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Disappointed with house valuation

182 replies

mumma24 · 09/01/2026 07:04

House valued at £625,000 to £650,000 by 3 agents but I think it will sell for more to the right buyer. We would consider listing for offers over £675,000.
and willing to wait for the right buyer but feel like agents are just looking for a quick sal. All our previous 4 homes have sold within 4 weeks. Dont really want to list privately but what else can we do

OP posts:
FancyCatSlave · 09/01/2026 07:06

It’s a terrible market almost everywhere at the moment, if you need to sell you’ll have to suck it up. If you don’t, wait.
Very few areas are seeing quick sales especially over £500k.

mumma24 · 09/01/2026 07:07

Ok thank you, hopefully the market will pick up, we don’t need to sell just want to move to a different area

OP posts:
Jfmamjjason2 · 09/01/2026 07:08

I agree. I live in an area where houses of that value are snapped up normally, but the last few months have been very slow. If you don’t need to sell right now then hang on a bit.

Houses being reduced over and over again gives the impression that something’s wrong with it

Clutterbug2026 · 09/01/2026 07:08

You can ask the agents if they will market it at higher. Do you have a good understanding of the current market? Our is normally very busy and it went through a period of housing been sold within 24 hours for 25 to 30% above asking price but now properties sit on for months, price drops and their sold but fail to complete and end up back on the market.

MrsDoubtingMyself · 09/01/2026 07:12

House prices are dropping atm, even in the SE. That'll be why the EA has suggested a price that might create a sale rather than the house sitting waiting

You could try advertising privately and see what happens, if you're sure you can sell for 675+

andfinallyhereweare · 09/01/2026 07:16

Why would the right buyer want to pay more than it’s worth? People are always emotionally invested in their own homes so aren’t always objective on what market value is. It’s only worth what someone’s willing to pay.

bugalugs45 · 09/01/2026 07:26

Has the estate agent said that they absolutely won’t list for £675, because on the off chance that someone is willing to pay that it’s more commission for them!

somanychristmaslights · 09/01/2026 07:31

But the market is totally different now. Look on zoopla to see what similar houses to yours have sold for recently.

FancyCatSlave · 09/01/2026 07:33

bugalugs45 · 09/01/2026 07:26

Has the estate agent said that they absolutely won’t list for £675, because on the off chance that someone is willing to pay that it’s more commission for them!

Estate agents care more about time to complete. They don’t want to list overpriced homes that don’t sell, that reflects badly on them. They are interested in being able to say how many viewings they can generate and speed from listing to offers. They don’t like having to reduce as it looks like they can’t value properly.

I’m on selling because I have to. If I didn’t need to I’d be staying put.

@mumma24 if you want to test the interest list it at offers over £625k and you can refuse anything under £650k. But don’t be surprised if you don’t sell and you have to withdraw from market. If you can be bothered with the faff of getting photo ready then there’s nothing to lose.

ShanghaiDiva · 09/01/2026 07:34

If three agents have all come back with the same guide price, why do you think you will get more? I’m not being rude, but what makes you think it’s worth more?

Beentheredonethat98 · 09/01/2026 08:17

IME most estate agents over value to get your business. They tell you they can get £££££ for your house and then come back a week later and tell you YOU have over valued it. So I would be very wary of assuming they had undervalued.

As others have said, the market is depressed at the moment. Combination of high transaction costs and lack of confidence in the economy. People are worried about job security, believe prices will drop further and do not want to take on large loans.

Tortephant · 09/01/2026 08:51

It depends if you want to sell or not. A house will sell for what it is worth. The important thing is to get viewings. Better to list at a guide to achieve that and then take feedback. If several people are interested they can up bid each other and you may achieve that.
Absolutley no point in listing high, no or few viewings and it sitting online with no activity, then being reduced, then being reduced or taken off and put back on with another agent.

TheSmallAssassin · 09/01/2026 08:53

mumma24 · 09/01/2026 07:07

Ok thank you, hopefully the market will pick up, we don’t need to sell just want to move to a different area

Wouldn't it be better to buy now while prices are depressed though? If you wait until the market picks up you will be paying more too.

surreygirly · 09/01/2026 09:05

The market is crap

VanCleefArpels · 09/01/2026 09:10

There’s no point in putting a house on at an overvalue because even if (big if) you get an offer mortgage valuation will likely not match it so your buyer will not be able to proceed.

StoppingByWoodsOnAColdEvening · 09/01/2026 09:19

How quickly your previous homes sold is no guide to the market at the moment, which is pretty challenging.

When we last sold in 2021, we took our EA's advice to price at a point designed to generate viewings, got a lot of interest, got a lot of immediate offers at the asking price -- the most interested bid against one another to a point where it sold at £30k above asking. I think we could have got more, but we were in a hurry so chose a cash buyer.

My point was that the EA's strategy worked well.

