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Putting my house up for dale - big valuation variance

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pimento
pimento Posts: 6,242 Forumite
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in House buying, renting & selling
We're getting our house ready for sale and have asked the only three agents in our village to come and give us a market appraisal.

One (the biggest) agent valued the house two and a half years ago when my husband moved in at £475,000. Two of the three agents came yesterday and the first one (that hadn't been before) said it was worth £525,000. The one that came in 2016 said it was still worth £475,000. The other one is coming today.

The big agent said that I should beware of the other two agents as they had a habit of over valuing to get the instruction which sounds reasonable and gave me a graph showing that they had outsold the other two agents by some considerable margin. It doesn't say what percentage of the asking price they achieved.

Some background - We are in a very popular Essex commuter village 50 minutes from Liverpool Street and there a quite a few four bedroom houses for sale and sold. There's a very similar house for sale just over the road but it would need quite a bit of updating. Ours has a large entrance lobby and a proper study and theirs doesn't. Theirs went on the market at the beginning of March for £485,000.
When I asked the big agent about it, he said that it was overpriced.

So, I suppose my question is, how do I work out who's telling me the truth? I told both agents that we want to price it to sell and not to chase the market down but how do I know that the big agent isn't just valuing low to add to his sold figures?

£50,000 is quite a large difference in a house in this price bracket.

Help!
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair
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  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    pimento wrote: »
    how do I work out who's telling me the truth?
    Which of them (if any) has backed up their figures with reference to completed sales of comparable properties? Asking prices don't prove much.
    £50,000 is quite a large difference in a house in this price bracket.
    It's £500k +/- 5%, which isn't all that big a valuation range.
  • pimento
    pimento Posts: 6,242 Forumite
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    The one who gave me the higher price came with a printed out list of what was for sale and SSTC in the immediate area.

    I've been looking at Zoopla and Rightmove and I know their valuations are rubbish but both sites say that house prices (in my post code)have gone up a bit in the past two years.

    I'm in the SS5 postcode.
    "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    pimento wrote: »
    The one who gave me the higher price came with a printed out list of what was for sale and SSTC in the immediate area.
    Which won't tell you the actual selling prices.
    I've been looking at Zoopla and Rightmove and I know their valuations are rubbish but both sites say that house prices (in my post code)have gone up a bit in the past two years.
    Their estimates are rubbish but they will both tell you the prices of completed sales. So have you looked at those?
  • pimento
    pimento Posts: 6,242 Forumite
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    There has onlt been three sales on my road in the past 12 months according to Zoopla (there doesn't seem to be any way of saying + 1/4 of a mile and it won't accept half a postcode). The value change is 1.97%.

    Rightmove gives sale prices in the SS5 postcode but it doesn't say how the cvalue has changed in the past 2 years.
    "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair
  • pimento
    pimento Posts: 6,242 Forumite
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    I assume that means my house has increased in value by 1.79% in the past year meaning that the asking price should be £485,000?
    "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair
  • Lokolo
    Lokolo Posts: 20,861 Forumite
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    pimento wrote: »
    There has onlt been three sales on my road in the past 12 months according to Zoopla (there doesn't seem to be any way of saying + 1/4 of a mile and it won't accept half a postcode). The value change is 1.97%.

    And those sold prices - how do the prices and houses compare to yours?

    Are the houses similar to yours? Did they need a lot of updating? Were they double the size?

    Compare the sold houses and their prices with your house and your asking price - do they add up?
  • hazyjo
    hazyjo Posts: 15,470 Forumite
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    What do you think it's worth? Most people have an idea before getting the EAs round.

    See what things have actually sold for. And check current prices to make sure you're not the most expensive. Pitch it in the middle of what they're up for, but remember they're all still up so at least half may be way too optimistic!

    I have been following nearby markets for years and really don't think much has changed in the last 2.5 years. If you've not done much to it, I doubt it would be worth £50k more.

    Which agent did you feel most confident with? Remember, you don't have to go with any of their valuations! If you think it's worth say £500k, I would market at around £515k. If you think you'd be happy with £475k or just a bit more at say £485k, then market at £495k to keep it under £500k.

    Remember to sign up for no more than 8 weeks, and you certainly shouldn't be paying more than 1%.

    Williams & Donovan were EXCELLENT at holding our chain together. House was on the market a while, and our buyer had actually withdrawn it from the market when I offered, but they were certainly one of the best EAs I've dealt with. I think she did fall out with my EAs though lol. But all in all they were pretty good. I think my vendor had agreed to a flat fee/fixed price with them.
    2023 wins: *must start comping again!*
  • Cakeguts
    Cakeguts Posts: 7,627 Forumite
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    pimento wrote: »
    I assume that means my house has increased in value by 1.79% in the past year meaning that the asking price should be £485,000?


    It may not have done. An increase in prices of houses in the most sought after area may only affect the most sought after area within the post code and not the rest of the post code but will look like a rise for the whole post code.
  • ka7e
    ka7e Posts: 3,084 Forumite
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    I used Getagent.co.uk. It compares the number of new properties a particular EA has listed recently, the average selling time and the percentage of asking price their properties realise. It is also supposed to let you track the number of people viewing your listing, but that didn't work on my Rightmove listing.
    "Cheap", "Fast", "Right" -- pick two.
  • pimento
    pimento Posts: 6,242 Forumite
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    All very interesting. Thank you.

    In my head I thought the price would probably not have changed much since 2016 but I thought it might have gone up a little bit even if only £10,000 and the first agent threw me with his £525,000 valuation.

    My husband like the big agent and I liked them both but I don't read people very well.

    I'm very interested to see what agent number three says this afternoon.

    Our house is pretty much bog standard 1980s build. It has been extended to the front meaning that we have the lobby, a full sized integral garage, a study, a drive big enough for three cars and a 90' garden. There's also an en suite shower room.

    There are plenty of more modern four bedroom houses being built and they all sell for between £550,000 and £800,000 so I think our target buyer will be a young family buying their second house.

    This is very close to me and has just sold (STC) at the asking price.

    https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-78262592.html

    They have a conservatory but we have the lobby and study and a much larger garden.
    "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair
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