How to value your house

There are many factors that can affect the value of your home – some of which could surprise you.  So how do you accurately value your home?

How much is your house worth?

While many homeowners feel as if they can gauge the true value of their home, more often than not, there will always be a number of influencing factors that, unbeknownst to the owner themselves, can heavily affect the amount a prospective buyer would be willing to pay for it.

Often, there can be a number of structural elements that a professional surveyor would consider to be causes for concern. These can involve the following:

• Warped rooves.
• Damage due to subsidence.
• Low quality construction.
• Degradation of building materials including insulation.
• Incorrectly sealed, and poorly maintained windows.

There can also be issues with utilities that may affect a buyer’s view of your home, including:

• Incorrectly heated habitable rooms.
• Poor access to services and utilities.
• Badly maintained boilers without a service record.
• Out-dated plumbing and electric cabling.
• Expensive bills.

Of course, while a homeowner can solve these issues if they have deep enough pockets, there are always a number of factors that are outside of their control – and these are often due to the ongoing changes to the strength of the economy. As a result, changes in government legislation and housing laws may force the buyer to provide a lower-than-expected offer. Examples of this include:

• High interest rates that could increase their monthly mortgage payments.
• International trade negotiations for raw materials.
• Political uncertainty over the future of the housing market (such as Brexit).
• Number of available jobs and local amenities.
• High levels of crime.

More often than not, if your property valuation is incorrect at the time it is listed, then you can expect to spend much longer than anticipated on the market before finding a buyer. Those who are looking to sell their home fast are always, therefore, advised to consult a professional surveyor or valuer.

How much have houses on your street sold for?

The value of your home can also be heavily affected by the recent sold house prices of properties on your street, however, it is important to remember that on any given street there can be a number of differences between the luxuriousness and size of various houses due to owner upgrades such as more efficient central heating and structural changes such as extensions or conservatories. These changes can make a huge difference to a house’s value.

It is often easy to compare your home with other nearby houses by searching property portals such as Rightmove and filtering results to show only those that have already sold. You can also consult the Land Registry or a website such as Mouseprice.com, which continuously monitors the prices of all homes across the UK that have been bought or sold.

If you find that a house similar to your own that has been sold at a certain value, this can provide a rough guide to how much buyers are willing to pay. Although, it is important to check the date of the sale and cross-reference this with any events in the political landscape or economy that may have played a part in its ultimate worth.

How to get an accurate property valuation

In the property industry, the experts who deal with the valuation of homes are called chartered surveyors. These individuals are able to provide a number of different surveys based on cost, and help both homeowners and estate agents to price their listings correctly.

Often, estate agents will ask a surveyor to carry out a ‘drive-by valuation’ with comparables, which allows them to estimate a ballpark value that can be altered in the event of further inspection. They can also provide a standard ‘valuation’ which costs more, but includes a greater level of detail regarding the property’s condition, and is often used by sellers prior to listing their home.

The most in-depth survey a surveyor can carry out is referred to as a ‘home-buyers report’. These reports are much more expensive, and as the name implies, is always requested by both a prospective buyer, and their mortgage supplier to ensure that the property in question does not have any hidden issues that may significantly de-value the home once discovered.

By hiring an expert, you can be sure that you have gone to the correct lengths to select an applicable asking price.

If you are thinking about selling your home, it is important to remember that many businesses such as National Homebuyers will value your home for you, saving you the time and money that you would normally be responsible for. Furthermore, if you are happy with the provided value, National Homebuyers are always willing to purchase the property from you, often completing the sale in as little as two weeks.

How can you add value to your home?

Adding value to your home can be surprisingly easy – if you are willing to make a little effort.

For many buyers, agents and surveyors, the first impression they have of your home will often affect their perspective throughout the entire valuation process. It is therefore important to keep your home in show-room condition whenever anyone related to the prospective sale visits. This includes keeping windows, walls, surfaces and flooring clear and clean; ensuring that the upkeep of any outside areas such as the garden are tidied up and free from weeds; and that any external wooden surface such as cladding or window frames are given a fresh lick of varnish.

There are a number of other ways to increase the value of your home, including:

• Adding an extension or conservatory that increases the versatility of the property.
• Making internal changes such as removing non-supporting walls to create open-plan areas.
• Updating the interior decorations with wooden laminate flooring, and replacing out-dated wallpaper with clean unobtrusive white-coloured paint.
• Employ a professional photographer to take pictures of your home for your listing – this can help it to stand out amongst the others when you are hoping to garner interest.

While many vendors often pray for the selling process to be over so that they can carry on with their lives, if they are willing to follow the important steps listed above to maximise their profit, these additional funds will more than make up for the additional stress caused.

Interested to learn the value of your home before you sell? Why not ask National Homebuyers for advice, as we buy any house. Call 08000 443 911 or request a call back to find out how much you could get for your property.