Has anyone had a massive difference in valuations? Should we get a 4th ?

[crazyboots]

We're selling our 3 bed in London. We've had 3 valuations at £650, £725 and £750. The £725 EA is thinking it would go for asking price, if not slightly more, the £750 is thinking we'd achieve £720-735 easily but should be bullish in the market.

The last similar property sold for £650 in January although it needed a bit of work doing and ours is immaculate. Either of the higher valuations would be a greatly increased ceiling price for the road. Another 3 bed in the next road which is very slightly bigger than ours has been on the market for a couple of months at £775.

The £650 is making me worried that the other agents are misreading the market.

We're struggling to afford the next level of house (ours is tiny for family of 5 plus dog) even by moving far out so every penny counts but at the same time don't want to be stuck and the property devalued by not selling.

Anyone been in same position? WWYD

Well, a valuation is really just someone's opinion and it's never impartial. I can't imagine a 4th valuation would make much of a difference.

We've had different valuations on our flat but could see that it very much depends on the EA - some like to be more conservative and sell quickly, others will push for a higher price. Others unfortunately will value it quite high to make you sign up with them, and then pressure you to accept a lower offer!

I'd consider how fast I want to sell. If you're not desperate it might be worth going for a higher asking price and waiting to get a good offer...

So actually 2 out of 3 are saying the same (around 725k), just talking about different ways of getting you there. I don't think you need another valuation, just a chat about the best marketing price.

The EA who came up with 650k could have just done a lazy look at the last similar ppty sold.

As London is currently so crazy, I'd be tempted to stick it on at £749,950 initially as see what happens. Reduce it quickly if you get no/few viewers. I wouldn't bother with getting a 4th valuation.

A friend's house in London was recently put on at 850 which I thought was optimistic (they bought for c400 about 8 years ago). It went for 30k over asking price.

Probably go for the higher price!

i recently had valuations on 450 and 550 for a flat in london. put it on at 550 and it went under offer within a few weeks.

dont ask dont get and all that

We had a difference of 30k in valuation on or flat. Looking back I know we could've got another 20 at least on top of what we sold it for.

I would always go for top price and add some extra then see what the response is then you can adjust the price or the buyers can batter you down a bit.

Ignore the lower valuation. London is bonkers at the moment.

We got 4 valuations, 3 all at the same price, 1 at 25K higher. Put it on at the higher price, and got 4 over asking price offers after open day; eventually went for 50k over asking price.

We're staying in London, so the same thing happened in our purchase too.

I'd put it on at the higher price esp if it's immaculate.

It sounds as if you can discount the £650 valuation. Do you have a particular property in mind? If so, to stand a chance of getting it you'll need to sell quickly, so therefore the £725 valuation would be worth considering. If you're not in a panic, go with the higher valuation, see what interest you get and what the level of offers are.

Agree London's gone crazy. Round here the prices have moved up about £150-200k since last summer. We've just had valuations done and all three said 'but property x was back in January so would be worth another £75k now' - and all said they would expect offers over asking price on open day, though how much could be £1, could be £25k, though in our case we're just under the 4% stamp duty threshold which affects pricing strategy. in your shoes I'd be looking to achieve at least the 725, whether you price to attract interest/bidding war or you're prepared to sit it out and consider offers would depend on urgency of moving!

Have you asked locally about the estate agents? Round here some definitely have a reputation for going low, others for overly optimistic, and several others for being middle-of-the-road with valuations. A friend of ours had three valuations (December though, bit outdated) of £500k, £565-570 and £650. They went with the highest-valuing agent, who's got a bit of a reputation for over-pricing, though put it on with a guide price of £600 and achieved £575 with two lower bids of £565 and £570. The middle-ranking agent is thought to be fairly accurate with valuations, as this case proved, and my friend bore that in mind when lowering the guide price of the aggressive agent.

I'd get a 4th, or go for the higher estimates. we got the same spread and we went with the highest estimate as it was from the most local estate agent who knew the market best. We sold for the highest estimate - I think it was well marketed too.

Thanks everyone, sorry for not coming back. Well I instructed the agent at 725 yesterday as they are pretty well respected locally and have sold both of the most recent properties in the road.

BUT, after a phone call this morning they suggested a guide price of 700 to attract as much interest as possible for the open day. We've settled at 710,which is now along way from the other agents 750 valuation. Does anyone know about guide prices? Another thread?

It's similar to OIEO. The EA is trying to generate a bidding war on the basis that the more people through the door the more chance there is of several people being interested, so bidding against each other, sealed bids etc.

Hope it goes well.

I don't think anyone has a blardy clue about what any property is 'worth' in London anymore. So to put something with a guide price invites people to feel free to put offers in, both below the asking price and above it. That'll tell you what it is currently worth, I guess.

Let us know when the offers come in? a little bit of MN markrt research.