Valuations on mum's house - WWYD?

[ElsieMc]

I am one of three executors of my mum's estate. Sadly she died at Christmas and the solicitor asked me to arrange valuations this week. My brother lives in London and we are in the NW five mins from the house.

The house is a nice three bedroomed property in a quiet location within walking distance of a market town. It has a good courtyard area and reserved parking, but no garage. Two valuers valued it at £142,000 and the preferred valuer of the solicitor valued it at £130,000. I knew all of them as I used to work in this field many years ago and they were all professional - the first two being the most positive.

Clearly I am now confused. I have had a look at properties in a similar price range on rightmove and £130,000 looks a little low. For example this is usually the price for two bedroom cottages/terraces locally.

The lower valuer said it was because there was a local estate (unpopular, fairly poor quality properties) outside town with three bed semis (small gardens, but with drives and garages) going for £135,000 etc so mum's looks like a poorer prospect.

It just seemed a bit strange that the two other agents both came up with exactly the same figure. Really I just want the house to go, but by the same token don't want to undersell. WWYD?

Are the first two coming up with more of an 'asking price' figure and the third a more realistic offer figure? If you market at £130k the chances are you'll be offered less, I think.

Was in the same situation as you 2 years ago, 3 estate agents 2 valued the same 1 valued 30K less, we got the higher figure which agreed with the home report we had to have done. HTH.

Firstly, sorry for the loss of your mum :(

I would go for the higher figure tbh, unless you need it sold very very quickly, in which case the lower figure will probably get you an offer in the first week. If you do go for the higher figure you can always reduce the price if you don't get much interest or accept a lower offer. Most people will offer less than the asking price anyway.

A long time ago when I sold my house I got 4 valuations of £130k x 2, £120k and £113k. I went with the higher ones and ended up selling for £124k. Some agents do value low to shift properties quickly (makes them look successful - ie look we've sold X no of houses this week) obviously the lower the price quicker they're likely to sell. The lowest agent in my case said his valuation was based on fact he'd sold a neighbouring house for £110k and my house wasn't much better (apart from fact mine was end terrace not mid, had been extended, bigger garden and a garage!). Which was clearly quite wrong!

You've nothing to loose by trying the higher price. If you put it on low nobody is going to say I think this house is worth more have another £10k are they ?

I'd try it at the higher price but review it in 6-8 weeks. Make sure you get as much feedback as possible for any viewings that take place and if no viewings ask the EA why.
It's a lot easier to reduce a price than to try to increase it.

have a look at other houses in the same area so you have an understanding of what they are actually selling for (which is not the same as the asking price)

There are some websites that show actual sale prices recorded at the Land Registry but I can't find link just now.

If they're valuing it for probate you want as low a price as you can get (although as it is well within the inheritance tax threshold, shouldn't make too much difference unless you mother had lots of other assets).

Hi I'm an EA and would say if two said the same then their probably closer to the mark. If the lower agent is the one you liked the most then call them and explain the other vals given and see if they will trial your property at that figure for 3 weeks, if there isn't any interest then you know the price is too high. At £130,000 people will expect to pay £125,000.

Oh and go to rightmove top left (from memory) is a tab that says sold prices click there and put in the postcode will come up with sold prices. Or nethouseprice. Zoopla is sometimes way out for valuations so try those two first

Many thanks for your responses.

I agree that if two agents came in with exactly the same price, then that does sound realistic. The other agent's reasoning was basically you could buy a semi on an unpopular estate rather than a terrace - well if that is what you want, then there are plenty unsold on there. I think it's a better quality property, in a better, more popular position.