Accurate Valuations: How Do You Know You’re Getting the Right Price?

Price is everything when selling your home. It doesn’t matter where you live, what you live in or what condition it’s in - if the price is wrong, you’ll be out of pocket or stuck where you are. 

Accurate valuations are fundamental to a successful move, but they’re not an exact science. You might even have noticed similar homes selling for wildly different prices on the same street.

A bit like a recipe, an accurate valuation requires a delicate balance of ingredients for the perfect result, including:

• Attracting buyers in the first place
  
• Getting you the best possible price
  
• Passing the surveyor’s valuation
  
• Meeting your ideal moving date
  
• Securing your next dream home
  

When just one of those doesn’t work out, disappointment and doubt can sour relations with your agent if your move looks at risk.

Our business and reputation depend on selling your home, how much we achieve and how soon we get it, so our blog this week covers everything you need to know about how we get it right.

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN WE VISIT

There’s a lot to cover when you invite us round to advise you on price, and a good estate agent will let you do most of the talking to get the full story of you and your home.

• First things first, we run through your plans over a cup of tea (if you’re offering!) to build a clear picture of the move you want to make and when.
  
• Next, you give us the tour, pointing out all your favourite corners, home improvements and anything that can be used as selling points.
  
• Finally, we sit back down for a chat about the current market, buyer activity, recent sales, other homes for sale, our service, and an open discussion on price.

By the time we say goodbye, you should feel thoroughly listened to and that our advice makes complete sense for everything you hope to achieve with your move.

COMPARING SIMILAR AND NEARBY HOMES

While your home will have its own personality, looking at the performance of similar nearby properties is an essential measure in getting your asking price right.

Buyers are viewing the competition every day, and surveyors need to provide rock-solid evidence to mortgage lenders, so our valuation is made up of many factors including:

• Comparing the location, accommodation, condition and any unique qualities of
  similar homes that we’re currently marketing and have recently sold.

• Checking property portals like Rightmove and Zoopla for what else is on the market and under offer to give you a full-market overview.
  
• Looking at how long homes have been for sale, how fast offers were agreed, and whether any stuck or were reduced in price.

Doing this homework first is why agents can often give you a price during their visit, but it can also show you whether valuations are accurate, too low, or over-inflated.

UNDERSTANDING PRICES PER SQUARE FOOT

Surveyors have been using a price per square foot formula for decades to advise mortgage lenders if an agreed price is in the right arena, and buyers are also very tuned in to local values.

However, not every home in Shotgate has the same price per square foot, and some of the things we take into account are that:

• Small homes often have higher prices per square foot because the areas of concentrated value like kitchens and bathrooms take up a larger percentage of the floor space.
  

• Prices per square foot don’t consider factors like incredible views, precise location, interior design, natural light, double-height spaces or the configuration of rooms.
  
• Ceiling heights below 5 feet usually have a lower price per square foot, which means two adjacent loft conversions could have very different values.

So while prices per square foot are a useful guide in formulating asking prices and negotiating higher offers from buyers, the individual characteristics of a home are just as important.

READING THE MARKET

On top of the size, location and features of your home, the state of the property market in Wickford and Shotgate will inevitably influence the offers you receive and the price you sell for.

When the market’s hot, you can ask almost anything you like, but buyers become extremely price sensitive when things cool down. This means we need to balance out factors like:

• Tangible, real-life concerns, including interest rates, lending criteria, inflation, the cost of living and job certainty that all affect affordability.
  
• Sentiment and confidence - the media is always predicting a crash, even in a boom, and our advice depends on how strongly that story is resonating locally.
  
• Supply and demand - even during a lull, prices can hold surprisingly firm if there’s a shortage of homes.

It’s also worth remembering that the market consistently does the unexpected. When Covid hit with lockdowns and dire economic predictions, everyone decided it was a great time to buy!

FINDING EXTRA VALUE

A good estate agent will look beyond what they see when they visit your home to find opportunities to get you more money.

Many proven techniques can increase your final selling price by thousands of pounds, some of which include:

• Decluttering, decorating, giving spare rooms a purpose, and introducing some well-chosen seasonal styling touches.
  
• Getting permission from the local authority and drawing up plans if your home has the potential to extend.

• Exposing hidden wow factors like pruning a hedge to reveal a view, opening covered fireplaces, and moving furniture to show off more space and improve sight lines.

All of these really spice up your photos and description, not to mention the conversations we have with your viewers to help them imagine a life for themselves in your home.

Are you thinking of selling soon?

We’d love to be at your side and get you the best price in the current market so you can begin the next chapter of your life.

Call us on 01268 944104 or email us at sales@vesta-essex.co.uk to tell us about your plans, and let’s get your move up and running!