Tidiness of house for valuation

[Ella19902]

We are considering getting a couple of estate agents round to value our house, not because we want to sell immediately, but we want to find out what our house would be worth if we did some renovations & added a loft conversion. Because of that our house does a few minor maintenance things, I.e. peeling paint on a couple of walls, kitchen surface needs a repair, outside decking needs replacing & as we have children our house is very cluttered. Should we be painting & getting the house looking nice before getting an EA round? The reason we are holding off the maintenance bits is we don’t want to waste time/money if we end up doing some major renovations. Thoughts? TIA

On the basis that you’re really looking for a ballpark general market valuation based on something which is still currently just theoretical anyway, I’d not worry too much about minor cosmetic things. I’d declutter a bit so that they can gauge the room sizes and layout effectively, and firm down a fixed plan of what extension you’re planning, though.

Usually, agents are valuing based on the condition they see now, not what you say the house could look like at its best. But you’re actually asking for the opposite - a valuation based on something they can’t see now, which has a whole heap of variables, and which can be affected by a load of different future factors. They’ll be basing their valuation on what they know of similar extensions and projects in the nearby area, rather than your house specifically. Your final valuation after doing all the work is likely going to vary upwards or downwards, anyway.

In my experience most want a tour and to get in the door because they want to negotiate face to face and think its easier to seal the deal. Most seem to have looked on line and price based on sold price research before they come rather than actually what they see there and then.

When we sold our house the EA told us they basically price on the area and square footage of the house. General cosmetic condition has very little impact on the value. So I really wouldn’t worry too much.