What Is Your Home Worth?
A house valuation is one of the first things to schedule in when you want to sell your home.
Finding out how much your house is worth is a pivotal moment in the process. It could mean you can afford to move to the area you’ve had your heart set on or it could send you back to the vision board.
There are plenty of ways you can get an idea of the value of your home before you start your house-selling journey.
Here are some of our top tips to work out what your home is worth.
Look nearby
Finding out what your neighbours’ homes sold for can help you work out what you might expect yours to go for. Lots of websites can give you data on sold prices where you live, including Rightmove and Zoopla.
Compare the results of the properties similar to yours and you’ll then have an idea of what you could be looking at for yours. Some listings will have photos of the property, so you can compare your home’s condition to theirs.
Look nationwide
Although local sold prices can be helpful when valuing your home, you’ll also need to take into account the national picture. Identify the average property price and how it’s risen recently, both across the UK and in your region.
The Land Registry, Nationwide’s House Price Calculator and Halifax’s House Price Index provide this data for free. It can help you work out how much your home might be worth now compared to when you bought it.
Use estate agents
Even if you plan to sell without the use of an estate agent, they can still come in handy. In most cases, you can get them to value your home for free and without a contract or agreement to use their services.
The trick is to get a few different agents to do this. Having three or more valuations can give you an average figure, which you can then compare against other recently sold properties nearby. As one agent could give a hugely different figure to another, try a local high street agent, an online agent and an independent agent to get a wider idea of your home’s market value.
Be realistic
You may have looked at what similar homes have sold for near where you live, but you should also look at what owners of properties like yours are asking for. Although the asking price won’t necessarily be the sold price, you’ll get an idea of what the market looks like.
On the major property portals, you’ll be able to tell how long a property has been listed for and whether the asking price has been reduced. This can help you figure out if the owner was too optimistic with their asking price and whether you might need to be a little more realistic.
Go online
If you’re eager to find out what sorts of figure you could get for your house and are willing to accept the result with a pinch of salt, you can try an online valuation. These are created by algorithms, so they don’t take every piece of information on your home into account. For example, it won’t reflect your renovated kitchen or new driveway.
Zoopla, Property Price Advice and Mouseprice offer free online valuations. But they probably won’t give you an accurate figure to base an asking price on. They’re helpful if you’re in the beginning stages of your sale and have no idea what the value of your home might be. For a more representative figure – that takes into account all aspects of your home – you’ll be better off doing a little more research.
Calculate costs
You should also factor in the costs of selling your home to get a full picture of the amount of money you’ll be dealing with. Knowing what your house could sell for is one thing, but to work out if moving is really feasible, you should also know what you can expect to pay.
To get a quick quote for your conveyancing needs, try our conveyancing calculator. Don’t forget to also consider Stamp Duty and early mortgage repayment fees, if applicable, as well as the costs of physically moving from one home to another.
