Want to know what the house I am living in would cost to buy - how do I get a valuation?

[AngryFeet]

I am currently living in my parents home with my family as we are saving for a deposit and my parents were happy to rent it to us (they live 60 miles away as they set up a business there).

We would like to look at the possibility of buying but want to gauge how much it would cost us (would rather not get our hopes up). The house was valued at £495000 a few years ago but I think that is crap to be honest as other houses on this road are not getting that sort of money.

Anyway if I want a valuation but don't want to sell who do I go to?

I can't help but would like to know the answers, we are private renting and have been told we would be given a competitive deal if we wanted to buy in the future - but I'd like an idea of how much it's worth now, the house 2 doors up is for sale at £125k but has different things done to it than ours - new heating system, windows etc but ours has a downstairs toilet and a double driveway

Next year we may be in a position to consider buying so I'd like to have an idea because I'm a nosey bitch

I have been looking on Rightmove but it is hard to say really. The only downside to this house is the decorative condition as although my parents kept it pristine it has gone downhill in the last 6 years as my brother lived here alone for a while and he managed to trash the kitchen (couple of doors broken off) and it is a very old fashioned one anyway. The other rooms are ok but tired looking. Bathrooms are ok though. How much does needing a new kitchen knock off? On rightmove if a kitchen is as bad as ours presumably they don't take a pic?

The normal thing is to get 2 or 3 Estate Agents in and they will give you a valuation, you can then decide the true value from that (they're usually pretty close). I am always getting cards offering a no commitment valuation.

You could do an unofficial nose on rightmove, they show you how much recent houses in the area, by road, have sold for, if you don't want to be official.

Talk to your parents and get them to arrange the valuation.

Might save a lot of bad feeling in the long run, especially if they have the £495000 valuation of a few years ago in mind. They may find a new, much lower valuation (given the current market) impossible to believe. Money and property deals have a way of driving wedges into any family.

A new kitchen would cost anywhere between £1,000 and £30,000, depending on the size, quality and style.

The only true way is to put it on the market and see what bids they get as this sort of thing has the power to create all sorts of resentments in families.

If your parents want to release capital then why not just sell it to the highest bidder and you rent elsewhere or offer them a bit more than the highest bid they get?

MoreBeta gives excellent advice, I honestly think that is the way to go.

Otherwise in the future, you are likely to feel resentment as you pay a mortgage that costs you much more than your neighbours with similar houses.

And your parents and your brother may also feel that you are beholden to them.