EA valuation

Albermarle

lady1964 said:

Hoenir said:

A browse on Rightmove of your local area will provide a constant guide as to the state of the market.   

To be honest, there’s not much on RM comparable to our house in terms of what we’ve had done and what the house cost us five years ago. The street we live in is a mixture of properties and they rarely come up for sale. 
I really don’t want to waste anyone’s time, hence the question, that said, if our house is worth enough that we could move somewhere else that would be more expensive but that has amenities we don’t have where we currently live and we could remain mortgage free, then that would be something we’d consider. 

It is a blunt instrument but as well as RM, there is Zoopla.
Plus Nationwide House price index.
House price index | Nationwide

How much the work you have done will add is a bit tricky. Normally you might only get back 60% of what they cost. Maybe if it was an extra bedroom/loft conversion, or a real revamp of a wreck you will probably get more.
Some things hardly add value at all, or not that much.

jonnydeppiwish!

GDB2222 said:

No, it’s obviously not right to waste the estate agent’s time. 

Yes, they offer free advice, but that’s with a view to getting business. It costs them money to employ someone to come round, and it’s not fair if you have no intention of selling. 

It’s not a waste of their time - they look at it as a potential deal. All of our local EAs are more than happy to do this.

GDB2222

jonnydeppiwish! said:

GDB2222 said:

No, it’s obviously not right to waste the estate agent’s time. 

Yes, they offer free advice, but that’s with a view to getting business. It costs them money to employ someone to come round, and it’s not fair if you have no intention of selling. 

It’s not a waste of their time - they look at it as a potential deal. All of our local EAs are more than happy to do this.

But the op said that they are not going to sell in the foreseeable future.

RHemmings

GDB2222 said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

GDB2222 said:

No, it’s obviously not right to waste the estate agent’s time. 

Yes, they offer free advice, but that’s with a view to getting business. It costs them money to employ someone to come round, and it’s not fair if you have no intention of selling. 

It’s not a waste of their time - they look at it as a potential deal. All of our local EAs are more than happy to do this.

But the op said that they are not going to sell in the foreseeable future.

Either they can take the route of not telling the EA that, or be upfront and tell the EA that and see if they still give a valuation. I've had people in sales (not EAs) tell me that they always respond well to people who say they aren't serious about buying (in this case, services), because of the number of people who say that, and then buy something. 

TheJP

Pay for a surveyor to give you a valuation.

When you say you have done extensive work, what do you mean? Painting the walls and updating wont add much additional value if anything to the property. It will make it more attractive but unless you have increased the sq floor space then i wouldn't bother until you are ready to sell.

lady1964

TheJP said:

Pay for a surveyor to give you a valuation.

When you say you have done extensive work, what do you mean? Painting the walls and updating wont add much additional value if anything to the property. It will make it more attractive but unless you have increased the sq floor space then i wouldn't bother until you are ready to sell.

We haven’t increased the floor space but so far, we’ve done the following:

Removed a wall to make a large kitchen/diner/family area with new kitchen
Replaced all the windows, French doors and front door
New resin driveway
New en suite
New downstairs toilet
Removed an old, leaking conservatory and landscaped the garden
Replaced the main bedroom fitted wardrobes
New carpets throughout
Decorated throughout

New main bathroom to be done by the end of this year

We’re looking into some financial planning and will likely need a valuation to help with that in terms of a potential trust situation.

horsewithnoname

Why not offer to pay the ea for their time?

lady1964

horsewithnoname said:

Why not offer to pay the ea for their time?

Is that a thing? We’ve only ever had valuations done when we’ve been selling, the last time being nearly 5 years ago when we sold our previous property.

Hoenir

lady1964 said:

TheJP said:

Pay for a surveyor to give you a valuation.

When you say you have done extensive work, what do you mean? Painting the walls and updating wont add much additional value if anything to the property. It will make it more attractive but unless you have increased the sq floor space then i wouldn't bother until you are ready to sell.

We haven’t increased the floor space but so far, we’ve done the following:

Removed a wall to make a large kitchen/diner/family area with new kitchen
Replaced all the windows, French doors and front door
New resin driveway
New en suite
New downstairs toilet
Removed an old, leaking conservatory and landscaped the garden
Replaced the main bedroom fitted wardrobes
New carpets throughout
Decorated throughout

New main bathroom to be done by the end of this year

What was your total outlay on these projects?  I fear that you won't have added that much value to the property with what in the main are cosmetic changes. 

lady1964

Hoenir said:

lady1964 said:

TheJP said:

Pay for a surveyor to give you a valuation.

When you say you have done extensive work, what do you mean? Painting the walls and updating wont add much additional value if anything to the property. It will make it more attractive but unless you have increased the sq floor space then i wouldn't bother until you are ready to sell.

We haven’t increased the floor space but so far, we’ve done the following:

Removed a wall to make a large kitchen/diner/family area with new kitchen
Replaced all the windows, French doors and front door
New resin driveway
New en suite
New downstairs toilet
Removed an old, leaking conservatory and landscaped the garden
Replaced the main bedroom fitted wardrobes
New carpets throughout
Decorated throughout

New main bathroom to be done by the end of this year

What was your total outlay on these projects?  I fear that you won't have added that much value to the property with what in the main are cosmetic changes. 

I’d rather not say and I’m fully aware that we won’t have added masses of value, it was a very outdated property and it was all done for us to get the benefit, although were we to sell in the coming months, it would make it much more sellable, particularly as the decor etc is all fairly neutral,