Callander area - house prices?

[Storm28]

We're looking to relocate anywhere within commuting distance to Stirling. We have 3 young kids and like the sound of McLaren High School and Callander Primary, so we're hoping to focus our search in the catchment areas for these two schools. However it depends if we can afford to! Can anyone advise what the market is like there house-wise? Looking at the prices advertised, are they generally selling for the price/under/over? And if over, usually by how much roughly? Its hard to know what its like there and if we'd have to offer more etc. It would likely be what everyone else wants; 4 bed (5 would be better but likely outwith our budget) detached ideally in the country or outskirts. Ideally around the £350k level. Im not sure what these houses are commanding there. Thanks!

It's very house specific

If the house has been on a while and is a bit stale it will likely go for HR or even slightly below.

If the house quickly goes to closing and has multiple offers, it will probably go for over HR. a couple of percent for each per note might be a starting point.

I would just get viewing, many agents will be happy to tell you straight

Thanks lassingd, much appreciated. I wasn't sure if the market was crazy in these areas and things were going for £30k-£40k more as Id heard some places are! Thank you

You can find sold prices here , it’s very easy to search by postcode.

https://scotlis.ros.gov.uk/

Then you can use google maps or rightmove to check that you are comparing like with like.

40k more than list is very possible as it largely depends on teh marketing strategy of that particularly seller. some list 50k under to get attention. some list at their target as they don't want fuss.

I work in property @Storm28 , mostly in the central belt with the majority around South Glasgow.

However over the past year I have worked on 2 purchases in Callander (one of which was my sister’s which is why I remember it), one went for HR and the other £5k below.

Do not be scared to offer under HR here, the prices were massively inflated during Covid because of the urban exodus.

Totally dependent on house as @lassingd says. And I also think @Meeplemakeglasgow is correct. However there’s a few housesin Callander and outskirts that I (& others) would happily offer £30-40k over but then it would be my forever home, so I’d not care!

Think I’ve seen the houses you’re talking about @MrsAmaretto , I would advise you against offering £40k more as it would reduce your budget for hiring a Gamekeeper and Kitchen Staff..

In all seriousness though anyone expecting £10’s of thousands over HR value just now pretty much anywhere in Scotland need to reassess their expectations.

Prices are remaining fairly stable but valuations have increased, we’re seeing surveyors valuing properties up to 20-25% higher than they would have in 2020/2022.

Some still believe that, even despite this increase, they are still going to get a further ‘cash prize’ above this.

Mostly because they hear stories of their neighbour’s Aunt’s Hairdresser who got £49k over HR for a 1 bedroom flat above a Kebab Shop in Wishaw.

In reality, around Scotland there’s only a handful of areas where properties go for more than expected and even then it’s rarely the 15-20% that we’ve seen in recent years.

Does also depend on estate agent strategy, as they influence HR values... We recently bidded at closing date on a house, we offered £40k over HR values and the "offers over price". We were joint third out of six bids. I think the house went for circa 20% over... Closing date was 2 weeks after house came on the market.

The estate agent and sellers had gambled, and succeeded in creating a bidding war. The estate agent has a well known reputation in the local area for giving lower valuations than others.

Local knowledge is key in navigating these types of scenarios.

Also some surveyors are more conservative or simply get the HR massively wrong. Once we were selling, and the HR was 100k under what we were quite certain the house was worth. It was a little concerning at first, but we quite quickly had a fair offer so went to closing and got 35% over HR

It was not a super heated market or anything, it was just an artefact of the system.

@Meeplemakeglasgow I would need an army of staff for that one on the market! No my means are more modest but I would love to own a couple of house owned when I was wee by family friends. In reality by the time they come up again I’ll be needing to think about properties suitable for my aging body!