What’s in a Valuation: Getting it done right

Property valuation is possibly the most contentious aspect of running an estate agency. It is natural that the vendor of a property will want as high a price as possible for it, as does the agent.

Using the expert knowledge of a local, trusted estate agent

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 the locality in which the property is.

Vendors should be careful about opinions that over value, especially when everyone seems to have one – friends, relatives, taxi drivers or your local barista!

Online Valuations

Certainly, some online valuation calculators are misleading and plain wrong in many cases as they simply cannot take account of the foibles of local buyer activity, which changes from week to week. Furthermore, these don’t take into account the interior condition of the property outside of the basic specifics. Online calculators and valuation tools will only get you so far and in our experience provide a springboard for a further conversation.

If vendors are serious about selling, then it would always be our recommendation to use a reputable estate agent.

Find an agent that’s the right fit for you

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.

Ultimately the critical part is to select your estate agent on the strength of their service, reputation and marketing plan – not merely on their valuation or commission rate.

Technology and data informing our valuations

At Samuel Estates, we also have access to a wide range of market insight and intelligence which means we also do our research into demographics and area sales values. We are able to use these platforms to clarify our valuations and further inform them.

On average, correctly priced properties sell in just 4 weeks, if it is any longer than that, properties can soon witness market fatigue, an incorrect initial market valuation will also exacerbate this. The worst thing you want from an agent is one whose only strategy to sell is to keep lowering the asking price!

We want you to achieve or exceed your asking price, rather than quoting a high price and then encouraging low offers. The wrong price attracts the wrong buyers, and fewer suitable buyers minimise your chances of receiving an offer.

Samuel Estates is more than happy to provide new or current vendors an expert valuation. 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 request a FREE Valuation.

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