Zoopla Valuation Correct?

markin

Its more of a computer guess based on post code recent sales, including houses in good condition, and bad condition, and it has no idea how big the plot is or the condition.

As it's based on post code a 4 bed may be opposite a tiny 2 bed so if its never sold in 20 years it seems it will just average it and adjust for bedrooms.

MobileSaver

Kat1e wrote: »

I don't want to go in with a low offer and offend the vendor based on Zoopla's valuation if not correct.

For me, any buyer even mentioning Zoopla's valuation would be treated with ridicule from that point on!

Ribena1987

No it’s really really off. It said our house was worth £70k but it was worth £120k. Go on Rightmove and look at sold prices in the area. Then make an offer based on how the condition of the house compares. You can use this information when negotiating with the estate agent.

Kat1e

The property we have in mind is a barn conversion and we can't find anything that recently sold locally to compare. We found out that the property sold for £290k in 2004 but we're not sure if this is really helpful to compare with today's prices. We do know now however, not to take Zoopla's prices as gospel, so thank you very much for your input and advice.

lookstraightahead

It's like taking the weight if all the people in the street and saying everyone weighs X. With a couple of other stats thrown in. You need to look at sold prices (not for sale prices as these are usually over inflated by the vendor)

Mutton_Geoff

Zoola can’t take into account any improvement works either. It’s wildly optimistic with the valuation of mine even without taking into account the £300k I spent on renovation works over the last two years.

Davesnave

Barn conversions are a nightmare to price anyway. Perhaps no longer as popular as they once were, there's a whole host of factors to take into account, including proximity to others, leashold/freehold, communal areaas and maintenance, additional land and, of course, the quality of the conversion and constraints caused by planning.

Personally, I'd not touch many of them with someone else's barge pole, but equally, I'd not condemn all, because that's far too simplistic. There are good ones too.

Just tread warily......

michael1234

At grave risk of being shot down (!!) I have to disagree with almost every post on this thread apart from the question from the OP.

Zoopla clearly uses the last actual sale price (if known) and applies house price inflation to that price to get the current one. It may tweak that price a little but that is the main method.

Clearly that method is more accurate the more recent the sale. Also, significant house improvements (normally extensions) may affect the accuracy of the valuation. But for a property last sold in the past ten years say, sharing a postcode with similar houses, with no new building works done since last sold and in a broadly similar condition, the valuation will be pretty accurate. Of course not all properties fit that mould and so zoopla would struggle in those cases to come of with something realistic.

So accurate in fact, that the last time we had a "real" valuation from local estate agents, I was very surprised how two out of four came up with exactly the same figure as zoopla. It felt to me that they were a little lazy and had used that number as their base figure subject to the obligatory viewing of our house.

AdrianC

michael1234 wrote: »

But for a property last sold in the past ten years say, sharing a postcode with similar houses, with no new building works done since last sold and in a broadly similar condition, the valuation will be pretty accurate.

Yes, if it's that easily predictable, it may well be a reasonable guesstimate.

But that's a very small subset of properties on the market. So small as to render it pointless. And, while it may be a reasonable guesstimate for those wondering what their house might be worth if they were to put it on the market, it's certainly no use at all for the purposes of negotiating an offer...

MobileSaver

michael1234 wrote: »

Zoopla clearly uses the last actual sale price and applies house price inflation to that price to get the current one.

Which is exactly why in many cases it is so inaccurate. That's not how real people value houses; there are 101 reasonings that go into what people are prepared to pay and some arbitrary HPI figure for some general area is rarely pertinent to a particular house in a particular street.

michael1234 wrote: »

we had a "real" valuation from local estate agents, I was very surprised how two out of four came up with exactly the same figure as zoopla. .

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.