Estate agent 1 or 2? £25,000 difference in house valuation

[Monr0e]

We had our house valued this time last year, all valuations in the same ball park, and we had decided which estate agent we wanted to go with when personal circumstances forced us to delay.

We are now ready again to market the house and arranged for a new valuation with an estate agent we hadn't seen before. He valued it significantly higher than what we were told last year. I then spoke to the original agent who was very honest and said he felt the figures would be roughly the same and that their were not many buyers in the area at the time and he would recommend the original value he quoted last year.

DH wants to go with the higher valuation. Purely because it is higher and he thinks we will get more money. My feeling is to stick with the more conservative value as we will attract more buyers hopefully and it is more realistic. I'm also concerned that if we go for the higher price we will have to drop it any way in the future. Whereas DH thinks if we don't market it at the higher value we will lose out on the possibility of selling it for that amount.

So what do we do? Would you go with the highest or the more sensible one?

I would go with the realistic valuation. In my area houses priced right are snapped up. Over priced houses languish on the market for months and months with many price drops. They eventually sell below what they are worth.

I would look at your agents stats on RM. Find which has sold more houses. (filter by agent by finding a house they are selling and click on their logo)

I had exactly this in April. Agent 1 said it would sell in a week at X and Agent 2 said 25k less and I'd struggle to get that. We sold in a week for agent 1s figure.

I’d go with whoever your gut is telling you is more trustworthy and would be the easiest to work with. If the market thinks your house is worth the higher value then there will be lots of people interested in it at the lower value and you may get offers higher than that anyway.

Did either of them provide reasonings? We had our house valued with three estate agents in August; they all provided their thoughts behind the valuations. Two researched similar properties around the same price or area to justify what they said.

I'd trust that more than someone's opinions, really. I'd also look at who has sold more houses and who has the better reputation locally.

I would go on rightmove and look at recent sold prices for similar houses in your area. At the end of the day it depends how quickly you want to sell really. You could put it on at the higher price and be stuck for ages and ages, or it not sell at all.

Thanks everyone, to be fair to the agents, out of all we have met with, they would both be top of our list.

They did both give reasons. Agent 1, our house is a bit tricky to value as not many in the area similar and non sold recently. Ours is a 4 bed townhouse. It has 2 double rooms and 2 single rooms. So not as big as a 4 bed but not as small as a 3 bed. So he has gone with a figure between what 4 beds and 3 beds are going for in the area.

Agent 2 has more properties in the area and I feel knows the area and what is happening in it better. He said there are not many properties for sale in the area but also not many buyers either so may struggle to get viewings if on for too much.

But DH feels the fact it is not your usual bog standard house will be in our favour therefore we should chance our arm at the higher price. We are not desperate to move timewise but do want to go definitely within the next 12 months.

What difficulties would it cause if you put your house on for the higher amount and then had to reduce the price? Would it make any difference, other than possibly delaying the sale for however long?

I think the only impact of putting on at a higher price is the delay if it doesn't sell. However, I do wonder if people then thing there may be something wrong if the property is on for a long time or has a lot of reductions.

I'd go with the original EA. The market is quite rough depending on where you are, with prices coming down. If he's telling you there are not many buyers I would listen to that. Also you have a townhouse, it can limit the interest you get because of all the stairs.
That said you are not desperate to sell so are not going to waste time putting it up for more. You could always go with the original EA at the higher price as they do what you want.

I would go lower as townhouses always seem to struggle to sell in my experience

Thank you everyone. Never thought to go with the original one and asking him to put it on at a higher price.

For those in the know, how long generally do you market a property before dropping a price? I know now is not the right time so would wonder if we got little interest if it was because the price was too high or if it was the time of year.

I had three valuations when I moved a few years ago, they came in at £225k, £230k and £270k. I went with the highest, (as you say, just in case I could get that), but eventually sold for £250k - so I still got considerably more than I'd have got with the first two agents.

We had 4 valuations for ours which were 280, 300, 310 and 320. We went for 320 and quickly sold at 317. If we had gone for the lower ones we'd have sold for less. Our house was extended and not much locally to compare to either.

We had three round to value you ours. Ranged from 250-290. Next door had sold for £280 and ours was slightly different.

We listed for £280k. Sold for £270k would have accept £260k - we went with the middle estate agent but at a higher price if that makes sense.

We have seen a house a really like but it is the top of our budget so DH has pointed out we really need to try for every penny we can get so we are going with the higher valuation. Pics are getting done this week.

We know it's not the best time of year to sell and the house we like might be long gone before we get an offer but we have started the ball rolling.

If we have very little or no interest then we will obviously reduce the asking price.

£25k difference on what price house ? £250 or £850?

If it is a townhouse - I am assuming it’s a modern terrace or end of terrace - what is RM saying on sold stats.

If it’s a tough market some EA value high to play to ego and get your business, knowing you will have to drop later. Look at that EA to see if that has happened with their other properties.

Also in a competitive market for EA - some value low/realistically as they need a sale through in 3 months rather than gambling around for 6 months and most commission is not made up of the last few £££ but the main bulk of the price IYSWIM.

So do your own comparisons.

It was valued at £325,000 12 months ago. When I spoke to the same agent he said due to a current slow market and not many buyers in the area he would recommend the same valuation now

New agent valued at £350,000. His reasoning was 3 beds currently on around £325, 4 beds around £375 so he recommends in between that as although ours is 4 bed it is 2 double and 2 single.

DH agreed it should definitely go on for more than a 3 bed as we also have a family bathroom, en suite and downstairs toilet and offers much more floor space.

I think the extra £25K is well worth it then - putting in an en-suite, downstairs loo and extending to add an additional room (doesn’t have to be a bedroom - lots use for study/TVroom etc) - would cost way more on a 3 bed semi.

Good luck go for it. Choose which ever agent you feel most comfortable with and just choose the higher price.

I would read the all agents reviews (like tripadvisor for estate agents) and go from there

If 3 beds are on for 325k then I’d agree yours should be marketed for more. However personally I’d prefer a 3 bed house with 3 decent sized rooms rather than a 4 bed with 2 small rooms. I suspect I’m not the only person who thinks that.

But you say your house also has more living space so for that alone I think you should market it for more. But definitely consider the other agent if you feel he knows the area better, but just with a higher price.

Just a little update, we put the house on today at 340, got a viewer coming tomorrow 🙂

There's obviously no guarantee anything will come from it but it's a positive start.