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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

about the valuation of my flat?

30 replies

jenga079 · 17/02/2011 20:09

DP and I are hoping to move house before PFB arrives in July and have been getting our flat valued. I've been really cynical about the whole thing because I bought in 2007 just before the bubble popped (I know, I know, hindsight is a wonderful thing!!!) so was expecting to lose money.

Anyway, the first valuation was on Saturday and he valued it about £10k higher than I thought it would get. Whoooop!

Second valuation was today and she's valued it at the price I was originally expecting. Damn her!

She agrees with me. So why am I so cross? And would I be insane to go with the higher valuation?

I've never sold before so don't know!

OP posts:
IreneHeron · 17/02/2011 20:10

Try it higher if you want to, you can always accept an offer.

minibmw2010 · 17/02/2011 20:12

Some agencies (I'm not saying your original one is doing this) will value higher so that you go with them and will eventually then pursuade you (of course, this is once you've already signed up) and say well maybe you need to cut the price, etc.

Look up something like nethouseprices.com and see what prices other flats in your area/street have sold for recently to get a realistic idea.

eviscerateyourmemory · 17/02/2011 20:12

Its not unknown for estate agents to value properties 'high' in the hope that you will be persuaded to go with them because you like their valuation better.

The valuations mean nothing of themselves, the only thing that matters to you is how much a buyer s prepared to pay.

If you price the property to high then at least you have room to drop the price, alternatively a too high price might make you look unrealistic, or put people off.

cakeywakey · 17/02/2011 20:13

Might be worth getting a third valuation and you can then gauge what the price should be.

We sold out first house last year and added 5k onto the price that we thought it would go for to give buyers a cushion to take it down by.

Hardly anyone will offer the price that a home is on the market for at the minute, they'll always take it down a notch for their first offer.

I think the trick is to not overprice, otherwise you'll have trouble getting people to view, but to include a bit of a buffer. Good luck!

chandellina · 17/02/2011 20:17

chances are you're going to sell it at a discount to the asking price so a cushion might be wanted, but as a buyer i am definitely ignoring things that i think show a disconnect between reality and the seller's fantasy world.

TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 17/02/2011 20:23

Some estate agents have different strategies - we spoke to one who said 'always price it higher but around £Xk is what you can expect to get with the right buyer'. Another said, don't bother with any tactics, price it at what our valuation is and expect to get it. Both agreed on what price we'd end up getting though.

We went with the former and luckily got a buyer willing to go higher (by about £5k) than the forecast price. If you go high, you can always come down but if you go 'realistic' then you might get more footfall and interest and a quicker sale. Depends on your area.

Original poster
jenga079 · 17/02/2011 20:41

Thank you all. We're having the third valuation tomorrow and hopefully that will clarify things a little.

OP posts:
cakeywakey · 18/02/2011 20:09

How did the third valuation go Jenga?

charitygirl · 18/02/2011 20:11

Are you in London? Put it on at the higher offer - the market is picking up a bit.

chandellina · 18/02/2011 20:20

charitygirl - evidence please? all i see is very much to the contrary.

trixie123 · 18/02/2011 21:38

charitygirl - you reckon? we've been trying to sell since sept - have reduced the price twice is, now £35 k less than what next door sold for in april 2010 and is on for 12k less than we paid for it 3 years ago. desperately want to move before DC2 comes along in few months but is looking unlikely. OP I would price it realistically, especially if your property is a first time buyer one - they are having so much trouble getting mortgages they won;t look at stuff outside their range.

Original poster
jenga079 · 19/02/2011 09:51

Well the final valuation was the same as the first (the higher figure) was a lovely guy who came round, he seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the flat and 'talked the talk' but I can't help worrying that he is simply trying to flatter us to get the contract.

However, I did like his enthusiasm and it seemed like he'd be very proactive in marketing the place.

I'm tempted to go with him and try the higher price for four weeks, then drop it if feedback suggests it's too expensive. Has anyone been in this situation? Risky to start high?

Sadly we're not in London (I actually left London to buy this place as I realised i'd never be able to afford anything there)

Thanks for all the advice so far & good luck to those of you trying to sell (we just keep telling ourselves that yes, it is a buyer's market, but once we've sold we'll be buyers!)

OP posts:
christmaswishes · 19/02/2011 10:55

Well rather than going with estate agency figures, they often don't know what their talking about or will spin you a yarn to get the job, don't you know any recent figures of flats that sold? Not the asking prices but the real selling figures? Someone suggested trying nethouse prices. I would look at those figures then add extra on as all buyers will knock you down in price.

christmaswishes · 19/02/2011 10:55

Well rather than going with estate agency figures, they often don't know what their talking about or will spin you a yarn to get the job, don't you know any recent figures of flats that sold? Not the asking prices but the real selling figures? Someone suggested trying nethouse prices. I would look at those figures then add extra on as all buyers will knock you down in price.

tyler80 · 19/02/2011 11:02

I'd also be wary of estate agency valuations (estate agents in general to be honest!). A neighbour had her house valued by 3 different estate agents and it came out as 150k 200k and 250k so I don't really see they know what they're talking about.

