How Much Is My House Worth?

By MyVine | July 13, 2011

Attempting to work out precisely how much my house is valued at is rather hard without investing some time in some deailed research

The truth is a property is only worth what a purchaser is willing to pay. Now you ask ,, “if I am not ın the marketplace and actively seeking to sell the house, how to i find out the value of my house in the absence of any real offers from any real buyers?”

Just as with an insurance valuation for an art work, it’s one thing for a knowelable expert to put a notional value on something but in a real marketplace (such as an aution room) it’s sale price may end up well in excess of the initial valuation.. This problem is even more accute with houses as there are so many more factors (such as taste, location, availability and cost of mortgage funding etc.) to take into account.

But, How Much Is My House Worth? Surely in this day and age there are tools avaible to homeowners that can help them get a good grip on what their property is worth?

Obviously you could just ask 3 estate agents to come to your house and value it. The problem is that estate agents are wel know to inflate the value of a property in order to win instructions. That’s fine however, unless i have my own idea (and logical theory) as to how much my house is worth, I am not going to be able to challenge the estate agents’ figure. 

The growth in property prices in 2009 showed us that short supply of property and particularly of good property in a good area, can cause houses to sell for more than their current value according to national and regional indices. So to answer the question how much is my house worth; I really need to do some detailed research.

Online is certainly the easiest play to start investigating property values. I had heard that the Nationwide and Land Registry allow people to find out how much homes in your locality are selling for.

In attempting to find free online house valuations, first I took a look at the Land Registry website. This informed me as to just how much homes in my local area have been selling for since 2006, organised by “property type”. Next I took a look at the Nationwide property value calculator and used it to see the change in value of property in my area over time.

This research provided me with a really good kick off point, but for the best answer to the question of, “How Much is my House Worth?” I sitll had to hit the streets, the estate agents, as well as online property portals such as Rightmove, to determine how many properties like ours there are for sale. When you attempt this little research exersize, pay particular attention as to whether there is a shortage of supply for your style of home. If your home is particularly special and in a good area, then on a pounds per square foot basis it’s right to value it above the local average. On the other hand, if you need to sell property fast and have an average property, which has lots of competition will need to be priced at either the local average or lower in order to find a buyer and as such have any value.

Topics: Buying Tips, Foreclosures, General, Investing, Selling Tips | Comments Off

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