Neighbours selling way below true value (impact on us.)

[GloriousGoodwood]

This is a WWYD but I accept there is nothing to do really.
A neighbour has recently put their house on the market at 20-25% lower price than ours was valued at by the same agent, some time ago. It's also too cheap looking at other neighbouring houses that sold this year. This is in an area where prices are rising and always have been.

They clearly want a quick sale. The same agent sold an identical neighbouring house last year at the same knock-down price (sold in days.) Again, the vendors only wanted a quick sale and weren't fussed about the price.

However, as there are only a few of these houses of the same design in our road, it's not going to make it easy for us to sell ours at what we (and several other agents) consider the right price, when we decide to move.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not deluded, but these two houses were marketed way below their real value (elderly owners not really in touch with the market.)

We've muttered a few things to them querying their valuation compared to ours, but they don't seem to want to know.
How are we going to sell ours at the 'right' price?

To be fair all the OP can do is choose to put her house on the market at the price she wants and see what happens - if these two sales are below actual value then they will be anomalies amongst the sales of similar sized properties and won't affect the perceived 'true' value of the OP's house.

We paid £70k less than our NDN in the same year for our semi. Having seen next door, ours is the more spacious and better maintained house. They have a bigger garden, but it isn't worth £70k more. When they were looking they thought their house was worth what they paid. What we paid for ours was immaterial to them.

OP, why are you getting valuations on your property when you are not planning to sell it - and speaking to an EA about the impact a potential sale of your neighbour's house will have on yours?

I have to say I'm curious about this too. It's very unusual behaviour if you're not selling and won't be for a couple of years to have an agent and to actually speak to them about this.

Do you need your house to be worth a certain amount for future financial reasons that are stressing you out?

This is in an area where prices are rising and always have been.

is this true of anywhere right now?

were the previous valuations before or after the referendum?

Are you in Northhamptonshire or East Anglia?

You could always buy it yourself and sell at your valuation of it?

Should be an easy few quid

were the previous valuations before or after the referendum

OP said 18 months ago, which will be early 2016 (when the market was string and prices were going crazy in most areas).

Many areas that were strong in early 2016 are fairly stagnant now.

Yes, there has just been a news item saying the only areas where house prices are still rising are Northhamptonshire and East Anglia, everywhere else is stagnant or falling, mostly a bit of both,

In and around London, and average of a 4% fall, with the more expensive bracket coming down 7%, thank goodness!

The agent who valued our house 8 years ago has valued the neighbours for the same price after 8 years! Yes, theirs does need some work and in some ways is not quite so good but it doesn't account for over £100K difference

Yes it does. Renovating a dated house can mean pulling out all the pipework (lead) replacing it. Rewiring, most likely remodelling (walls down, new walls up) extension, bifold doors new bathroom new kitchen tiling redecorating, landscaping the garden. It all adds up then who ever does that doesn't work for nothing they will want a difference between what they have spent on it and what they can get for it. To put it in perspective I spent £90000 renovating a 2 bed 1 bathroom bungalow with the most amazingly stupid lay out. It is now 4 beds 2 bathrooms and I haven't extended.

everywhere else is stagnant or falling, mostly a bit of both

I agree - this reflects my experience as a current house seller/hunter. I'm in a pricy bit of the north and am selling in one area and looking to buy in another, and both markets are stagnant.

Our old neighbours house sold for about 30k less than ours did only months afterwards. They wanted a quick sale for personal reasons and ours was more modern. Both houses sold within a week. We briefed our agent so he was ready to field any questions but I don't think anyone asked.

When our mother's house had to be sold for care home fees, the agent gave my brother 3 valuations.
One, optimistic, could take 6 months.
Two, fairly realistic, 3 months.
Three, I'll sell it in a week.

We went for 3, which still seemed fairly reasonable, and he did. Brother had asked for an honest opinion, and that was what we got.
None of us lived near enough to keep popping in to tidy the garden, etc. and the house did need work.
There are all sorts of reasons why people go for a quick sale.
Not least, I suspect, if price is not absolutely critical, avoiding all the hassle of endless viewings, constantly having to tidy up, chasing the estate agent, etc.