a rough idea of what similar properties (based upon the criteria I listed, amongst others) have sold for.
A surveyor can give you an accurate valuation but at £500-7000 -
"You can, because presumably you know what your O/S mortgage is, what a bank will lend you and have a rough idea of what similar properties (based upon the criteria I listed, amongst others) have sold for."
Sorry I didn't realise that I perhaps should have said in my OP that I own the house outright, no mortgage, not getting a mortgage (I am nearly 60).
I want to buy at £20k more or less what I get for my house, so it makes a huge difference whether my place is valued at £400k or £300k.
(Browsing the houses for sale in my chosen location, that 100k makes a massive difference in what kind of property I can buy.)0 -
"You can, because presumably you know what your O/S mortgage is, what a bank will lend you and have a rough idea of what similar properties (based upon the criteria I listed, amongst others) have sold for."
Sorry I didn't realise that I perhaps should have said in my OP that I own the house outright, no mortgage, not getting a mortgage (I am nearly 60).
I want to buy at £20k more or less what I get for my house, so it makes a huge difference whether my place is valued at £400k or £300k.
Ah, that changes it slightly - so this is the sole funding source?0 -
Yes. I am prepared to put up to £20k of my savings into the new purchase.
Does anyone think I should get a few more agents in?0
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