How to get a house price valuation?

If you’re planning on buying or selling a home, staying on top of trends or just curious about the current property market, then you need to know how to get a house price valuation.

Even if you’re not planning to sell immediately, it’s a good idea to check the value of your home regularly. It can help you spot opportunities you might have missed (particularly during times of change and uncertainty such as the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit), or might reveal you have access to more equity than previously thought.

And it can be quick and easy to get a fairly accurate idea of how much your home is worth by using free online tools, such as our property value estimator. Combine that with our data on sold house prices, and you’ll be a well-informed buyer or seller.

Get a free house price valuation in seconds online

Even if you plan on paying for a detailed valuation by a chartered surveyor, it’s worth using a free online house valuation service. This means you can get a good idea of whether to go ahead with buying or selling a property before starting to invest hundreds of pounds in the process.

Beyond the sale itself, getting an initial valuation will also help you to decide whether to invest in a potentially time-consuming and expensive sales process, or whether you’ll be better off by opting for a quick and easy sale through our home buying service.

A variety of services due Land Registry Data, but our Property Value Estimator combines that information with our own custom prediction algorithm. It’s based on our knowledge and experience of buying and selling a huge number of properties since 2004 across the UK. So, you can get a useful guide to the estimated market value in a few seconds. And if the price is right, it’s easy to go ahead and receive an offer from us. 

Estate agent valuations

Estate agents will usually offer no-obligation valuations of your home if you’re planning on selling. And you’ll get a price based on their visual inspection of your property, if you’re happy with them having a quick look round. So, you could benefit from relevant knowledge of the local property market.

But obviously any estate agent valuation will come with the hope you’ll choose them to list your property. You may feel dishonest inviting them to your home if you’re not really close to selling, or feel pressured into moving ahead before you’re ready.  And you can expect follow-up calls and communication from them after the valuation to try and ensure you choose them to list your property, which means committing to paying estate agent fees when the house is sold.

Paying chartered surveyors for a house valuation

For the most accurate house valuation, you can expect to pay a chartered surveyor somewhere between £250 and £600. Residential property valuations, also known as Red Book valuations after the publication which lists the rules and guidelines for Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) valuers, will normally be valid for 3 months and include a wide range of visual inspections.

While it may point out defects or issues, it’s important to note that this is not a building survey (although a valuation is usually included in the survey process). You can find out more details on how long homebuyer’s reports and house surveys take to complete, what they might cost, and the details included, here.

Other ways to estimate the value of your home

While you can use our Property Value Estimator to get a market price in seconds, if you have the time available it’s possible to use a variety of other sources to estimate the value of your property.

Sources for information include:

• Sold property prices near you: Obviously looking at similar homes in your area will give you some idea of what your property is worth
• The UK House Price Index: This lets you see collected Land Registry data on the average prices by county and region, broken down into the basic property types.
• Check local asking prices: Monitoring as many listings as possible will let you see what other sellers are asking for their homes, even if you don’t know that’s what they’ve actually received.
• Research the council tax band, crime figures, flood risks and pollution for your area. Along with the proximity to good schools, and other amenities.

Combining all of this information will give you an approximate price for your property, which will help you decide whether you might want to proceed further with buying or selling a home. But shouldn’t be used as the only data for your asking price or offer without a more detailed and accurate market valuation.

Ultimately, it’s never been easier to become a well-informed home buyer or seller. A tool like our Property Value Estimator will give you a great insight into the market value of a house, helping you decide whether a purchase or sale is viable. This will give you greater confidence to invest in a residential property valuation or survey, or highlight if you should look for a faster and quicker sale, with the potential to receive up to £1000 towards your legal fees. Another option is to speak to us and receive a no obligation cash offer. As experts in buying and selling houses across the UK, we’ll offer you a competitive price for any house, in any condition, and in any location in the UK.