Agent valuations in a declining market

hgllgh

The farce that is EA valuations was exposed for the whole nation to see on C4 last night. One agent values at 390K and the other at 475K. Ridiculous!

In a declining market their valuations are going to be all over the place :rotfl:

Was just curious if anyone else had stupid differences in valuation ?

Doozergirl

I had valuations from £365,000 - £500,000. I had five agents in to look at it.

The lowest valuation was based on what I'd bought it for, how much I said I'd spent on it and the fact that I would obviously be looking to make a profit so she thought of an appropriate sum.

To be fair to the others, most came in around the same place.

dolce_vita

It certainly exposes EAs for what they are : mainly unqualified, skill-less salespeople.

Their figures are based on nothing more than what a similar property has recently sold for. In a rising market they just add on a few quid and in a falling market, they.............

......well, many of them have no experience of that and are in for a shock.

Curv

Just to play devil's advocate, in what way could it be more scientific and what sort of skills/qualifications should they have when pricing a house for market?

Doozergirl

Common sense would help, curv.

The ability to be consistant would also help. Many of the independents have members of RICS as their directors and they do the valuations. Generally you get a realistic view with them. It comes with experience really, an interest in the housing market as a whole and yes, an ability to read what the market is doing locally.

I'm not an EA and I have no qualifications, but I can value a house pretty well in the area I know.

merlinthehappypig

I haven't experienced it from a sellers point of view recently, but we have viewed two houses in recent weeks, both originally on for £649950. One was offered to us at £520000 and the other has just reduced to £499950 (It was on at £599950 in the paper on 4 October) so there are some silly valuations out there.

It also shows that putting in what appear to be silly offers aren't always that silly. I viewed the one house at £599950 and wouldn't have contemplated offering £100000 less if I had wanted it, because it would have seemed like an insult!

dolce_vita

That is because you have confused VALUE with PRICE.

If you got the house for 100k less and it became your lovely home for the rest of your life would you think it had a lower value because it was bought cheaper?

You should always be prepared to "insult" sellers by offering what you think the house is worth to you.

Curv

chriseast wrote: »

the other has just reduced to £499950 (It was on at £599950 in the paper on 4 October)

Is that the one you promised your wife she could have if they reduced the price to less than £500K...? :eek:

movilogo

You should always be prepared to "insult" sellers by offering what you think the house is worth to you.

If more and more people were brave enough to this insult few years back, housing bubble would have burst long time ago!

As a FTB, I am now "insulting" sellers with 20% below asking price offer. And I'm sure others are also doing the same - as the houses I made offers are still on market for 3 months running (asking prices were £150-£165k range).

dolce_vita

It's a sort of twisted logic.

Some people think that because they have bought a house for say, 200k, they are wealthier than if they had paid 120k for the same house.

happinessfactory

When we sold earlier in the year (April/May), we consulted 6 agents and there was a £200k difference between the lowest EA valuation and the highest.

We went with an asking price £40k under the highest valuation and appointed the agent geographically closest. He found us an asking price offer within 3 weeks.

The identical flat next door went on sale 7 days after ours, for £100k more. It is *still* on sale and there's been no reduction in the asking price. If you don't want to sell your house, why go to the bother of readying it for sale and appointing an agent? Some people really need to get a clue...