House valuation

[minimonkey11]

We just had our house valued and all the EA did was have a quick look round then looked on rightmove at nearby sold prices. She said a house across the road went for £500k a year ago and has one more reception room so ours should be £475k. This other house has no drive and a north facing garden- we have a drive for 3 cars and a south facing garden, brand new kitchen, well decorated. Does that not count for anything? Aside from obviously being disappointed that it is lower than we thought, I am more irritated that all she did was look at one sold house on our road to come up with a valuation!? I mean i can do that… i am well aware of all sold houses on our road and how they compare to ours. I have contacted another estate agent to see what they say but is this just a function of the market in the last year?

You should definitely ask for other agents to see their valuations.
We had 3 different estate agents and got 3 very different valuations from them. 72,90 and 98. Went with the middle one and got close to asking price.

One extra reception room is indeed a lot more valuable than a south facing garden, a drive or a new kitchen. I mean that's why it's her job to value houses and not yours. I guess you were hoping yours would actually be more than the other house...

What you are paying for is the estate agents knowledge of the local market and contacts. If they know the size and floor plan they don't need an in depth look around. That's just to see general condition but if it's reasonable it doesn't affect value much. It's all about the area, size, type of house and number of bedrooms.
I am not an estate agent but have a good friend who is and he has often told me that things sellers think are important like new kitchens usually have no real bearing on price.

’brand new kitchen, well decorated’ - my last house had a brand new kitchen, I hated it and promptly changed it! Kitchen and decorating are personal choices, the size and location are what matters

We had something similar where they came in and then basically looked at asking prices (not even sold prices) and made up a price that even I knew was massively over priced.

You should get 3 valuations preferably or 2 as a minimum

To be honest, this is kind of how it works. House values are way more granular than we all hope. There's pretty much a price for a standard house in a certain location, bit less if it's in terrible condition, bit more if it's in super condition. I would expect having parking to up the price a bit - but it depends on various details (street parking availability, bleak concreted frontage etc). It's amazing in my area how little difference a whole extra reception room, upstairs v downstairs bathroom, end v middle terrace makes when it's in the same road. Location however always makes insane differences in price.

There's a hell of a lot of things that will add to saleability of the house - but not really to the value. It feels like a bit of a stab in the heart, but you really just have to suck it up. There's various things in my house I spent a lot of money on and I know make it nicer but my buyers haven't paid a single extra penny for. I'm just telling myself I spent money on them because I liked the house that way, I've enjoyed it and I sold quickly. (Although I did justify taking most of my white goods because I feel like they are getting plenty of other good stuff and I'll keep my brand new washing machine, thank you.) Focus on the onward move.

An estate agent’s valuation isn’t really a valuation, but a recommendation from them of the asking price that they think you should be able to achieve once it is exposed to the vagaries of the market.

You rely on their expertise and market knowledge: they don’t need to look in an awful lot of detail if your house is not dissimilar to other houses in the road. As others have said, saleability and value are two different things, and while some viewers may value a new kitchen, just as many could hate it.

But, yes, two or three different valuations will give you a better idea of how to price it. Just remember that some EAs overvalue in order to get your business and ‘test the market’, often to recommend dropping to the level of the other valuations after a couple of weeks of no interest.

Well yes hence me saying ‘obviously am disappointed…’ and hence me asking the questions on here… thanks

Maybe yours is worth £460 but she's bumped it up to £475 for having a drive. Kitchens are absolutely personal taste. Two mates of mine have put new kitchens in. One eye wateringly expensive. Both foul imho and would be one of the first things I'd change.

I can't work from my driveway, I can't send my toddler to play in the driveway while I cook/work, I can't host Christmas dinner in the driveway, a guest can't sleep on a sofa bed in the driveway etc... a driveway adds very little value to a house usually. Its maybe valuable in an inner city with no parking but most places with on street parking you'll be lucky if it adds maybe 2%.

I wouldn't even look at a house if it didn't have 2 distinct reception + a kitchen.

I spent a year looking at houses and bought one... NEVER look at the garden position until AFTER I made an offer. Its a nice luxury but no where near a necessity.

I preferred houses with old kitchens, they where more reasonably priced and I planned to completely tear it out anyway. Most new kitchens where really naff and impractical to us (the grey subway tiles, integrated unchangeable appliances and spotlights etc...) if I'm being honest.

Decor is a matter of taste, unless its plain white and primed for the person to put their own stamp on it makes no difference. Even houses with 70s wallpaper aren't really being valued on the decor but rather the fact it indicates the wiring etc... likely needs updating and theres a high possibility of damage or damp in areas due to age since last maintenance.