Asking / Offer - relationship?

simonineaston

Hi folks, I'm about to sell my house in Bristol and am trying to work out what I am likely to get for it versus what I am likely to have to pay for my next property. I'm not clear about the relationship betwen the price I see in the estate agents' window and the price I will actually have to pay. Similarly, I'm not clear how inflated the agent's valuation of my property will be, reletive to what I'll actually get!
Can anyone comment on the current state of the market - is it usual for properties to sell for near / at their asking price? I'm aware of online resources that list selling price, but this doesn't help me much, 'cos you don't see the asking price... perhsaps there is a website that shows selling price and asking price?? EDIT: actually I see that the 'net is crawling with articles from various insitiutions, inc. the likes of Zoopla & Rightmove on this very subject, so don't worry about replying!! I should 'ave Googled this first before posting!

G_M

Do NOT take notice of websites that claim to provide the market value of your property. These are very generalised valuations for an area, taking no account of the particular property.

Yes, estate agents tend to over-value when touting for busienss, so asking prices can sometimes be ambitious.

the best sources for actual 'market price are

a) a paid-for RICS valuation, or
b) comparison with similar local properties' actual saleprices.

When considering how low an offer to put in you need to consider
c) what you can afford
d) how much you like the property
e) what you consider the market value to be(see a & b above)
f) whether you're willing to p*ss off the seller with what might seem an unreasonably low offer

Cakeguts

You have to make price comparisons with similar houses in the areas to the one you are selling and the one you are buying. Estate agents can only make an educated guess as to how much a house is worth. The actual value of a house is what someone is willing to pay for it.