What Agents Do… Valuations

In this quick read, we talk about property valuations and how to tell if the agent in front of you is a good one.

Valuations are possibly the most contentious aspect of estate agency, and emotions run high when discussing most people’s most valuable asset. It is natural that the vendor of a property will want as much as possible for it, as does the agent.

However, homeowners should be careful about opinions over value, especially when everyone seems to have one – friends, relatives, taxi drivers and blokes in pubs!

The actual value of a property is of course the maximum figure that at least one able buyer would be prepared to pay. Frankly, the only person to know what this figure could be is an estate agent who is comprehensively familiar with the current market and involved with qualified buyers daily. It may be that potential imminent movement in the market can also be anticipated, although this is a skill few possess.

Certainly on-line value calculators can be misleading in many cases as they simply cannot take account of the foibles of local buyer activity and competing properties available for sale, both of which change from week to week. They can be good to get a rough idea and start thinking about the value of your home… but certainly not a value to get attached to.

When choosing the right estate agent for you it’s certainly worth finding out how accurate their valuations are. A good agent should be able to tell you what percentage of their original asking price they actually achieve on average for their clients, as well as how long they took to find a buyer against national averages.

Needless to say, we’d be happy to provide you with some expert advice on the likely sale value of your home. This would be based on extensive research coupled with an intuition that comes from deep local experience as evidenced by our consistently proven results. Please feel free to contact us today, on 01323 440678. You might be pleasantly surprised!

If you’re thinking of selling your property, get in touch with us today.

We’re ready to help you make your next move.