Range of Valuations - SE London. Confused.

[FridayThirteenth]

So we have had 4 agents round to value.

There aren't really any directly comparable sold properties near by - the closest I can find is v close, but on a much quieter street (no through road), that sold this time last year.

The valuations were as follows: £525, £550, £575 and £600k.

My gut was £550k but we would consider offers, so the top two valuations were a bit of a shock.

I went back to the agent that came out with the top valuation and said it was a shock and we weren't expecting that high, and they are adamant that it's worth more and that they will be able to achieve this. They sold the closest comparable (mentioned above) for £600k a year ago, and also cited a few other recent examples where they have valued higher than the other agents and achieved close to it. He said the other agents value lower as it's a tough market and they want an easy sale. But with work we can achieve higher. I actually spoke to one of the vendors of a recent sale where they achieved a sale at a higher valuation, so it does seem in some cases this tactic works.

The agents with the two lower valuations were scathing of the first and said they over value.

The third (£575) was an online agent with a local rep with a lot of local experience. He said market at £575 to achieve between £550 to £600.

So now I'm thoroughly confused.

What would you go in at? And how would you choose the agent?

My feeling is that a property will naturally find it's value, but how do you know what that is without any other similar properties to compare it to

KFH are the Foxtons of SE London, I have seen a lot of criticism of them on local FB groups.

Good point from parkview about commission. Although they seem to care more about getting the general amount that the 1% extra for higher price sometimes.

The average of those valuations is 562.5k so I'd probably go for 575 with a view to getting around 560k. If it's priced too high it will stick and put buyers off.

Are you in Lee, OP? I'm in Blackheath but have been looking at houses in Hither Green/Lee recently. The agent that seems to do the most business up your way is John Payne. I haven't seen much on with KFH.

No not Lee - the other direction! It’s Pedder round here

I quite liked KFH when we were looking. I'd avoid Robinson Jackson and there's another one, I think Peter something but can't recall. They seem to go in as low as possible.

We recently sold in Abbey Wood. Valuations ranged hugely from 330k (Hunters) to 480k (local agent who said they thought it could get 500 potentially)!! We went with the local agent because we liked them and went on with a 460-480 asking price. Accepted 450 which was our best case scenario anyway - we never believed it would get any more than that but thought it was worth letting them try. 450 was our buyer's first offer so we probably could have pushed for a bit more but we had found a house we wanted and it was what we needed so we took it for a quick and secure sale (which it wasn't really but at least we tried!).

Oh wow Helen, that’s a huge difference from the lowest valuation you had! Did the sale complete? What was the mortgage valuation?

KFC's are notorious for overvaluing and KFH houses here also SE London seem to have to drop quite a bit to sell.

When I read your OP I thought the high value was either Foxtons or KFH. I’m not a million miles from you, just a bit further out, so also in SE London. The market around here has definitely dipped and slowed a bit. We bought through KFH and they are very aggressive. They are also very good at maintaining contacts with the local buyers. Our vendors had pretty much sold our house to us before they’d even signed their contract as the agent knew we would.

I’d say you need to be very firm with them as to what you’d be willing to accept.

My main concern with them is that it’s now a buyer’s market and a house listed with them would put me off a bit if I was buying again.

I think the 575k but being willing to accept 560k idea is a good one.

I have just sold a two bed flat in SE London OP. KFH recently valued my flat at £60k over what it eventually sold for (a year later!)...

So I'd try and keep realistic. If your gut says your property is worth around 550k then that's probably broadly what it will sell for.

I sold with KFH a few years ago in SE London, and was really impressed. They were on the higher end of valuations, but they achieved it, and then some! The agent approached me with the offer the buyer had made and then said, "but I think I can get a bit more" and then did! He came back with a couple of £k more. And to top it off, he was on flat fee so didn't increase his commission in doing so!

It all sounds like an urban legend written down, but it's a true story, I promise!

I'd go with putting it on the market for £575k and accept £550 upwards.

Hunters was the lowest for us too and we ended up with £50k more than they said

I think the market has slowed. A flat in my block sold for just under £900K last year. Identical flat in similar condition has been on for £870K. They’ve now dropped to £840K and still no offers.

Doje - I think the market even a couple of years ago was so different. It was a sellers market (particularly before the stamp duty changes in April 2016) so I can see how being ballsy like that would work.

The market definitely has slowed, but good properties are still selling at the right price.

I'm not going to scupper our plans by getting £ signs in our eyes. I know we can buy the house we want if we sell for £550, so I'd rather have a wider pool of buyers and make it easier (hopefully) that take a risk for the extra money. It's interesting a few of you are saying £575 and accept offers, but I worry that will cut out a heap of buyers who put £550 as their top parameter on Rightmove. Hopefully at £550 we'll capture viewers on both sides of that budget

Yes, I'm in the new house right now!
The mortgage valuation was the same as the agreed price. As far as I know they only change it from the asking if they're convinced there's a pretty big discrepancy anyway.

We sold with KFH in West Norwood in 2014 and they were the highest valuation. They got us over the asking price, but even though our buyer initially offered the exact asking price (which we would have gladly accepted!) they got us more. I think although they seem a bit shady they can do a good job... That said the market was different then and we had it on for only 5 days. Good luck, go with your gut!

It's interesting a few of you are saying £575 and accept offers, but I worry that will cut out a heap of buyers who put £550 as their top parameter on Rightmove. Hopefully at £550 we'll capture viewers on both sides of that budget

I had 550 ish to spend last year and I looked at properties on RM up to 600

Anyone with an actual budget of £550k will have search parameters up to £600k, especially in the current market - few people will expect to pay asking price.

Also we had three views in a week which resulted in an offer which we accepted. Then the buyer ghosted us! Really weird. So went back on the market, had 3-4 viewings over a fortnight and got the 450k offer.

I'm glad we didn't go on at 330!!