For choosing who to go with, I'd look beyond the price. Go on rightmove and find properties advertised by the agencies you're hoping to use. Do they all have good photos? No spelling mistakes? It amazes me how many adverts display the street name spelt incorrectly. Do the descriptions match the photos? I've seen many photos of semi-detached houses described as detached properties.

Heroine · 19/02/2011 11:02

pricing low to get people round is another strategy that works well, then the agent can say 'we are expecting offers over the asking price as it seems to be on very low' and then people mark UP to what they think its worth. (like they do in auctions)

not1not2 · 19/02/2011 11:10

DO any of them drive green minis? Grin

Original poster
jenga079 · 19/02/2011 11:15

Thank you all. We are doing the other research as well. I've looked at what properties are marketed at and what they're actually selling for; I've set up a fake email address and seen how quickly different agents reply to queries (sneaky!!) and I've had a good look at which agents have properties in our price bracket.

The problem is it's a pretty unusual flat. Most flats in this city are new builds without outside space; ours is a converted Victorian building (more like the London flats we all know and love!) with front and back gardens, off road parking etc. It's also in a really nice area, with parks, the river and the town centre all within a close walk (hahah, does it sound like I'm trying to sell you it?)

For the price we've been quoted you can buy two bedroom houses, but in different areas. It will just come down to whether people want a house, or location.

Ho hum. I'm going to try the higher one so that we give buyers the opportunity for an offer. We've given the agents a 'bottom' figure too so hopefully they'll get people through the door. If not, we'll drop it in a month.

And then hopefully we can start the exciting process of looking for somewhere to move to!

OP posts:
Original poster
jenga079 · 19/02/2011 11:16

Hahaha not1not2.... nooooooo! We don't have the green minis out in the sticks. Which is a good thing, because I don't like estate agents offices that look like posh wine bars!

OP posts:
candleshoe · 19/02/2011 11:32

DH is an estate agent - he is constantly quoting realistic prices - but his main competitor in this small market town always quotes 10,15 even 20 grand higher!

What happens is that clients are swayed by this flattery - but when the agent has failed to sell it after the 12 week contract period runs out - they come back to my DH's company who then price sensibly and really do SHIFT your house!

If you don't mind a pointless 12 week delay try the flattterer first!!

candleshoe · 19/02/2011 11:40

P.S. Look for an estate agency that has a chartered surveyor on the team or someone with the NFOPP qualifications....otherwise you can get whole companies of untrained greedy numpties on commisssion only pay who give the industry a bad name.

Original poster
jenga079 · 19/02/2011 12:09

Thanks Candleshoe. I should point out that the two prices are only about £5k apart and I figure that any viewer will be looking at things up to 10k over their budget in the hope of making an offer. We've had two quotes at the higher price now and they're both with the agencies that seem to specialise in flats. I think I'm going to go with last night's agents (not just because he was a hottie!!) but ask them to put it on at a very slightly lower price to look a bit more competitive (thanks Heroine, I like that plan)

Thank you again for everyone's advice. I've never sold before and am worried that pregnancy hormones are going to start taking over. I need to ensure I don't just sell at any price in order to start nesting, but equally i don't turn stubborn and start muttering 'how dare they?' at any low offers!

OP posts:
charitygirl · 21/02/2011 09:48

Sorry for not explaining my post. We had our London flat on for two months with Winkworths in autumn - had about two viewing and not a sniff of an offer. Put it back on with KFH in Jan and had two offers within a week. We had dropped price by £10K, but it was still £10K over our 'reserve' price, and we ended up accepting £5K over. Others in our street have gone too.

And then, while looking to buy (in Streatham) things were going off the market before we could view. So, while in the longterm I do not think London house prices are going anywhere fast, and I would advise not stretching yr budget, there seems to be a little temptary bounce at the mo.

not1not2 · 21/02/2011 12:34

charity lots aren't actually completing though loads go up as sold but then never make the freely available online land registry listings (ie nethouseprices etc)
some of the streets I'm interested in have sold nothing since 2007 yet there have been lots for sale over that time

saw one in Jan I liked 'sold' within 1 week back on the market now....

lesley33 · 21/02/2011 13:17

When I sold the advice I got was to get 3 valuations and go with the middle one. If it is priced too high, people looking for a place will mentally discount it. Even if you lower the price later, people looking will assume that if it hasn't already sold, there must be something wrong with it.

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