How an estate agent will value your home at a property valuation

Are you thinking of selling your home? One of the first things you can do is get an early indication of what your budget might be when you’re looking to buy. You can use our instant valuation tool to get an online estimate of what your current home may be worth.

You can then arrange a full expert valuation of your home from an estate agent when the time comes to sell.

Here’s how a property’s value is worked out:

How the price of a property is determined

There are, of course, the most obvious – and probably most important – factors:

• Location
• Size
• Local prices

Then there are the factors that are unique to your home and situation – these are slightly more intricate and almost impossible to take into account without viewing the property. Things like:

• The condition the house is in
• Any extensions or changes you’ve done to the property, and the quality of the work
• Internal elements – things like flooring, double-glazing, insulation, finishing, etc.

According to Martin Coombs, a specialist in home-valuing for Bridges Estate Agents, many other things can also dictate the value of a home: “Understanding the scope for improvement or seeing the quality of updates and the finish can both change the value of a property and the volume of interest a home will attract.”

Ultimately, the asking price of the home will be determined by a combination of all these factors together with the knowledge of how the local market is behaving at the moment.

What’s the current demand for this type of property? How much have they sold for recently? How long is it taking to find a buyer? Knowing the answers to all these questions is crucial to getting the price right.

An online valuation could do a decent job at calculating those first, bigger aspects of the appraisal. By drawing on available data such as sold prices, it is possible to get a fairly good idea of what the property may be worth.

But because homes are as unique as the people who own them, there will always be variables that even all the data in the world would not pick up on.

Want to know how much your home is worth? Get a free accurate market valuation from local property experts

The key questions you’ll be asked at a property valuation

Rob Sabin, director at Miles & Barr, says “An in-person valuation will allow the estate agent to see the property’s condition, and get a feel for the space and size of the rooms.

“It allows us to form a picture of the area surrounding the property so we can tell an insightful story on the property’s listing and at viewings.”

You should also expect to be asked what attracted you to buy your home, and why you love living there. Though these points may be overlooked by some, they’re significant because they help to bring out your property’s selling points, and could affect the asking price.

Rob goes on to explain that there are other important components that help set the price, and which go beyond the scope of the physical property itself.

“At a valuation, a key question we need you to consider is whether you would like a quick sale, or do you want the highest price possible for your home?” A seller that requires an urgent, speedy sale, for example, will require a different strategy than one who hopes to sell within the next six months.

And a last – but very relevant – point is that an experienced estate agent with strong knowledge of the local market will also be able to advise you on what you might be able to do to your home to increase its value. Would adding an extension, a conservatory, or an extra bathroom be a worthwhile investment? This varies hugely from property to property, so it might be a good idea to get someone in and talk this through.

In summary, no doubt there is a place for both online and in-person valuations moving forward. But if you are serious about selling soon, or need a price estimate that is as accurate as possible, we recommend calling your local estate agent to arrange an expert valuation.

If you want to know how much your house is worth and would like a list of recommended agents in your area, we can help you find a local expert so you can arrange a property valuation.

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The header image for this article has been provided courtesy of Cubitt & West, Ashington.