Probate and valuations

wilkko73

My mum's estate is believed to be an Excepted Estate One of the main things that I was asked was to get  a Market valuation for the house.
I have seen people mentioning getting 3 valuations on the net and it makes me wonder if I need 3,I suppose I may have to send an e mail to the solicitor to ask them and get charged for the e mail !  But thought I would ask on here anyway to see what other people did

Edit:I should add when I asked her a few weeks ago I asked if a normal estate Market valuation was fine as otherwise that estate agent would charge £300 for an RCIS valuation.She said as no IHT was payable on the estate so the Market Valuation from estate agent was fine.
And now I'm wondering if i need 3

Flugelhorn

I did probate myself and guessed based on sales in that road of similar properties - they accepted it and in the end I was 4k out

p00hsticks

If you intention is to remain living in the house and given that the estate is under the IHT allowances then it's not as critical to get a really accurate valuation. 

House valuations become more important when the property is left empty and the intention is too sell it as soon as probate is obtained, as if it then sells for much more than the declared valuation as at date of death then there may be Capital Gains Tax to pay....

wilkko73

p00hsticks said:

If you intention is to remain living in the house and given that the estate is under the IHT allowances then it's not as critical to get a really accurate valuation. 

House valuations become more important when the property is left empty and the intention is too sell it as soon as probate is obtained, as if it then sells for much more than the declared valuation as at date of death then there may be Capital Gains Tax to pay....

Thank you..

Keep_pedalling

As this is also you home there is no issue with undervaluing and ending up with a CGT liability.

In your shoes I would get 3 valuations and use the middle valuation. Just tell them you are consider downsizing once you have the estate finalised. 

wilkko73

I've been reading about house valuations being scrutinised by District valuers One thing that does concern me is a few homes in my road at high value that could skew things,one of them has been updated through out and extended it has 4 bedrooms instead of 3 like mine and was £240,000 more than mine it was like a show home though but it might make them think mine should be higher even though it's a 3 bedroom home.all of the homes will be in a lot better condition that mine but if a district valuer just compares prices online instead of visiting and seeing my homes condition and also the major modifications people have made he could think mine has been under priced.
At least a similar 3 bed room property went for £20k more that mine last year so at least that looks better for me as it's not too far from my value and that house would have been in better condition.Is it worth getting an RCIS valuation instead of the EA one.I don't want to spend £300 and will have to borrow the funds but if it carries more weight.the downside then I suppose if you have a proper survey and ever decided to sell the home you would have to disclose the problems found to prospective buyers! My mum's estate with the valuation by the EA  and small amount of money that she has left comes in at over 120k less than the NRB bands that I'm going to use.

Keep_pedalling

That is only going to happen if the estate is in IHT territory or close to it, it is not going to happen here where you don’t even need to submit an IHT return.