Buscobel · 09/01/2026 09:30

If you’re happy to wait, tell the agent to list it at your higher price, but bear in mind that it will be very apparent on the listings that yours is so much higher and comparable houses are lower.

You may have your own idea about what your house is worth. Others may not agree and buyers are not encouraged by properties that have been listed for a long time.

SarahAndQuack · 09/01/2026 09:32

A PP upthread said you have 'nothing to lose' by putting it on at a higher price.

I don't think that is true. People notice houses that have been on and off the market/on the market then reduced. You risk people questioning what's wrong with the house, or wondering whether you'll be awkward to deal with because you've ended up dropping the price. My neighbours had a heck of a time with their house and it took them ages to sell - I know they regretted initially overpricing it, because people do just come in asking 'well, what was wrong with it that you dropped the price then?'

Hurdygurdy123 · 09/01/2026 09:46

If your price is lower than you expect the house you want to buy's price is probably lower than you expect too. It's the difference that matters isn't it?

IsabellaGoodthing · 09/01/2026 09:47

Hurdygurdy123 · 09/01/2026 09:46

If your price is lower than you expect the house you want to buy's price is probably lower than you expect too. It's the difference that matters isn't it?

Yes, and lower prices mean lower stamp duty which helps everyone.

Freesiapleaser · 09/01/2026 09:48

I think you're being unrealistic. We had to drop150k from the estate agents valuation to sell recently. It was a very slow moving area and we had to move. Only 4 houses sold over 600k in the past year. People just don't have the money or arnt willing to take the risk. We are now cash buyers in rented having moved to a more expensive area. We have offered on houses 100k less (10%) and been rejected by outraged sellers. They won't reduce and have now been on off more than once and we know they are difficult to deal with and arnt motivated to move so it makes them less attractive. It sounds like you have a number in your head you want and don't need to move. If that's the case I would wait until you might get it.

BernardButlersBra · 09/01/2026 09:55

ShanghaiDiva · 09/01/2026 07:34

If three agents have all come back with the same guide price, why do you think you will get more? I’m not being rude, but what makes you think it’s worth more?

This. It’s not a great market typically. It’s only worth what other people are willing to pay for it

GasPanic · 09/01/2026 10:02

What makes you think you can value it better than professionals to within 5% ?

I am pretty sure most agents will let you market it at 5% more than their valuation, as that level of uncertainty in a valuation is not significant.

What they may do is be less willing to do stuff like free photography on it if they feel that there is a likelyhood that it will not sell, so you may end up getting charged for that, as well as some more onerous contract terms.

Bearing in mind a lot of agents will over value to get the instruction, it could well be that your valuation is quite a bit more than optimistic.

Not sure what the relevance of the previous 4 homes is to this sale.

TempsPerdu · 09/01/2026 10:12

I agree with @Freesiapleaser; we are in a similar boat (SSTC and about to exchange, having to move into a rental as nothing on the market currently in our price bracket - moving from a north London suburb to an expensive commuter area in the SE).

We’ve been monitoring the market very closely for a couple of years now, and have noticed a very prevalent trend of larger, more expensive properties coming on to the market at prices that are (given the tough current market conditions) hugely inflated and unrealistic. They then sit around for months as no one on the next ‘rung’ down (which is us) can afford to overpay for them, before either being dramatically reduced, taken off the market unsold or doing the ‘estate agent Hokey Cokey’, where they disappear for a bit, come back on with a different agent at the same inflated price and still don’t sell. Meanwhile there is a dearth of properties in our slightly lower price bracket, as families who once would have looked at moving up to the next rung of the ladder sit tight - the upshot of which is that for anything above about £500K the market has almost completely stalled (entry-level properties still seem to be selling).

If anything, estate agents will overvalue to flatter and get you on their books - they did with us, basing their estimate on a neighbour’s similar house that sold in 2022 at the peak of the market - and we ended up having to reduce our price twice. This despite us recognising at the outset that they were overvaluing and setting an asking price that was below their initial valuation!

As pps have said, if you genuinely want/need to sell you will need to price very keenly to generate interest in a falling market. If you manage to do this, and end up with competing offers, you are more likely to end up obtaining something like the price you are looking for. Otherwise, you’ll need to sit tight and wait until the market picks up, although given the underlying economic conditions I can’t see a huge improvement happening any time soon.

SheilaFentiman · 09/01/2026 10:16

mumma24 · 09/01/2026 07:04

House valued at £625,000 to £650,000 by 3 agents but I think it will sell for more to the right buyer. We would consider listing for offers over £675,000.
and willing to wait for the right buyer but feel like agents are just looking for a quick sal. All our previous 4 homes have sold within 4 weeks. Dont really want to list privately but what else can we do

What is your evidence that £675k is the right price?

The “right buyer” will still need a mortgage and the mortgage company will value it dispassionately, even if the “right buyer” loves your house.

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